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The World Cargo Alliance (WCA) is a prestigious, global organization of independent freight forwarders with over 9,000 offices in 193 countries around the world. In April 2021, the Polish branch of the AsstrA international corporate group joined the organization. Membership in this prestigious network will help the company continue providing sea and air logistics services tailored to customer requirements.

The Association of Romanian Freight Forwarders (Uniunea Societăților de Expediții din România, or USER) is a Romanian association of transport companies, including logistics providers and customs agents. The association’s members transport 10% of the cargo shipped in this Balkan country. In February 2021, AsstrA Forwarding Romania SRL joined the association.

A logistics company with its own warehouse can provide customers with services more directly and with more safety at every stage of transportation. This way, customers’ total costs are optimized and service quality is maximized. To help clients import and export goods, a temporary storage permit is required.

According to a report by the Trend Economy web portal, Lithuanian exports in 2020 were worth $32 billion in total. Compared to 2019, the volume of goods that Lithuania supplied abroad decreased by only 1.19% in 2020. The most commonly exported goods were furniture products, accounting for 8.08% of exports, and industrial equipment, accounting for 8.74%. The Lithuanian furniture industry employs over 50 thousand people.

In 2020 the international corporate group’s turnover amounted to 370 million euros, 7.5% more than in 2019. During 2020 project logistics were an area of focus, with AsstrA Project Logistics departments launched in London, Kotka, and Houston. Compared to 2019, the company’s project logistics customer base grew by 37% and gross profits on project logistics orders were up 12%.

On December 24, 2020, on Christmas Eve, representatives of the European Union and the United Kingdom reached an agreement on the terms of the UK's secession from the EU. Discussions and negotiations concerning Brexit terms had been taking place since 2016, when 51.9% of Britons voted in support of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU.

UN experts estimate that the G20 countries produced 43 gigatons of CO2 emissions in 2019. This amount is 78% of all the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere during the year. The environmental problem is of concern not only to green political parties, but also to privately held businesses.

Business consulting services are in greater demand every year. According to the IPT Group’s research center, the market for consulting services has grown by 73% over the past ten years.

In 2019, the total amount of available industrial and logistics storage space in Romania reached 4.6 million square meters, a 10% increase vs. the previous year. Growth is up more than 50% over the past three years.

The Finnish transit port of Kotka – located in the town of the same name on the shore of the Gulf of Finland 280 kilometers from St. Petersburg, 150 kilometers from Helsinki and 50 kilometers from the Russian-Finnish border – plays a prominent role in trade between the CIS and the rest of the world.

The number of cars in the world is growing rapidly every year. Global industry sales amounted to 75 million vehicles in 2019.

With competition growing fast in the logistics industry, every service provider wants to offer Clients the best results.

Oversized Transportation Department specialists completed the project in 25 days. In August 2020, the AsstrA Heavy Lift Department successfully completed a transportation project involving bulky cargo from Norrköping in Sweden to the Novy Port roadstead in Russia.

The AsstrA corporate group is proud to work with over 10,000 carrier partners. During 2019, AsstrA executed 161,000 transport orders, with more than 600 completed every business day.

The unprecedented year of 2020 is now in its second half. As we approach the 4th quarter, fears of a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic are growing.

The self-driving car industry is growing exponentially. It's time to say that riding in a motor vehicle without a driver has become possible.

Transport companies have been eagerly awaiting a final decision on a new set of regulations that will fundamentally change how European transport market.

In recent months, Asia and the Mediterranean are no longer just a logistics sideshow for the People's Republic of China, but rather areas of key focus.

For clients, a logistics company’s membership in professional associations indicates reliability and an ability to provide services of international quality standards.

2019 marked the end of a 10-year growth streak for the automotive industry. The recent decline in production capacity was caused by a PRC / USA trade war that deepened the economic downturn in China.

The rating of the 1,000 largest companies in Poland, published by the local newspaper Gazeta Finansowa, has been appearing for several years.

The spread of the coronavirus pandemic has triggered the worst economic downurn in Europe in 10 years.

The AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG international logistics corporate group summed up the results of its global operations during the first six months of 2020.

The beginning of the year was not favorable for the British economy, which was hit simultaneously by coronavirus restrictions and the UK’s exit from the European Union.

Switzerland has effectively managed the recent pandemic situation. Since mid-May, the number of new infections there has been minimized. The Swiss government has begun to gradually remove the emergency measures it imposed. From the economic point of view, however, the pandemic has dealt a strong blow.

For the AsstrA corporate group, the beginning of the year was marked by a remarkable event – a victory in a tender organized by a leading global automobile manufacturer. The route to be serviced runs from the United States to Russia. The customer’s requirements for the transport company included knowledge of the logistics in the region, high-quality services, below-market rates, and a warehouse near the manufacturing plant.

The year 2020 will go down in history as an inflection point where life – as we knew it – changed. Previously forgotten basic truths took on newfound significance. Face-to-face conversations with loved ones and evening walks in the park became more valuable than the latest gadget or fashion accessory from a new collection. Doctors began to receive sincere applause, and everyone remembered that good health is in fact the most important possession.

Spain and France are among the European countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The countries’ governments imposed strict quarantines at the end of March 2020, and residents spent 7 weeks at home. National leaders eased the self-isolation regime in early May.

The quality of services an international logistics company or transport partner provides is the result of the coordinated work. Good teamwork is an indicator of a company’s competitiveness and a key factor behind its successful development.

Every day, tens of thousands of vehicles operate on international highways. Occasionally, these vehicles includes convoys of trucks moving oversized, non-standard cargo like medical modules, components of petrochemical plants, and even homes.

The world experienced the spring of 2020 in self-isolation mode. Governments of numerous countries around the world imposed quarantines, and many people have been forced to stay at home and be content to go out only to walk pets or shop for food.

May has marked a turning point in the easing of quarantine measures and restrictions. After a strict quarantine, Western Europe is gradually returning to the usual rhythm of life. The first countries to return have been the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Between their places of manufacture and end use, production line elements must often travel thousands of kilometers. In several such cases, the AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG corporate group team organized production line shipments from Asia to Poland. Janusz Bulinski, Head of the AsstrA Sea Freight Department in Gdansk, shares the details of these successful projects.

Whether a shipment involves electrical appliance parts from China to the EU, pharmaceuticals from Belgium to Poland, or cosmetics from the USA to Russia, warehousing services are a core component of the logistics chain for customers in almost any industry. In April 2020, AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG opened its own warehouse for customers in Poland.

What is trust and how to earn it? What characterizes trust in business? Over the past ten years, researchers and society have paid close attention to understanding what makes for good business relations, successful partnership, and the role trust plays in both.

How to choose a logistics company? What should one pay attention to? Some are guided by the recommendations of colleagues, others look for information with search engines, and some look for references in the media.

Over the last five years, remote work has been associated primarily with freelancing. Today, due to the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, companies from a wide variety of industries are switching to this format of work globally. Employees of companies that have not embraced home offices before have to adapt to this new approach to achieving business goals. Team members must take greater responsibility for managing their time and complying with cybersecurity policies.

The main point of insurance is to protect against risk. As a rule, risk is understood as the probability that property, interests, or goals may be adversely affected. A person would seek to avoid these scenarios or receive compensation if they do occur. Insured events are assessed in terms of their probability of happening and the amount of damages they would cause if they do happen.

International transportation and logistics operator AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG is a fast developing group of companies. Each year the company enters new markets to get closer to its Clients. In 2020 we’re coming to Hungary. Jó reggelt!

On January 1, 2020, a decision to reduce the permissible sulfur content in fuel from 3.5% to 0.5% came into force for marine vessels. The measure was adopted to combat the growing threat pollution poses to the world’s environment. Road transport emission regulations are also undergoing a transformation. Starting in 2020, plans call for a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 3% every year. By 2025, CO2 emissions from trucks will be reduced by 15% of today’s levels. And by 2030, emissions will be 30% lower vs 2019.

The coronavirus situation in Wuhan is developing very rapidly and causing disruptions to global supply chains. Are loads from China safe? What is the best way to handle current conditions? Grzegorz Zdybel, Trade Lane Manager in the AsstrA-Associated Traffic AG international transportation and logistics group answers these questions and more.

Sustainable development is the theme of the future. The term was first used in 1972 at the UN Stockholm conference on the environment. “Sustainable development” is a model for economic growth not depleting natural resources.

The coronavirus situation in Wuhan is rapidly developing and causing complications in the global transport industry.

What is the most expensive thing in the modern world? Gold? Diamonds? Or maybe – according to a Forbes’ ranking of valuable products – a rhino horn? In the transport and logistics industry, time is the most expensive commodity.