The story
Founded by Thomas Dachser in 1930.1
1930–1938: Conventional transport
DACHSER started in 1930 during the Great Depression, transporting Allgäu cheese to the Rhineland region, and opened the company's first subsidiary in Memmingen in 1934. This was followed four years later by the opening of a branch in Neuss in the Rhineland, at which time DACHSER became the leading transport company in the Allgäu region.
1939–1950: The war and post-war years
In the Second World War, the vehicle fleet was requisitioned and the drivers enlisted by the state. All of the company's sites were destroyed during the war. Shortly after the end of the war, DACHSER started trading again and, in 1949, "Thomas Dachser Spedition" was added to the commercial registry.
1951–1971: Conventional transport company
Growth of the company took off in the 1950s, with a large number of new branches opening in Germany and the addition of international overland, air and sea freight services. DACHSER opened its first air-freight office at Munich Airport in 1951 and, by the end of the decade, employed more than 1,000 people, generating revenue of more than DM 70 million.
In 1969, the company was a founding member of Kombiverkehr KG, the aim of which was to integrate road and rail transport. One of the purposes of the newly established venture was to organize the rail transport of trucks and swap bodies for their partners. This was one of the reasons behind DACHSER opting to change over its entire fleet to swap-body vehicles by 1971. The outside dimensions chosen for the interchangeable carriers were then taken up by other manufacturers and transport companies and became an industry standard.
1972–1989: Logistics as a core function
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Following the death of the founder, Thomas Dachser, in 1979, the company was inherited by his daughters, Christa Rohde-Dachser and Annemarie Simon.
In 1982, the company started to offer its customers warehousing and transport of temperature-sensitive food products, which was handled by the newly established Fresh Produce (now Food Logistics) division.
1990–1999: Logistics optimizes process chains
In 1994 the company introduced the SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) for the identification of packages. This barcode became well-established in transport logistics as a unique identification code. DACHSER acquired the French logistics provider, Graveleau, in 1999, enabling the company to expand its network in Europe and North Africa.
2000 – present: Global logistics networks
With the acquisition of the Haugstedt Group in 2005, DACHSER extended its network in northern Europe. Since then, DACHSER has been expanding in Asia, Europe, Central, and South America, and the United States. Further developments include the establishment of the "Logimasters & DACHSER" joint venture in Brazil and the strengthening of the Group's presence in the Czech Republic through the acquisition of the logistics provider, E.S.T.. In 2010, DACHSER took over J A LEACH Transport Ltd., based in Rochdale, United Kingdom and in early 2013 acquired the Spanish air and sea freight company, Transunion S. A., driving expansion in Spain, Turkey, Argentina, Peru and Mexico.
With the acquisition of Spanish logistics provider Azkar, with headquarters in Coslada near Madrid, on January 15, 2013, DACHSER's presence in Spain and Portugal grew to 91 facilities, employing 3,000 people. On October 14, 2013, the company acquired a majority of the shares of the Finnish air and sea freight company, Oy Waco Logistics Finland. Based in Vantaa in southern Finland, close to the capital, Helsinki, Oy Waco Logistics Finland operates additional offices in the economic hubs of Lahti, Oulu, Tampere and Vaasa. With a workforce of 54, the company generated EUR 24 million in revenue in 2012. It announced a name change to SE & Co. KG, in February 2015, transferring the Road Logistics and Air & Sea Logistics business segments to the wholly owned subsidiary, DACHSER SE.
From Wikipedia’s article on Dachser, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5