Few in the international carrier community would argue that the transportation sector faces challenges on multiple fronts, led by global economic headwinds, the need to confront climate/sustainability targets, and the recurring lack of labour availability. Georgia and Stefan agreed that technology has a huge role to play in helping carriers navigate their way to future success.
Some background: Having started his career in the transport industry back in 2007, Stefan Tofanel has been CEO of Luscan Spedition since 2022, and is responsible for both strategic direction as well as overall operations at the Vienna-based concern. The Luscan Group was founded in 1992, but with the Austria start-up kicking into gear just last year, Stefan was naturally keen to explore ways to source new customers and business opportunities. He first learned of the Transporeon platform when it was recommended to him by a couple of friends in the industry and he was quickly impressed by how easy it is to use and how much it has to offer. That led him to try the Carrier Premium Account.
More visibility and connections
Asked by Georgia to explain how the platform has impacted Luscan, Stefan highlighted its ability to bring immediate visibility to his company, pointing out that in a busy and highly competitive marketplace, securing such wide visibility for a transport company can sometimes be a struggle. In his experience, the Carrier Premium Account fast-tracks this visibility with the further benefit of enabling direct and seamless connections with companies and individuals who are in a position to provide his team with business. This is a real advantage for a new location set-up, even if it is part of a long-established successful international business.
Stefan also expressed how impressed he is by the huge reduction in paperwork and manual administration thanks to the Carrier Premium Account and the wider Transporeon platform. Both tools ensure a painless and simple way to keep up with billing and invoicing requirements without the need to call or email clients with reminders. Payment delays are automatically dealt with and generate clear benefits to cashflow status.
Georgia was – naturally – delighted by this assessment, emphasising that improved visibility and pain-free billing and invoicing processes were integral pillars of the original platform concept. She asked Stefan if – without naming names – he could talk a little about his success in accessing brand new customers using the Carrier Premium Account.
More specialist support
Stefan was happy to report that as a niche specialist in bulk and waste transportation, it was rewarding to discover that Transporeon was able to help many more carriers than simply those looking to ship ‘standard’ palletised goods. He cited the example of a paper factory in Germany with which Luscan now has a partnership, outlining dramatic improvements to the organisation of the trips, as well as the onward journeys from Point A to Point B to pick up the next load, even if that destination is located in, for instance, Italy or Germany. He admitted that while he has used other platforms in the past, Transporeon’s versatility negates the need to engage with any other tool.
With an important reminder that Transporeon’s business model only works if it can match demand and capacity effectively for both sides, Georgia asked Stefan if it was fair to observe that it was working very well in Luscan’s case – increasing customers and revenue, sourcing and finding new customers, handling those customers efficiently and proactively, and all with the benefit of being paid on time.
Stefan was happy to concur, adding that as well as using the platform daily as a key part of business operations, it has also become a powerful mutual research partner in terms of future strategies and perspectives.
