The world’s first truck returns to the road
The famous replica of the world’s first truck, displayed at the Daimler Truck headquarters in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, is temporarily leaving the museum for restoration. Ahead of its 130th anniversary, the vehicle will undergo technical work at the Philipp-Matthäus-Hahn-Schule in Nürtingen, a specialist institute for vintage vehicles. Under the guidance of experienced instructors, the school’s apprentices will restore the truck to full working condition. Its return is scheduled for the end of August, just in time to take centre stage at the Spitzkraut Classics event.
Cargo volumes fall in Rotterdam in the first half of 2025
In the first half of 2025, the port of Rotterdam recorded an overall drop of 4.1% in cargo volumes, which fell to 211 million tonnes. The sharpest declines were seen in dry bulk (-8.9%) and liquid bulk (-5.3%). Bucking the trend, container traffic in TEUs rose by 2.7%, reaching 7 million TEUs, driven by recovering European demand and an 8.4% increase in imports from Asia. Volumes with North America were also up (+9.1%), thanks to a reshuffling of maritime alliances. However, in terms of tonnage, containers were down 1.0% to 66.5 million tonnes due to a higher share of empty containers and a 5% drop in full exports, highlighting the difficulties facing European industry. The closure of several chemical plants and the resulting job losses are a cause for concern. Nevertheless, the port’s financial performance and investment levels remain stable.
US tariffs slow DHL shipments from China
DHL has reported a sharp decline in express shipments from the United States to China and Hong Kong following the removal of a duty exemption for consignments valued up to 800 dollars. If this measure is extended globally by the end of August, it could reduce the company’s annual operating profit by 231 million dollars, said CFO Melanie Kreis. Despite a 3.9% fall in second-quarter revenues (22.9 billion dollars), operating profit rose by 5.7% to 1.6 billion. B2C express shipments in the US dropped by 20%, while e-commerce volumes in Europe rose by 11%.
Helrom opens new Düsseldorf-Győr route
Helrom has launched a new rail connection for semi-trailers between Düsseldorf in Germany and Győr in Hungary, despite the start of preliminary insolvency proceedings. The service has been operating since 1 August 2025, with five weekly departures.
More trucks on Italian motorways
In the first quarter of 2025, industrial vehicle traffic on Italian motorways increased compared to the same period in 2024, confirming a continued upward trend even beyond pre-pandemic levels. According to the latest report from the Mobility Observatory of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, average daily traffic on the Anas road network rose by 1% compared to the first quarter of 2024 and by 9% compared to 2019. On toll motorways, traffic – measured in vehicle-kilometres – increased by 5% year-on-year and by 13% compared to the first quarter of 2019. The ministry had already reported increases in 2024 of 2% on the Anas network and 3% on toll motorways compared to 2023, with figures exceeding the first quarter of 2019 by 10% and 6% respectively.
