Present economic conditions around the globe present new challenges for business enterprises - the approaching financial crisis and its impact on the real economy will greatly complicate the activity of firms, particularly for those involved in international operations. While in Western Europe the level of production has already been reduced in some branches, in the Balkans, positive tempo of growth is still being seen.

Looking at it from this angle, themes like ecology and environmental protection tend not to be met with much popularity. That, however, does not apply to DB Schenker, which has resumed its operation in Bulgaria in 1993. The first office was opened in Sofia in 1889.
The company now has about 150 employees here, 100 of them in Sofia and the rest in the major economic regions of Bulgaria: Bourgas, Plovdiv, Rousse, Sevlievo and Varna.

As a division of the new concern DB Mobility Logistics AG, DB Schenker has know-how and in-depth experience with optimising use of various transport modes. The company takes responsibility for the environment very seriously, so much that respecting it in all business actions is part of the overall business philosophy. The numerous projects that DB Schenker has undertaken in the sphere have been a success, and have brought good results.

Shifting transportation from truck to railway is an important step towards sustainability and one of the company's key competencies. For many years now, DB Schenker has been organising block-train operations from Western Europe to the Balkans and Turkey. A block-train, also called trainload, is a complete train, usually carrying goods for one or few customers, that goes directly from starting point to end destination, without any remarshalling en route. For Bulgaria, specifically, DB Schenker runs six to eight block trains monthly from Western Europe and Turkey.

Another option for mass goods, one often forgotten, but recently gaining more popularity, is the Danube River, which leads from the Black Sea [from Romania, through Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Hungary, Slovakia and Austria, to its source in Germany (the Black Forest)] to Bavaria, where it meets up with the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, which ultimately provides navigable waters to Amsterdam.

Helmut Schweighofer, country manager of Schenker EOOD in Bulgaria, told The Sofia Echo that transportation on the Danube is best suited to mass goods like building materials or over-dimensional and heavy items. While slower, this transportation means has a much reduced overall impact on the environment.

When it comes to traditional truck freight, DB Schenker also takes environmentally aware decisions, working to make sure that its CO2 balance is improved, by optimising load capacity, driver training and making use of technical innovations. With environmental protection programmes, the company has been able to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by four million tons a year.

As a specialist in multimodal transport (the use of different types of transport organised by a single operator), it is able to offer the best modal splits, intelligent combinations of truck, rail, sea and air transport. An example of this is the product DB SCHENKERskybridge, which combines the advantages of sea and air transport, thus cutting CO2 emissions in half. Though, in comparison with air transport alone, the transit time is longer, it is comparably shorter that solely travel on the water.

DB Schenker demonstrates another aspect of the pioneer spirit in its project for railway connection between Asia and Europe. The first test trains have shown very good results in transit time, thanks to what has been referred to as "perfect organisation of transport in the transit countries". The Peking-Hamburg route measures about 10 000km; tests have covered the distance in 15 days, Schweighofer said. As among those taking part in the project are non-European Union states, border customs procedures take place at every crossing of borders.
Obviously, such a railway will be much more environmentally friendly than flying, and much faster than ships.

With the implementation of modern technology and infrastructure, DB Schenker is attaining new levels in transport logistics. Through its regional and international hubs, it can bundle freight streams and, thus, reach an optimum loading of transport vehicles. Empty runs are eliminated. By using high-volume equipment (trailers with swap bodies), the company increases capacity and decreases the number of vehicles. As a result, there are decreased CO2 emissions on the roads.

DB Schenker is certified ISO 14001, valid worldwide; as such, it measures and verifies just how successful and how much ecological resources it saves. This starts from simple themes like separating and recycling paper and plastic waste and preferring energy-saving appliances and procedures, Schweighofer said. In Europe alone, 30 out of 35 national subsidiaries are certified as such.
Together with its clients and partners, DB Schenker hopes to accent on new possibilities, and for the theme of environmental protection to be as important as criteria like quality and price.