A multi-country agreement combines lithium-ion lift trucks, flexible rental capacity, and centralized digital fleet management across Kuehne+Nagel operations.
Jungheinrich and Kuehne+Nagel have signed an international framework agreement covering around 5,000 industrial trucks across several European countries, creating a multi-year partnership that goes well beyond equipment supply.
The agreement combines industrial trucks, rental, service and centralized fleet management. For Kuehne+Nagel, the approach is designed to provide a more standardized way to manage material handling equipment across multiple locations and countries while retaining the flexibility to adjust fleet size as operating requirements change.
That fleet-management component makes the agreement particularly interesting. Jungheinrich has developed a customized version of its Rental Fleet Management system for Kuehne+Nagel, called KN-RFM+. The system combines a core equipment fleet with rental trucks that can be added or reduced according to demand.
A Fleet Agreement Built Around Flexibility
Rather than treating rental equipment as a separate solution for occasional peaks, the model brings core and flexible equipment together under a common fleet-management approach. Jungheinrich says the system is intended to improve utilization while providing greater transparency and comparability across sites and national borders.
“This partnership goes far beyond the provision of industrial trucks,” said Nadine Despineux, Chief Sales Officer at Jungheinrich AG. She said the Rental Fleet Management approach is intended to provide Kuehne+Nagel with an internationally consistent fleet model combining transparency, flexibility and efficiency.
The equipment deployed under the agreement will include energy-efficient Jungheinrich industrial trucks using lithium-ion technology. Jungheinrich points to high availability, short charging times and maintenance-free battery systems as advantages for standardized fleets operating across multiple sites.
The agreement also builds on an existing relationship. Jungheinrich is already a fleet partner for Kuehne+Nagel in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The new framework strengthens that relationship and provides a foundation for expansion into additional countries.
Managing Material Handling Across Multiple Markets
For a global logistics operator, standardizing equipment is only part of the challenge. Utilization can vary significantly between facilities and over time, making visibility into fleet size, equipment use and short-term rental requirements increasingly important.
“The requirements in logistics are evolving rapidly,” said Eduardo Razuck, Executive Vice President Contract Logistics and Member of the Board of Management at Kuehne+Nagel. He said combining Kuehne+Nagel’s operational expertise with Jungheinrich’s fleet-management capabilities will create a scalable and transparent approach across multiple markets.
The agreement provides a useful example of how large material handling fleets are evolving. Equipment selection remains important, but fleet visibility, utilization, flexible capacity and standardized management across locations are becoming increasingly intertwined with the trucks themselves.
With around 5,000 industrial trucks covered by the framework, the Jungheinrich-Kuehne+Nagel agreement puts those elements together on a substantial international scale.
Sources: Jungheinrich; Modern Materials Handling.
