Bulk on the move
Interview with Dr. DI Julia Heißenberger, Managing Director
The transport industry is under growing pressure to reconcile economic efficiency with the need to reduce emissions. Based in Graz, logistics specialist W. Riedel Silo-Transportgesellschaft m.b.H. meets the challenge by investing in electric mobility, intermodal transport and broader industrial services. Dr. DI Julia Heißenberger, Managing Director, explains where electric trucks make economic sense and why reliability remains crucial.
European Business: Dr. Heißenberger, the transport sector is a low-margin business and has faced considerable cost pressure in recent years.
Dr. Julia Heißenberger: Absolutely. After several strong years in the construction industry, the situation changed significantly from around 2023. Higher interest rates led to a downturn in construction, while wages, fuel and other operating costs increased sharply. These developments have put further pressure on tight margins and made efficiency even more important. That means optimizing vehicle utilization, reducing empty runs, deploying drivers efficiently and avoiding unnecessary overtime. At the same time, we have to negotiate with customers and constantly look for new business opportunities.
European Business: Silo Riedel itself has undergone considerable changes over the past decade. Can you outline the company’s development and your own role within it?
Dr. Julia Heißenberger: Silo Riedel was founded in 1954 and originally specialized in transport for the construction materials industry. A major turning point came in 2014, when the company was taken over by new owners as there was no successor within the Riedel family.
Manual processes were modernized and digitalized, and in 2015 we achieved ISO 9001 certification. In 2017, we opened our site in Leopoldsdorf near Vienna with its own workshop, washing facilities, parking areas and photovoltaic system. In 2023, we took another important step by establishing InnoRiedel Intermodal GmbH as a 50:50 joint venture with rail logistics specialist Innofreight. I have been with Silo Riedel for eight years. My background is in mechanical engineering and business, and today I oversee finance as part of the management team.
European Business: Beyond these developments, you are broadening the company’s traditional focus on silo transport.
Dr. Julia Heißenberger: Construction materials such as cement, gypsum and lime remain an important part of our business, with our transports covering the DACH region and extending as far as southern Italy. However, construction is seasonal. We therefore want to become less dependent on this sector and generate more year-round industrial business. Our container transports already include products for the food and plastics industries. We have also added ADR-certified dangerous goods transport to our portfolio, which requires specially qualified drivers and approved vehicles and trailers. Looking ahead, we see further potential in transporting and disposing of industrial residues as well as in expanding our container business.
European Business: One of your most visible investments has been in electric mobility. How far have you come, and where are the economic and practical limits?
Dr. Julia Heißenberger: We started in 2024 with eight Volvo electric trucks and were among the first companies in Austria to introduce electric mobility into silo transport. Today, eleven of our 62 vehicles are electric, and we intend to expand the electric fleet further, partly replacing diesel vehicles and partly adding capacity. Our electric trucks have received a very positive response from customers, who appreciate that a company with around 80 employees is prepared to take the lead in this area. We are also proud that, together with Knauf and Innofreight, we won the 2024 VCÖ Mobility Award for a CO2-neutral natural gypsum transport project. At the same time, the investment is considerable. An electric truck currently costs around three times as much as a comparable diesel vehicle, making it difficult for us to invest without subsidies. The availability of suitable charging infrastructure is another key factor. We have our own facilities and try to charge overnight whenever possible, benefiting from favourable electricity tariffs and avoiding additional driver working time. For long-distance and some ADR operations, however, current ranges are not sufficient, so we still rely on diesel vehicles. I wouldn’t say the transition is complete – it is still underway.
European Business: Today, you are also strengthening intermodal transport. What role will the combination of road and rail play in the future?
Dr. Julia Heißenberger: It is an important part of our strategy. Through InnoRiedel Intermodal, we combine road and rail transport for a wide variety of bulk goods, with Silo Riedel handling the first or last mile and Innofreight the rail transport. We intend to expand these services further. Digitalization is another priority. In future, telematics systems should enable us to capture CO2 data more systematically, and we are planning to replace our ERP system in the medium term. Modern logistics systems can provide precisely the data that will increasingly be required for sustainability reporting.
European Business: With all this change, what should remain characteristic of Silo Riedel in the years ahead?
Dr. Julia Heißenberger: Reliability is fundamental to us – both as an employer and as a service provider. As a family-run company, we offer short decision-making processes, direct contacts and fair working conditions. This reputation also helps us when it comes to recruiting drivers; so far, the driver shortage has not affected us as severely as many other companies in the industry. At the same time, we want to remain innovative. We will continue to expand intermodal transport and our electric fleet, and we are looking at further developing our own charging infrastructure, potentially combined with our own power generation and storage.