Three years after taking the helm of Express Trailers as CEO, ETIENNE ATTARD reflects on a period of investment, transformation and growing challenges not only for the company, but for Malta’s transport and logistics industry as a whole. “It is a period in which growth is becoming more challenging and expensive to sustain.”
Before assuming the role of CEO in May 2023, Mr Attard always viewed the company with great respect.
“Its prominent orange trucks on Malta’s roads reflected the scale of its operation and the strength of the brand. However, it was only when I joined the company that I realised the complexity, coordination and discipline behind the entire operation.”
He particularly highlights the structure of Express Trailers as a family-owned organisation noting how the company is guided by strong values, clear governance and a deep sense of responsibility towards its customers, people and stakeholders.
“I think these qualities will best define the company’s legacy,” he says.
Since his appointment as CEO, Express Trailers continued to grow its revenue and market share while expanding its international operations, particularly through its Genoa base.
Beneath that progress, however, lies a challenging operating environment dominated by geopolitical tensions, rising fuel, maritime and transportation costs, environmental charges and increasingly complex regulation.
“The company’s strong position today explains why rather than chasing growth for its own sake, the company had opted to build a resilient operation based on efficiency, training, modernisation and digitalisation, with further investment planned in technology, infrastructure and international connectivity.”
One of the clearest expressions of Express Trailers’ ambition was its €6 million logistics hub in Genoa launched in 2023 which from an investment designed primarily to support the consolidation of cargo and more efficient freight movements, the facility became an “extended arm” of the group.
The Genoa hub has now started attracting interest from customers beyond the company’s traditional Malta-Italy routes, including potential business other continents.
“Expanding our operation beyond Europe and operating in larger international markets will demand greater reliability, coordination and operational discipline. Our lesson from Genoa is not simply that Express Trailers can invest abroad, but that international growth must be supported by the right people, systems and controls.”
Technology is increasingly central to that equation. A few years ago, the company undertook a major ERP project and is developing further digital services, including eCMR and eFTI-related projects. Its Track and Trace system will soon start giving customers visibility of their cargo from collection through to delivery. A subsequent phase is expected to explore online quotations and an e-commerce solution, alongside a new website.
“The objective is not technology for its own sake, but greater efficiency, visibility and scalability across the business.”
While investment in technology and infrastructure may create opportunities for further growth, the economic backdrop is becoming less forgiving.
“Higher maritime costs, European road tolls, fuel prices and quarterly revisions to the EU’s Emissions Trading System, and soon, ETS2 will continue to add further pressures. There is also a structural challenge arising from the imbalance between Malta’s imports and exports where roughly 70 per cent of the company’s export trailers are shipped empty.”
“All this is creating additional costs and limiting the extent to which operators can absorb further increases and there’s a limit to how much a Maltese logistics operator can realistically absorb,” he added, warning that sustained cost inflation could eventually affect Malta’s competitiveness as a distribution and trading hub.
Sustainability, which has always been high on Mr Attard’s agenda, presents a similar balancing act.
“Environmental responsibility remains integral to our strategy, but greener logistics must also be commercially viable and any transition towards greener logistics needs to be approached alongside the commercial realities of operating in a highly competitive industry.”
He noted Express Trailers’ continued investment in renewing its international tractor fleet which now has an average age of around three years and how the company is now planning to start replacing all its local fleet with newer and more efficient units.
Specialised logistics continues to be another strong source of growth for Express Trailers.
The company entered the pharmaceutical sector in 2012 becoming the first transport and logistics operator in Malta to be listed on the European Medicines Agency’s Eudra GMDP database for Good Distribution Practice compliance and Wholesale Distribution Authorisation covering medicinal products. It has since invested in temperature-controlled warehouses, refrigerated trailers and the systems required to meet the sector’s demanding requirements for traceability, reliability and compliance.
“The pharma sector will remain an important part of the business but at the same time, we do recognise the limitations of Malta’s domestic market. Exporting the expertise developed locally into a wider international specialised-logistics business could be an opportunity.”
For a family-owned company, expansion also raises questions about governance.
“The distinction between ownership, board oversight and management must remain clear. Family shareholders entrust management with more than capital. They entrust it with a name, history and legacy. That makes professional governance and objective decision-making particularly important when commercial choices conflict with tradition or established practice.”
For the CEO, that responsibility can sometimes be a lonely one.
“There are moments when difficult decisions have to be taken, and ultimately accountability sits with you. You can seek advice, discuss, consult and listen, but ultimately, the responsibility to decide remains with the CEO.”
Looking ahead, Etienne Attard identifies five priorities for Express Trailers: digitalisation, network expansion, sustainability, investment in people, and continued local and international growth.
“The challenge will be to pursue those objectives without losing sight of the principles that have shaped the company. As CEO, I want to leave Express Trailers stronger, more modern, more resilient and more future-ready while preserving the values and reputation on which the family business was built.”
“Our next phase should not be measured by how much further we can travel but by how efficiently and sustainably we can bring more growth.”
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