The German carrier Willi Betz, previously regarded as the ‘big bad wolf’ of European road transport and as the forerunner of social dumping, is in dire straits: its subsidiary Betz International was declared bankrupt by the Court of First Instance in Tübingen on April 7.
Betz International GmbH is active in international transport and employs approximately 140 people. It is just one of the companies that fall under the Willi Betz holding company, in addition to NTL GmbH & Co. KG (the new name of Internationale Spedition Willi Betz GmbH & Co. KG) and various subsidiaries abroad. It would nevertheless be the main operating company of the group, but the structure of the Willi Betz group is, however, not very transparent. The German carrier has significantly scaled back its operations since its glory years, when it boasted a fleet of more than 8,000 trucks.
Willi Betz has published a press release in which Managing Director Rainer Bisinger explains the reasons for the difficulties faced by the group: “Market conditions are characterized by intense competition and low margins, which have been further deteriorated by the current challenges. Large-scale internal optimization and cost-saving measures were no longer sufficient to offset these enormous burdens and, after a phase in which efforts were made to stabilize the company on our own and all possible options were considered, we have come to the conclusion that continuing the activities was no longer possible. We deeply regret this decision, especially for our approximately 140 dedicated employees and for our long-term business partners.”
