Cargus: outstanding operational performance

This year was a full one for Cargus: the business expanded to international markets, improved its operational performance, consolidated its out-of-home networks, enriched its team with professionals, and followed its mission to become a leader in innovation in the courier industry. CEO Yannick Mooijman tells us all about the strong business prospects Cargus has for 2024.

By Anda Sebesi

What were the biggest challenges Cargus faced in 2023?

It has always been difficult for courier companies to secure and retain a constant number of employees, especially couriers and sorters, but in recent years this has become increasingly problematic. In order to deal with this situation, we’ve made long-term investments in technology to reduce the complexity of daily tasks, develop new delivery options, and expand the recruitment area.

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Another challenge is road infrastructure, because it has a direct effect on operational costs and can influence the quality of services we offer to our partners and consumers. Many things have changed for the better in recent years in Romania, but the infrastructure still needs significant effort and strategic investments.

The low degree of predictability in terms of fuel prices, inflation, and taxes tends to become an important challenge for courier companies. The last two years have significantly increased expenses, and the fact that we are still going through a period of great uncertainty increases the vulnerability of the industry as a whole.

Last but not least, the transport industry has the responsibility of carrying out its activity in a sustainable way, therefore in the medium and long term another challenge consists of calibrating processes and activities in accordance with European sustainability norms. Long term, it is an opportunity to do business in a mindful way for the generations to come.

What were the most important projects the company carried out in 2023?

I’ll name just a few projects that we nurtured and launched this year: Cargus Mobile and MyCargus exceeded 1 million downloads; the consumer return service that allows a parcel to be returned in just a few seconds, without a printed AWB, in the Cargus SHIP & GO network; the first e-Commerce platform for B2B contract delivery services in Romania, 100% digital and accessible 24/7 to the micro and SME segment.

We also managed to achieve an outstanding operational performance—among the best on the market as 98% of all parcels are delivered as promised to our customers—, expanded our portfolio of international clients and reached new countries, and increased our out-of-home delivery network to around 3,500 pick-up/drop-off points and lockers.

How important are ESG and sustainability criteria for Cargus and the courier industry in general?

We are making great efforts to reduce our environmental footprint, so we are always looking for efficiency solutions to have as little impact on the environment as possible: renewing our fleet with hybrid cars (which we did in 2021), reducing the number of km travelled, optimising courier routes, optimising logistics operations, and launching new delivery options such as Cargus SHIP & GO, the fixed-point delivery national network. Moreover, this year, we also completed the installation of solar panels on the roof of our Magurele warehouse.

We are creating an environment that encourages diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity. We are proud of the fact that 49% of all employees are women, who hold 36% of management positions (based on data from September 2023).

An important part of the company’s sustainable development process consists of evaluating suppliers of goods and services from an ESG point of view, so that social responsibility is also reflected in the supply chain. Our efforts were recognised this year: we were honoured with a silver medal from EcoVadis, an international benchmark in terms of rating and certification, for our sustained efforts in adopting responsible practices in sustainability and business ethics. This marks the second consecutive year that Cargus has received recognition from EcoVadis, acknowledging our commitment to implementing long-term sustainable practices.

What is the outlook for the courier industry in 2024?

2023 started out better for Cargus than the previous year, with a good evolution of revenues, investments in operational infrastructure and optimisation, new products and services, digital tools, and the development of the Cargus SHIP & GO network. At the end of 2023, we’ve maintained the growth trend compared to 2022 and we estimate that 2024 will bring consistent growth thanks to the evolution of our domestic and international channels.