DACHSER Allgäu logistics center under new leadership

Daan van der Meer succeeds Thomas Henkel as General Manager; Henkel is retiring after 24 years at the helm of the branch.

Daan van der Meer, a 35-year-old Dutch national, has been with DACHSER in Memmingen for over eight years and has served as Freight Forwarding Manager for the European Logistics business line since 2022. This “home-grown DACHSER talent” began his career in 2012—while still studying logistics management—at the DACHSER branch in Waddinxveen near Rotterdam and later served as freight forwarding manager at the Grevenmacher branch in Luxembourg.

In his new position, Van der Meer works closely with Florian Graber (42), who has been leading food logistics at the Allgäu Logistics Center as Branch Manager for Food Logistics since January 1, 2026. Prior to that, Graber, a certified logistics specialist, had served as Freight Forwarding Manager for Food Logistics at the Allgäu Logistics Center since 2021. Graber began his career at DACHSER in Memmingen in 2003 with an apprenticeship as a freight forwarding clerk.

“We are pleased that we were able to fill these key positions at the Allgäu Logistics Center and within our European network with leaders from within our own ranks,” says Alexander Tonn, COO of Road Logistics at DACHSER. “Daan van der Meer, the new General Manager in Memmingen, has completed our development program for future top executives and has successfully demonstrated in recent years in Memmingen that he can lead a logistics company both in the hectic day-to-day business and with entrepreneurial initiative and foresight.”

Van der Meer succeeds Thomas Henkel, who is retiring after 40 years at DACHSER and 24 years at the helm of the Allgäu logistics center. Henkel had overseen the construction of the Allgäu logistics center as early as 1992 and subsequently led the merger of the Kempten and Memmingen branches. Subsequently, as freight forwarding manager in Memmingen, he laid the foundation for the growth of the Allgäu logistics center, particularly in contract logistics. He has served as General Manager of the Allgäu logistics center since 2002.

“Thomas Henkel has made an extraordinary contribution to DACHSER throughout his long and successful career,” explains Alexander Tonn, who himself served as deputy branch manager in Memmingen for several years. “With his great entrepreneurial skill, he has developed the Memmingen branch into the company’s largest operational site. And what’s more: his customer focus, his spirit of innovation, and his commitment to fostering young leadership talent serve as an example for the entire DACHSER network.”

About the DACHSER Allgäu logistics center

The Allgäu logistics center in Memmingen provides transportation and warehousing services for customers in the industrial and consumer goods sectors (European Logistics business line) as well as for refrigerated and non-refrigerated food products (Food Logistics business line). Every day, 2,000 metric tons of industrial goods and 3,000 metric tons of food are handled at the Allgäu logistics center. With a total of 1.3 million shipments transported annually and storage capacity for nearly 200,000 pallet spaces, Memmingen is DACHSER’s largest operational site worldwide.

DACHSER is currently building a new transshipment hall in Memmingen for industrial and consumer goods to create space for further growth while maintaining reliability and quality. By mid-2027, approximately 90 new jobs will be created; DACHSER will then employ over 900 people in the Memmingen North Industrial Park.