Why are some figures in the freight industry claiming that CBAM (The European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) will have a bigger impact on traders than Brexit? And what kind of trade deals could the UK’s new government try to strike in 2025?

To gain valuable insights into these questions, we spoke to Geoff Yates, Commercial Director of Espace Global Forwarding.

Yates, who has been in the forwarding business for over two decades, also spoke in detail about the importance of maintaining carrier relationships - especially as logistics processes become ever more digitised and automated.

Alain Jestin has been CEO of UK-based freight forwarder Efret for the best part of 20 years. During this time, digitalisation has made sweeping changes to the way operators handle freight.

However, the past two decades have also brought a myriad of challenges with them, whether it be the 2008 financial crisis, Brexit, the pandemic, and more recently - Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East.

The impact of these developments has also been disparate; changing driver markets, increased bureaucracy, key routes being closed off, and skyrocketing operating costs.

Which solutions has Efret deployed to handle these challenges, and what lies ahead amid turbulent times in the economy and the haulage market? To find out, we spoke to Alain Jestin, CEO and co-founder of Efret.

In the very first episode of The Art of Freight Podcast by Trans.eu, Wolfgang Lehmacher, a renowned and independent expert in the field of transport, logistics and supply chain, reveals his thoughts on the current state of play with digitalisation in the road transport industry.

What is the difference between ‘digital first’ and conventional forwarders? What aspects of freight assignment and management can be automated or not? What do we mean by full visibility? What big leaps forward can we expect to benefit from as visibility technology evolves? And which jobs in the sector will be lost to automation?

In this episode, hosted by Gregor Gowans, you’ll find answers to these questions and more.