DSV appoints management for Germany: Following the acquisition of the DB Schenker group by DSV, Torge Köhnke, Ralf Többe, and Bart Peeters have now been officially appointed as the German management. The newly formed leadership team thus consists of representatives from both companies.
For the air and sea freight sector, 49-year-old Torge Köhnke will continue his role as Managing Director at DSV Air & Sea Germany. The native of Hamburg held positions in Brazil and Mexico, becoming Managing Director of the DSV organization in Mexico in 2009, and was responsible for the Latin America region within the DSV Air & Sea Division from 2015 to 2020 as Vice President.
Ralf Többe assumes the position of Managing Director of the German DSV Road Division from Peter Fog-Petersen, who will in the future be responsible for the group's global FTL/LTL product. 51-year-old Többe brings over 25 years of experience in the transport and logistics industry and was most recently CEO and Head of Land Transport for the Germany/Switzerland cluster at DB Schenker.
As the third managing director, Bart Peeters complements the leadership team at DSV. The 58-year-old has been the Managing Director of the German DSV Contract Logistics division since 2015 and will continue in his role. Peeters studied logistics and economics in Rotterdam and began his career in logistics in 1990. Before his appointment as managing director, Peeters held various leadership positions within the company.
Nicolai Knudsen has been appointed as the Managing Director of Finance for the three divisions, maintaining his position at DSV in Germany. The 54-year-old studied business administration in Copenhagen and began his career as an auditor at an accounting firm before transitioning to the Danish DSV headquarters in controlling. Since 2005, Knudsen has been serving as the Managing Director of Finance and, in recent years, also led the DACH region as well as Central and Eastern Europe as Vice President Finance.
In addition to their roles as managing directors in Germany, Torge Köhnke, Ralf Többe, and Nicolai Knudsen will also be responsible for the DACH region as cluster heads in the future. Bart Peeters will report to Boris Otte, who leads the DACH cluster for contract logistics.
SAF-Holland has appointed Matthew Wolfe as the new "President America" effective June 1, 2025. Wolfe will succeed Kent Jones, who will leave the
company at the end of May 2025 to pursue new challenges.
In his new position, Wolfe is expected to advance the initiatives defined within the drive2030 strategy for the region in the coming months and expand the market position. Wolfe has been serving as Vice President/General Manager Aftermarket Americas for the company since August 2021 and brings over 20 years of experience in the commercial vehicle and automotive industry. Prior to joining SAF-Holland, he spent 15 years at Meritor, where he held numerous leadership positions. He began his career at DaimlerChrysler.
One leaves, two come in: After 38 years, Jürgen Ihl will end his active career with Michelin at the end of May 2025. To continue focusing intensively on the tire specialty segments, the company will split the sales management of the Business Line Beyond Road in the DACH region. Etienne Bernaisch will be responsible for the agricultural tires division for original equipment and the replacement market. Stephan Kluge will take over the area of earthmoving tires and material handling for original equipment and the replacement market.
Ihl began his career in 1987 in the sales of the Kleber brand and switched to Michelin in 1998, where he held various positions. Most recently, he was the sales manager for the Business Line Beyond Road and had been driving its expansion since 2013. He was responsible for the tire business for agricultural, construction, and industrial vehicles. Additionally, Ihl served as Managing Director for the OTR tire and rubber track manufacturer Camso in the DACH region.
Dietmar Lonke took over the management of the intermodal terminal Baltic Rail Gate (BRG) in Lübeck as of May 1. He succeeds Antje Falk, who will retire in the summer after many years of service. Lonke shares the management with Kristian Kölsche, who is appointed by the Frankfurt-based Kombiverkehr KG as Managing Director and has been jointly responsible for the Lübeck terminal since 2009.
Lonke brings extensive experience in intermodal transport and the logistics industry. After positions at Rhenus, Lehnkering, and VTG Rail Logistics, he worked for many years in a leading role at the Italian family business Ambrogio. As the sole Managing Director, he strategically developed the German company. Most recently, he worked on intermodal solutions at the Braker Spedition L.I.T.
Changes at Hellmann: Hellmann Worldwide Logistics has appointed
Robert Bartels as the new Vice President Airfreight West Europe as of May 1, 2025. The 35-year-old has over ten years of industry experience and was most recently Branch Director for Airfreight in Amsterdam at DB Schenker. Bartels is also expected to work from this strategically important location for airfreight logistics in Europe and, in his new role, be responsible for both the operational performance and business development of the Airfreight product in Western Europe.
Tassilo Schneider has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Board of System Alliance Europe (SAE). Previously serving as Chief Operating Officer (COO) on the board of the logistics cooperation, the 33-year-old will replace Oliver Rüter in this role, who has been appointed Honorary President during this year's General Assembly and will move to the Supervisory Board. In his new role, the native of Dortmund will be supported by Walter Konzett, Director of Product Management Land Transport at Gebrüder Weiss, as another board member. Schneider joined in 2021 as the Managing Director of the general cargo cooperation and was appointed to the board in 2023 as part of the realignment of the SAE, which has been operating as a registered cooperative (eG) since 2021. Schneider joined in 2021 as the Managing Director of the general cargo cooperation and, as part of the realignment of the SAE, which has been operating as a registered cooperative (eG) since 2021, was appointed to the board in 2023.
During the General Assembly, the new Supervisory Board of the SAE was also elected, which has been expanded from seven to nine members due to the growth of the cooperation. The Supervisory Board includes:
- Jonathan Adeoye, COO Road Germany and Western Europe, Hellmann Worldwide Logistics, Germany
- Cédric Frachet, COO Heppner Group, France
- Nuno Rangel, CEO Rangel Logistics Solutions, Portugal
- Oliver Rüter, CEO Cretschmar Cargo Süd, Germany
- Peter Schafleitner, Director Product Management Land Transport, Gebrüder Weiss, Austria
- Edward Stephenson, Group Operations Director, Davis Turner, United Kingdom
- Jan Sunde, Managing Director, Freja, Denmark
- Jürgen Wolpert, CPO Zufall Logistics Group, Germany
- Frans Zuidgeest, European Director Forwarding & Transport, Mainfreight, Netherlands
New to the Supervisory Board are Nuno Rangel, Oliver Rüter, and Peter Schafleitner. The new chairman of the SAE Supervisory Board will be elected at the upcoming constitutive meeting in July 2025.
The ADAC general assembly with
nearly 230 delegates from 18 regional clubs has re-elected Christian Reinicke as president of the association with 96 percent of the votes. Reinicke was first elected as ADAC President in 2021. The delegates also confirmed the current ADAC Sports President Dr. Gerd Ennser, the Technology President Karsten Schulze, and the Tourism President Karlheinz Jungbeck in their positions, so the presidency can continue its work in its proven composition.
Since May 15, 2025, Thomas Eberhardt has joined the management level of the federally owned NOW GmbH as the second Managing Director and COO. Together with Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and spokeswoman Dagmar Fehler, whose contract has been extended, he forms the management. Eberhardt succeeds Alina Hain, who left the company on April 24, 2025.
In his new role, Eberhardt is expected to take on overall operational responsibility and contribute to the company's strategic development. The business economist, with degrees from Germany and the USA, began his career at Daimler AG and then worked for many years in a senior position at Toll Collect GmbH, most recently as Managing Director (CFO/COO). Since 2019, he has worked as a consultant in the transport and infrastructure sector.
Nextlane has announced the appointment of Bobby Brown as Chief Customer Officer (CCO) effective April 2025. With over 25 years of experience in customer success, global operations, and after-sales strategy, Brown brings extensive experience from Silicon Valley technology companies and is expected to further drive customer success. As CCO, Brown will focus on expanding the after-sales organization. Before joining Nextlane, Brown served as Global Vice President of Customer Experience at Bird (formerly MessageBird). Previously, he held leadership positions at Twilio and was a founding member of Google News.
At the same time, Nextlane has appointed Shahrokh Khodabakhshi as Regional Leader DACH. With his focus on SaaS business models, cloud-based and technological transformation, and market expansion, Khodabakhshi is expected to drive growth in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. To further strengthen its position in the DACH market, Nextlane has also brought on board Beatrice Gehre as an OEM Evangelist.
Khodabakhshi has extensive experience in the tech industry. As co-founder and CEO, he led the software company HOSTmi, which specializes in managing space missions. He also worked as an independent business consultant, overseeing projects in digital transformation and SaaS across various industries, including the
