HGK Group has reorganised its management structure around two operational divisions, effective 1 October, as the German logistics company moves to tighten integration of its shipping, rail, port and wareholding activities along the Rhine corridor.

The reorganisation separates the group's activities into Integrated Logistics and Infra- and Suprastructure. The redesign aims to strengthen cooperation between HGK's logistics operations and the port, network and workshop assets that underpin them.

Two appointments anchor the new structure. Günter-Friedrich Maas has taken over as COO Contract Logistics, while Alexander Garbar has assumed the role of COO Infra- and Suprastructure.

Logistics activities consolidated

The Integrated Logistics division combines HGK's Transport Solutions, Contract Logistics Solutions and Intermodal Solutions businesses. The scope is broad: shipping, rail freight, intermodal operations, terminals, warehousing, contract logistics, plus overseas and seaport activities.

Maas will lead Contract Logistics and temporarily take responsibility for Intermodal Solutions. He brings more than 25 years of experience in transport and logistics, including management positions at VTG, Hoyer, Rhenus, Imperial and Boasso — a résumé that spans wagon hire, tank logistics, contract logistics and intermodal equipment, all relevant to the division he now runs.

Markus Krämer will oversee the division's market and customer activities as CCO, giving the consolidated logistics business a single commercial face for shippers and forwarders dealing with HGK across modes.

For customers, the practical consequence is a clearer point of accountability. Shipping lines, rail operators and warehousing clients that previously dealt with separate HGK business units now face one division covering the full chain from seaport inland transport through to contract logistics.

New infrastructure division

The second operational division brings together HGK's ports, real estate, network and locomotive workshop businesses. Garbar leads it, with responsibility for strategic and operational development and a particular focus on Cologne.

Garbar's background fits the mandate. He previously held senior roles in port development, infrastructure and logistics at the Port of Duisburg, Europe's largest inland port and HGK's most obvious benchmark for hinterland hub development.

The restructuring carries a clear geographic intent. HGK plans to further develop Cologne as a hinterland logistics hub and gateway to seaports — positioning the city as a consolidation point where Rhine barge, rail and warehouse capacity converge for cargo moving to and from North Sea ports.

The company frames the two-division design as a way to strengthen cooperation between its logistics and infrastructure operations. In practice, that means the division running trains, barges and warehouses will sit alongside, rather than above or beneath, the division owning the ports, rail network assets and locomotive workshops those services depend on.

Holding structure unchanged at the top

Steffen Bauer continues as CEO of HGK AG, and Susanne Pietsch remains CFO. The holding company will focus on overall management and strategic development of the group, leaving operational leadership to the two divisional COOs.

That leaves a clean chain of command: Bauer and Pietsch at the holding level, Maas and Krämer running logistics, Garbar running infrastructure.

What it signals

For Rhine corridor shippers, the reorganisation signals that HGK intends to sell integrated capacity rather than discrete services. A single division spanning barge, rail, intermodal, terminal and warehouse operations gives the group a structure to bundle inland legs with storage and contract logistics in competition with the major integrators.

For competitors, the appointment of a Duisburg veteran to develop Cologne's hub role sharpens the inland port rivalry along the Rhine. And for forwarders routing cargo through North Sea seaports into Germany, a stronger Cologne gateway with consolidated hinterland services adds an option to the Duisburg-dominated inland equation.

The immediate test of the new structure will be whether the two divisions convert organisational proximity into commercially integrated products — and whether Maas's interim hold on Intermodal Solutions becomes a permanent appointment once the division beds in.