DB Schenker

In his biography, then CEO of Deutsche Bahn Hartmut Mehdorn justified the acquisition of international logistics companies with customer demands. In 2000, analysis had shown the 200 largest customers ship up to 60% of their freight abroad.[4] Since the core operating territory had been Germany, customers were lost to competitors with a more compelling international offer. There was no time to grow organically in such markets.[5] This analysis led to the acquisition of Stinnes AG and the associated brand name Schenker. Since December 2007 DB Schenker has been the freight logistics subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn. DB Schenker combines all transport and logistic activities of Deutsche Bahn (except rail cargo), employing over 72000 staff spread across about 2,000 locations in about 140 countries.

Schenker AG and its many subsidiaries handle worldwide logistics operations including Land Transport, Air and Ocean Freight as well as Contract Logistics/SCM, and is part of the DB Schenker organization. Since 2016, rail freight business no longer operates under the brand DB Schenker Rail. Instead, it operates as a standalone business unit under the brand name DB Cargo in Deutsche Bahn Group.[6]

DB Schenker serves many global and local firms across all industries. Notably, DB Schenker manages large and complex supply chains for multinationals such as Apple[7], Procter & Gamble[8], Dell[9], ASML[10], BMW[11] and many more.

In 2016, DB Schenker was convicted for consecutive cases of corruption in St. Petersburg, Russia, bribing local customs officials from 2010 to mid-2012. At the time, DB Schenker involved a Russian agency for enabling the rapid flow of shipments to carmaker Ford’s St. Petersburg facility. DB Schenker had to pay a penalty of €2m.[12]

In September 2015, then and current CEO Jochen Thewes slapped and pushed a cab driver, who refused to pick up a drunken Thewes, in downtown Singapore. He also kicked the car and caused damage. Thewes was eventually sentenced to a fine of S$1000 and two weeks of jailtime in Singapore.[13]

In 2020, DB Schenker was accused of unfair price dumping during the Coronavirus recession and related market turbulences. Using its status as a state-owned company (as subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn), it offered prices below its own production costs for some European land routes via the freight exchange Timocom.[14]

• Gottfried Schenker