With ongoing innovation and the arrival of new and smarter technologies, road freight transport finds itself on the brink of a whole new era. Just as the internet and smartphones changed people’s lives when they arrived on the scene, digital technologies and associated smart services will transform the way freight companies operate. Eurowag will lead the way in the impending revolution of road freight transport.
”Last year, the company’s EBITDA and EBT grew by no less than 44 percent and 35 percent, respectively. In parallel with consolidating our positions on existing markets, we entered new ones and were delighted by the universal appeal of our solutions across Europe. We successfully concluded several technological acquisitions and became the only company operating in Central and Eastern Europe to become a licensed EETS (European Electronic Toll Service) provider,” says Eurowag’s CEO Martin Vohánka.
A major milestone achieved by Eurowag in 2017 was the securing of a licence to operate as an EETS operator. To date, there are only six licensed EETS operators across the EU.
The EETS is an EU initiative aimed at making toll payments more efficient for road users, including freight companies. It is expected that the EETS will do away with the current need for freight companies to register their vehicles separately for individual toll systems operated by different countries and fit them with multiple on-board units. The EETS will make it possible to use a single on-board unit accepted by all toll system operators across the member states. Instead of the current practice of obtaining the necessary on-board units from individual countries’ toll system operators, forwarders will acquire the necessary units from their EETS operator.
“Eurowag is investing considerable resources in the EETS project and is confident that it will provide its customers with the best possible service. Having registered as an EETS provider with the Czech Ministry of Transport in February 2017, the company has developed its own unique on-board unit supported by a brand new IT system. Eurowag is now beginning the process of certification and acceptance for the on-board unit in countries such as Hungary, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, and is preparing for the same process in countries that plan to introduce the EETS, such as the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, and Bulgaria. Our ultimate objective is to provide toll services for all of Europe on a single contract, with a single on-board unit accepted in as many member states as possible,” says Bruno Launois, Managing Director for Toll at Eurowag.
In 2017, Eurowag expanded its product portfolio with a top-tier fleet management system following the acquisition of a leading market player. The system offers fleet managers a broad range of valuable functions, from administrative support, transport route optimisation, remote access to tachograph data and fuel consumption monitoring to assessment of driving styles and estimations of vehicle maintenance needs.
In 2017, Eurowag not only succeeded in growing in its existing markets but also successfully entered several new markets, such as Denmark, Italy and Belarus where the company built on experience gained in entering Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia at the end of 2016.
People are at the heart of everything that takes place at Eurowag. The well-motivated and diverse workforce reflects the successful growth of the company. In 2017, Eurowag welcomed more than 160 new employees to its ranks and the company now takes prides in its truly diverse and international environment with more than 30 nationalities represented and a variety of languages spoken in its Europe and Middle East offices. The company’s management team is well balanced in terms of nationality, expertise, gender, professional experience and personality.
W.A.G. payment solutions, a.s., also operating under the brand name Eurowag (EW), ranks among the six biggest providers of payment solutions for road mobility in Europe. On their travels through Europe, Eurowag customers rely on advantageous payments for toll, fuel and many other supplementary services. Eurowag also provides its customers with top-tier telematics systems for highly efficient fleet management as well as quick refunding of excise tax and VAT on payments for goods and services purchased abroad. Eurowag customers include transport and forwarding companies as well as operators of passenger car fleets. More than 250,000 drivers across Europe rely on Eurowag products and services every day.
Last year, the company’s EBITDA grew by more than 44 percent with revenues of EUR 1.179bn. The company has its headquarters in Prague and operates regional offices in Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Serbia, Macedonia, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, Turkey, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Italy, Ukraine and Denmark. For more information, visit www.eurowag.com.
The company’s majority shareholder is Martin Vohánka who founded the company in 1996 and has managed it ever since. In January 2016, a 33-percent shareholding was acquired by US-based TA Associates, a leading global investment fund that specialises in strong and fast-growing companies in the financial technologies sector. For more information about TA Associates, visit www.ta.com.
