Welcome to Corporate Services – Contargo's internal service provider

The trained and certified specialists in the "S1 Management Systems" team are experts in accordance with ISO 9001, 14001, 22301, 45001 and 50001, as well as SQAS and IFS. They have extensive specialist knowledge about the implementation of the requirements specified in standards and about transport processes. They are qualified to instruct our managers at the various Contargo sites in the content and application of standards so that our site managers can work daily to ensure that our customers experience and appreciate the quality we strive to provide.

Together with the local managers at our sites, the specialist "S1 Management Systems" team continually further develops the quality of our services in accordance with the principles of continuous improvement, and creates standardised, group-wide guidelines, processes, records and document templates. As trained and experienced auditors, the central management officers of the Corporate Services department ensure that each site undergoes an internal audit at least once a year to guarantee the implementation of requirements from standards, internal guidelines and legal regulations as well as compliance with required processes.

The specialist "S1 Management Systems" team also creates regular customer satisfaction surveys and evaluates the results along with our site managers. This gives the voice of our customers a direct influence on our quality management, which can then continue to develop from the perspective of our customers, too. Regular training events and workshops for our site managers, support for external certification/monitoring audits and customer audits round off the basic range of services offered by the specialist "S1 Management Systems" team.

A) Quality management

Our integrated management system is based on DIN EN ISO 9001. Our headquarters and most of our branches are certified in accordance with this standard. In addition, there are other standards which have been established at our headquarters and branches depending on the requirements of our customers. ISO 9001 has a key role in the management system of the Contargo Group, since all other industry standards build upon its requirements.

The Contargo Group understands "quality" to mean being aware of our customers' concerns so that we can react to their requirements, questions and problems. The needs and expectations of our customers are systematically determined and specified in the form of defined requirements – with the aim of winning the trust of customers with regard to services rendered.

Meeting the requirements of this standard helps all of the branches and locations of the Contargo Group to provide high-quality services and to meet the expectations of their customers while complying with legal and official requirements.

For the Contargo Group, ISO 9001 is an indispensable tool for continuously improving profitability and market success.

We see ISO 9001 as the basis for further industry-related certifications.

B) Environmental management

ISO 14001 allows us to continuously monitor, analyse and improve our environmental position.

Our ISO 14001 environmental management system is used for the constant planning and implementation of environmental measures at our certified sites and branches, guaranteeing a reduction in negative effects on the environment.

Our overriding aim is to support environmental protection and the prevention of pollution in harmony with economic, social and political requirements. ISO 14001 also serves as the basis for the certification of our environmental management system.

Environmental policy
We strive for environmentally friendly customer solutions and the sparing use of resources as a matter of course throughout all of the business areas of the Contargo Group. Through the development of sustainable logistics concepts and the constant improvement of our environmentally relevant processes, we help to avoid pollution and increase our environmental performance and energy efficiency. The Contargo Group complies with environmental protection provisions and standards, and our sites operate with a high level of environmental awareness. We treat natural raw materials and energy responsibly and sparingly. The entire life cycle of products and services – from initial use to disposal and recycling – plays an important role in the entrepreneurial activity of the Contargo Group. We monitor this using strategic operational key figures and branch-specific indicators which are assessed by top management during the annual management review. Environmental protection is a managerial function, since senior managers act as role models here. The principles of our environmental policy oblige our employees to act in an environmentally aware way.

C) Energy management

All German sites of the Contargo Group follow the requirements of the German Act on Energy Services (EDLG) and undergo DIN EN ISO 50001 certification.

An energy management system promotes the sustainable protection of the environment and the conservation of our resources. Because of our responsibility for future generations, we need to ensure the continuous and sustainable improvement of our energy efficiency during all of the activities at all of our sites.

Finally, in the context of our energy management system, the Contargo Group is committed to constantly improving energy-related performance.

The nature and extent of energy usage and consumption at our sites must be appropriate.

All information and resources required to achieve strategic and operational goals should be available.

In addition, the Contargo Group is committed to complying with all applicable legal requirements and any other requirements agreed to by the organisation relating to energy usage, consumption and efficiency.

Strategic and operational energy goals are defined and checked as part of the energy management system. These goals are based on these core objectives:

• Increasing energy efficiency
• Reducing CO₂ emissions
• Obtaining and consolidating a competitive advantage by reducing the cost burden

The purchase of energy-efficient products and services which are intended to improve energy-related performance is promoted.

D) Business Continuity Management

The Contargo Group has implemented a business continuity management (BCM) system on the basis of ISO 22301.  This international standard enables the early identification of possible threats and risks that could have a negative effect on the business activities or core processes of the Contargo Group and enables risks to be reduced through the formulation of measures based on clear action plans. If business processes are disrupted despite all precautions, our BCM system effectively and quickly reduces the effects of an interruption in operations by means of sophisticated strategies. The goal is to ensure the fastest possible, orderly restoration of operational capability in the case of an incident through the individual analysis of business impacts and targeted emergency and communication plans.

In this regard, our business continuity management system enables the planned handling of emergencies and crises – not least by creating a pronounced resilience to incidents so that Contargo is and remains a reliable service provider and partner in terms of its supply chain, too.

The specialist Corporate Services department supports and advises all Contargo sites on the implementation of (normative) standards. Our competent advice, joint workshops and training courses for everyone involved in activities at our sites and the provision of manuals and templates are the basis for a consistently high quality level within the Contargo Group.

Our trained BCM experts make regular visits and perform internal audits to monitor the effectiveness of the BCM system, thus ensuring that the system is sustainably maintained and further developed.

The specialist "S2 Risk and Insurance Management" team of the Corporate Services department is responsible for the procurement and continuation of insurance protection for the entire corporate group. Our insurance experts make an important contribution to the risk management of our corporate group, including risk analyses, determining the need for insurance coverage, and formulating and implementing a tailored insurance concept. Members of the team provide the management with advice on managing contract negotiations from an actuarial and liability viewpoint.

The transport law and insurance experts of the specialist "S2 Risk and Insurance Management" team centrally process any damage events that occur for all Contargo sites. Whether it's machine damage to a container crane, handling a traffic accident, transport damage at home or abroad, or a shipping accident, the damage incident will be competently checked by the insurance experts of the Corporate Services department on the basis of liability law and contractual and actuarial aspects and will be processed swiftly. For this purpose, the specialist "S2 Risk and Insurance Management" team also communicates directly with claimants, insurance companies, expert witnesses, lawyers and perpetrators, performing all steps involved in settling claims from the initial loss report to the finalisation of the claim.  Each damage event is entered into our own damage management software, analysed and discussed with the management in order to avoid similar cases occurring in the future. Claims management and quality management intersect here.

In addition, our insurance specialists procure custom insurance protection for abnormal loads and logistics projects – all around the world – if this is desired or required by our customers or as a result of an individual risk assessment.

A) Occupational safety

Our trained experts in occupational safety provide our managers with useful advice on all matters relating to occupational safety several times a year at on-site meetings. Using standard systemic checklists, they chair meetings of the Occupational Safety Committee (ASA) and perform inspections at our sites. The results of these meetings and inspections are documented. The ASA meetings and any identified hazards are used to formulate an action plan which is then implemented by the local site managers and safety officers.

Our occupational safety experts regularly receive further training from renowned technical institutes in order to keep up-to-date at all times on topics relating to occupational health and safety law and so that they can pass on the knowledge they gain to our sites. Our employees work closely with colleagues from other Health and Safety departments of the corporate group and report to the management of the Corporate Services department and the management of the holding company on occupational accidents and commuting accidents. Such accidents are also recorded in a central database for statistical purposes and are investigated with the aim of preventing further incidents.

The tasks of occupational safety experts are governed by Section 6 of the German Occupational Safety Act (ASiG) and by DGUV V2.

At the Contargo Group, an occupational health and safety organisation has been created and has been integrated into management activities on the basis of the following points:

1. Integration of occupational health and safety into the organisational structure
2. Integration of occupational health and safety into the corporate management
3. Provision of advice about the resources required to implement occupational health and safety measures
4. Communication/information security
5. Consideration of occupational health and safety needs in business processes
6. Organisation of specific occupational health and safety business processes
7. Guaranteeing continuous improvement
8. Integration of employees into the occupational health and safety system and associated processes

B) Fire protection

Our trained and certified fire safety officers support our sites by performing on-site inspections and creating hazard analyses which aim to identify potential fire hazards in order to avoid fires. Requirements stipulated in fire safety legislation, statutory provisions and building regulations play an important role when providing our managers with advice in this area. To train our employees, our certified fire safety experts hold training courses on fire safety at our sites and train fire protection assistants and evacuation assistants. To ensure that all of our employees know how to effectively use hand-held fire extinguishers in the case of a fire, our experts use a fire-fighting simulator developed by Contargo.

We believe that fire safety officers make a vital contribution to risk management, since all business areas must be subject to fire safety measures.

Our trained customs experts provide our sites and customers with advice on all technical aspects relating to customs processes. They organise and control customs clearance activities in their entirety or in part. Regular training courses and further instruction on topics relating to customs ensure that our employees always have the latest knowledge in the field and are able to inform their colleagues at our sites about developments and legal changes.

On the topic of authorised economic operators (AEO), too, the experts of the Corporate Services department provide the Contargo sites with vital support services. Important services offered by the Corporate Services department include preparatory advice services, filing applications and helping with the certification process. The trained employees of the specialist "S4 Customs and AEO" team provide management with advice, perform audits at our sites, and train employees, thus contributing to the preservation of the AEO status of sites.

Contargo has many years of experience in transporting and handling dangerous goods. We are certified in accordance with DIN EN ISO 9001, and we've integrated all necessary processes and responsibilities for handling dangerous goods into our management system

By "dangerous goods", we mean substances and objects containing substances which might, due to their nature, properties or condition, pose a danger for public safety or order, and particularly for the general public, important public property, the health and life of people and animals, and the integrity of other items when transported, and which are classified as dangerous goods in accordance with statutory provisions. In this context, the term "dangerous goods" refers only to goods being transported on public transport routes.

The employees of the specialist "S5 Dangerous Goods" team are trained dangerous goods safety advisors who are responsible for the management of dangerous goods within the Contargo Group. This includes the creation of central process descriptions and documents as well as the formulation of group-wide standards which take into account applicable statutory provisions. Through a framework contract with an external dangerous goods safety advisor from a renowned German testing organisation, we ensure that we're always up-to-date with knowledge about applicable legal requirements as per the German Act on the Transportation of Dangerous Goods (GGBefG), German Dangerous Goods Advisor Ordinance (GbV), German Ordinance on Industrial Safety and Health (BetrSichV) and all other applicable regulations such as those of the ADR, ADN, RID and IMDG Code. This allows us to avoid knowledge gaps and to keep ourselves up-to-date at all times, even if changes are made to legal regulations governing dangerous goods.  Through the use of a group-wide training concept with target-oriented and custom content, Corporate Services ensures an extensive and comprehensive knowledge level about all relevant topics for all employees involved in the handling of dangerous goods. We use annual online training modules provided by our external partner as well as classroom training courses.

It is the job of the dangerous goods safety advisor to regularly visit all sites and provide management and trained local dangerous goods representatives with advice on findings and potential improvements and to create the necessary documentation. In addition, the dangerous goods safety advisor is available whenever needed to help operational staff with queries arising at our sites, including with aspects such as planning special transports, the legal assessment of inquiries relating to legislation governing dangerous goods and emergency management.

We need your help with the planning and realisation of dangerous goods transports so that we can make sure your goods are transported safely and punctually.

Here's what we need to know:

• Classification of the dangerous goods to be transported
• UN number
• Description of the goods in accordance with regulations governing dangerous goods, product name and technical designation
• Confirmation that the nature of the goods, packages and containers/tank containers comply with regulations (ADN, IMDG Code etc.)
• Container number
• Number of packages and total weight
• Written instructions for how to act in the case of an accident or incident (accident procedures sheet)
• Name and address of the consignor and consignee of the goods
• Special instructions for the carrier (e.g. route specifications)

Contargo is committed to continuously improving and further developing the processes needed to provide its services. Our priority is the greatest satisfaction of our customers, service providers/suppliers and employees. To meet this daily challenge, and because we want to constantly improve and develop service quality, our qualified management representatives at the holding company and in the operational locations implement quality requirements, monitor and document processes, and report directly to the managers concerned, in a productive error culture.

Internal and external training programmes for our employees, workshops and meetings of the management representatives ensure that we are always up to date, in order to set high standards in a Group-wide quality, environment and energy management system, implement these standards in daily practice, take appropriate steps to correct any errors that occur, and develop ways of preventing them in future.

Our sites are certified in accordance with the international standards ISO 9001, 14001 and 50001, DIN EN 16258 and EcoVadis rated. Compliance with the standards is monitored annually by internal audits carried out by our certified auditor teams at the holding company. The results are documented in audit reports, action plans are drawn up and discussed with managers. In addition to the internal audits, accredited auditing companies carry out regular certification audits.

Contargo is currently and successively introducing the ISO 45001 (health and safety) and ISO 22301 (business continuity management) standards at its locations in order to further develop the high standards we have set ourselves and, in particular, to meet the expectations of our customers, service providers/suppliers and employees, to further develop existing processes and procedures and to have their effectiveness certified once the standards have been implemented.

The specialist "S6 Data Protection" team checks and assesses all processing activities which are relevant for data protection and documents them using a group-wide data protection tool. The data protection coordinator of the Corporate Services department is a certified data protection officer. He is responsible for ensuring that all legal requirements relating to data protection are met and advises the management of our sites and of the holding company on all issues relating to data protection. Together with the specialist "S1 Management Systems" team, the "Data Protection" team performs random data protection audits at our associated operational companies, identifies potential improvements and – where necessary – creates action plans for the expansion and further development of data protection measures within the Contargo Group.

To ensure the best possible data protection performance, an external data protection officer from Rhenus Office Systems GmbH (Holzwickede) has been appointed to regularly discuss current legal issues, documentation and the evaluation of processing activities with our data protection coordinator and to perform further data protection audits at our Contargo companies.

For more information on data protection and our data protection officer, see the data privacy statement on our homepage at www.contargo.net/en/privacy-policy.