European trailer and ag equipment manufacturer Krone recently welcomed a delegation from the Austrian transport group LKW Walter for the ceremonial handover of the 40,000th trailer as the two companies celebrated their 40-year collaboration. In addition to the handover of the anniversary vehicle, the visit included tours of the Krone factories and agricultural machinery production facilities.
Bernard Krone, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Krone Holding SE, and Ingo Geerdes, Managing Director of Fahrzeugwerk Bernard Krone GmbH, welcomed Christian Bernegger, CEO of Walter Group Holding AG, and Karl Schauer, senior management director at LKW Walter Internationale Transportorganisation AG, as well as Anton Dietrich, managing director of Walter Leasing GmbH in Emsland, Germany.
During the handover, Ingo Geerdes recognized the many years of successful cooperation.
“Forty years of partnership with LKW Walter and 40,000 units produced—these impressive figures speak for themselves,” Geerdes said. “We would like to thank LKW Walter for the many years of trust and the intensive dialogue, which has repeatedly led to product improvements and innovations. We are very much looking forward to continuing our successful and productive collaboration.’
Founded in 1924, the transport organization LKW Walter is a leader in European full truckload transport. With 1,650 employees, the Austrian private company, which is 100% family-owned, handles more than 1.7 million full truck loads per year. LKW Walter has been a pioneer in the development of combined road/rail transport and short sea shipping since 1984.
“Our Krone craneable trailers are in daily use throughout Europe—most of the way by rail or ship.” Schauer said. “By shifting from road transport to combined transport, we are making a significant contribution to reducing pollutant emissions and can achieve a total C02 reduction of over 329,000 tons per year.”
In addition to the handover of the anniversary vehicle, the two-day visit to Emsland included a tour of the Krone factories in Werlte and Herzlake as well as the Krone agricultural machinery production facility in Spelle. Here, the guests from Austria also visited the Krone Museum, which documents the development of the Krone company from a small forge to a globally active agricultural machinery and commercial vehicle manufacturer.