Management Assistant in Railway and Road Freight

Michel Rothgaenger

Aug 21, 2020

Whether transporting goods and passengers by train or truck - rail and road merchants are located in the middle of a huge network of rail and road links across the continent. Their job is to optimally plan transports in relation to infrastructure, provide organizational support and monitor them until the goods arrive.

By forwarding agency and courier

The focus is efficient transport of goods, which usually has to be carried out quickly and, above all, safely. Employers are often forwarders or postal companies. Evaluation of whether railway or road freight is the better option includes the analysis and comparison of services and transport, but also close coordination with the customer to determine their wishes and with the partner companies that are involved in the entire transport chain. As soon as the ideal route has been determined, an offer is made to the customer. If the customer places the order, the further organization around the transport is in the hands of the assistant for rail and road transport. They take care of things, such as proper packaging of the goods, the planning of the best possible use of loading space in the truck, the deployment and shift planning for drivers through and delivery.

Commercial spectrum

In addition to the organizational aspects, the operational side also plays a vital role. Shipments go abroad and are subject to different customs regulations, depending on through which and how many countries they are transported. Accordingly, the employees must prepare the freight and customs documents comprehensively and, depending on customer wishes, also include transport insurance. Tracking systems track the flow of goods to their destination. This is particularly important if there are junctions along the route, if several transport service providers are involved, or if there is a switch from rail to road.

Depending on their interests, employees can develop from the operative business in different directions. In sales, they can expand the business, cultivate customer relationships, develop new customers or participate in further market penetration with new strategic approaches. Anyone with strengths in number-based topics for example, can ensure clean business processes in accounting and controlling, analyze trends, give impetus for optimization and have an overview of business development in tables.

Passenger transport

Not only goods are transported from one place to another. People also want to move almost daily within certain distances or several times a year over longer distances. If not in your own car, then perhaps in the bus, on the road, or in the train. Here, too, assistants for rail and road transport sit in the background.

Maybe a customer wants to transport his newly purchased car by train from Spain to Germany and needs a special offer from the railway operator - or a family would like to travel through Europe by train. In most cases, this is about handling small customer orders for customers who want to go from A to B with individual ideas. This includes advising the customer on possible means of transport, prices and routes as well as selling tickets. The focus is on the optimal provision of an infrastructure that meets the requirements of customers and can be covered with the existing network. Employees who work here therefore plan routes, frequencies and draw up plans as to how, for example, the fleet of a bus company can be used most efficiently without costly empty runs and intermediate routes arising. Staff deployment planning and the creation of shift plans for train drivers or bus drivers can also be included.

A job profile with many facets, whether classical commercial, organizational or rather strategic. Without most of us being aware of it, assistants for railway and road transport work in many neuralgic positions, which make it as easy as possible for us to ship goods and transport ourselves from A to B.