History

cargo-partner has been an integral part of the international transport industry for four decades. Founded in 1983 as an air freight specialist in Vienna, we soon began our expansion to other markets and transport modes and took large steps in information technology and sustainable logistics solutions.

1983 – 1993: From airfreight to integrated logistics concepts

Founded in 1983, we started out as an air freight specialist in Vienna, but soon realized that the market was also demanding efficient sea freight solutions and comprehensive logistics concepts. We began to expand our expertise and service portfolio and were soon providing integrated air and sea cargo solutions, supported by a growing network of trucking partners.

1993 – 2000: A strong start in Europe

cargo-partner has always understood Vienna as an important hub, ideally located in the heart of Europe. Our expansion to Eastern Europe was a logical consequence. In 1993, we started our expansion to Bratislava, Prague and Budapest, followed by other major cities in Eastern Europe. When the European Union grew to include more and more Eastern European countries, we branched out to Germany and Benelux to provide optimal market coverage. With Poland, one of the largest national economies of the Eastern European states, another important market opened up to us. In addition, we were able to establish ourselves in Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia.

2000: Pioneering info-logistics with SPOT

We greeted the dawn of the new millennium by implementing the SPOT Visibility & Collaboration Platform for our transport and supply chain management. Information logistics would soon become the defining cornerstone of our organization as we followed the rapid progression of digitalization and remained at the forefront of technological innovation.

2001: First establishments in the USA

In 2001, we opened our first US branch office in New York, motivated by a desire to deepen our know-how and be closer to our customers in this market. Ten years later, we set up a branch in Chicago which quickly turned into our main hub for all our business in the Midwest. Since then, we have opened additional offices in Los Angeles, Houston and Clarksville and supplemented our network with highly qualified partners to offer maximum coverage.

2004: Expansion to Asia, the continent of the 21st century

“Open your arms to change, but don't let go of your values.” These words by the Dalai Lama are emblematic of our expansion in Asia. Anticipating that trade between the European and Asian markets would dominate our industry for the coming decades, we took the first step into the Far East with the opening of our office in Taiwan in 2004. The same year, we launched our first offices in mainland China, followed by India, Thailand and Singapore in 2007 and 2008. Today, we operate offices in South Korea, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar. We strive to embrace the culture and mentality of each country while simultaneously retaining and enforcing our cargo-partner values.

2006: Reinforcing our strong focus on environmentally sound logistics

The logistics industry is an extremely competitive but also highly environmentally relevant field of business. We are aware of our responsibility and continue to take active steps for the prevention of global warming. In 2006, we founded the organization “Environmental cargo-partners” to reinforce our belief in ecologically sustainable logistics and initiate practical steps to promote the further development of innovative technologies for the reduction of hazardous substances. We invest in innovation because we see it as the best way to achieve a lasting positive impact. In an industry where it is customary to delay such research into new technologies, we strive to inspire others to follow our lead.

2016: Ushering in the future of info-logistics

In 2016, we took two significant steps to further solidify our position as leading information logistics provider and upgrade our commitment to exceptional process quality along the entire supply chain. In fall 2016, we launched the cargo-partner Road Carrier Platform. This freight exchange for road transports simplifies the search for available vehicle capacities and streamlines communication and information management to ensure quality, minimize empty runs and optimize prices. At the same time, we started implementing the upgraded version of the SPOT Visibility and Collaboration Platform. The final implementation of the new SPOT system was completed in spring 2017 with excellent feedback from our clients and partners around the world.

2018: Establishing contract logistics as third main pillar

In the past several years, we have been focusing strongly on the expansion of our worldwide warehouse network and logistics competences as our third main pillar next to air and seafreight. With our steadily increasing warehouse capacities in Europe, Asia and the USA, we cover all important hubs, creating a solid basis to support our customers’ international production and distribution networks. Thanks to our selected road transport and parcel service partners, we can offer a comprehensive service package. Our clients have grown to rely on our tailor-made warehousing solutions, benefiting from close cooperation, precisely coordinated processes and innovative IT tools to ensure maximum efficiency in their worldwide logistics operations.

We continue to remain at the forefront of progress in regard to our global expansion, our variety of industry-specific logistics solutions, our innovations for sustainable logistics, and our state-of-the-art IT systems. We sincerely thank our customers and partners for making our successful history possible and we guarantee that we will continue to provide exceptional service in accordance with the values that unite our worldwide cargo-partner family:

we take it personally,
serving our clients better than others
with passion for excellence!