About trans aktuell

trans aktuell

trans aktuell is the German newspaper for transport, traffic, and management, published in Stuttgart by the EuroTransportMedia Verlags- und Veranstaltungs-GmbH. First issued on May 7, 1992, the fortnightly newspaper serves transport and logistics entrepreneurs with transport and traffic policy, transport management, and business leadership, with a sold print circulation of 35,960 copies and 17,924 e-paper copies in the 2022 media information. The editor-in-chief is Matthias Rathmann, and the print ISSN is 0947-7268.

Overview

The fortnightly rhythm gives the transport industry a regular trade pulse: 18 issues a year in the 2022 media information, each delivering the transport and traffic policy, the transport management, and the business leadership that the executives need for their daily work. The sold print circulation of 35,960 copies and the 17,924 e-paper copies document the newspaper's dual print and digital reach among the transport and logistics decision makers.

The DEKRA membership connection gives trans aktuell its institutional distribution: as the trade magazine for DEKRA members, the newspaper reaches the vehicle inspection organization's affiliated transport businesses alongside its subscribed readership. The joint venture ownership, DEKRA, Motor Presse Stuttgart, and VF Verlagsgesellschaft, ties the newspaper to the inspection, publishing, and forwarding industry pillars.

The high practice and Mittelstand relevance, in the ETM publishing page's words, is the core element of the reporting: the topics from alternative drives through fleet management, digitalization, and telematics to business leadership, transport policy, and the driver shortage are prepared understandably, practically, and readably for the medium-sized transport entrepreneurs who form the readership's core.

trans aktuell is a Zeitung für Transport, Verkehr und Management: a newspaper for transport, traffic, and management. It appears every two weeks in Stuttgart, 18 times a year in the 2022 media information, with a sold print circulation of 35,960 copies and 17,924 e-paper copies. The target group is the transport and logistics industry: executives find the information for their daily work, with the topic diversity providing help through background reports and practical examples.

The ETM Verlag's publishing page describes trans aktuell as one of the leading trade media around transport and logistics, with a high practice and Mittelstand relevance as the core element of its reporting. The spectrum ranges from alternative drives, fleet management, digitalization and telematics through business leadership and transport policy to the driver shortage, with the topics prepared understandably, practically, and readably. trans aktuell is also the trade magazine for DEKRA members.

History

The 1992 founding places trans aktuell in the generation of German transport media that grew with the post-reunification logistics boom and the European single market, when the forwarding industry expanded across the opening Eastern European markets. The cheeky, individual, and progressive debut, in Bicker's recollection, stirred up the market of commercial vehicle and transport media and set trends with its particularly user-oriented content and modern appearance.

The generational change in 2009, from the 56-year-old founder Bicker to the 32-year-old Rathmann, marked the newspaper's professionalization: the Diplom-Betriebswirt and Speditionskaufmann who had trained at the Stuttgarter Nachrichten brought the combination of journalistic know-how and industry-typical vocational training that Bicker praised as the toolkit for successfully developing trans aktuell. The 2017 retirement of Bicker, the face of the ETM Verlag, closed the founding era with the farewell reception for long-standing companions and the DEKRA chief executive's praise of the industrial engineer as always approachable, pleasant, unpretentious, and appreciative.

The ETM Verlag's joint venture structure, DEKRA, Motor Presse Stuttgart, and VF Verlagsgesellschaft, has given the newspaper its institutional stability: the leading specialist publisher around the commercially used vehicle, with lastauto omnibus, FERNFAHRER, and trans aktuell as its core titles, and the eurotransport.de portal as its digital flagship.

On May 7, 1992, a trade magazine came onto the market that differed distinctly from its competitors: cheeky, individual, and progressive, in co-founder Werner Bicker's recollection of the first issue. Bicker, who had co-conceived the trade paper for transport and logistics entrepreneurs, led its fortunes for 25 years as co-founder, trans aktuell editor-in-chief, and ETM managing director from 2006, handing over to his successor Oliver Trost before retiring in May 2017 at 64.

On January 1, 2009, Matthias Rathmann, 32, took over the editorship of trans aktuell from Werner Bicker, who had led the paper since 1992. Rathmann, a business graduate and forwarding merchant who had trained at the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, had worked at trans aktuell for six years, over two as deputy editor-in-chief. Bicker, who had taken over the EuroTransportMedia management in October 2006, concentrated on that task while remaining editor-in-chief of lastauto omnibus.

Coverage and Content

The transport policy journalism covers the regulatory framework that shapes the industry: the traffic and transport policy in Germany and Europe, from the driving time rules to the toll systems to the emissions standards, reported with the background reports and practical examples that the Wikipedia article credits. The transport management coverage addresses the entrepreneurs' operational toolkit: the fleet management, the digitalization and telematics, and the alternative drives that the ETM publishing page lists.

The driver shortage, the Fahrermangel, is the industry's structural theme that the magazine tracks: the recruitment, the working conditions, and the policy responses that determine the transport companies' capacity. The business leadership coverage serves the executives' management needs: the Unternehmensführung that the fortnightly newspaper delivers for the daily work.

The symposium program shows the brand's event journalism: the March 2026 e-mobility in chemical logistics symposium, with its electric long-distance transport challenges, its green transformation best practices, and its funding, networking, and implementation sessions, moderated by the trans aktuell editors Ilona Jüngst and Franziska Nieß. The WERKSTATT aktuell insert, four times a year in trans aktuell and lastauto omnibus, covers the workshop equipment, spare parts, washing, straightening, and adjustment technology, vehicle diagnostics, and IT and networking that the commercial vehicle workshops need.

trans aktuell covers the transport and logistics industry's full agenda: the traffic and transport policy in Germany and Europe, the transport management, and the business leadership. The ETM publishing page's topic spectrum shows the editorial range: alternative drives, fleet management, digitalization and telematics, business leadership, transport policy, and the driver shortage, all prepared with high practice and Mittelstand relevance.

The trans aktuell symposia extend the brand into events: the March 2026 symposium on e-mobility in chemical logistics, with the morning moderated by Ilona Jüngst, editor-in-chief of trans aktuell, and the afternoon by Franziska Nieß, editor at trans aktuell, covering the electric long-distance transport, the green transformation in chemical logistics, and the best practice examples for the shipping industry, forwarders, logistics, and vehicle manufacturers. The WERKSTATT aktuell supplement, appearing four times a year as an insert in trans aktuell and lastauto omnibus, covers the commercial vehicle workshop spectrum.

Organization and Ownership

trans aktuell is published by the EuroTransportMedia Verlags- und Veranstaltungs-GmbH at Handwerkstrasse 15 in 70565 Stuttgart. The ETM Verlag is a joint venture of DEKRA, Motor Presse Stuttgart, and VF Verlagsgesellschaft, the leading specialist publisher around the commercially used vehicle, publishing lastauto omnibus, FERNFAHRER, and trans aktuell among others. The editor-in-chief is Matthias Rathmann, with Ilona Jüngst named as editor-in-chief in the 2026 symposium program.

Current ownership details beyond the EuroTransportMedia joint venture are not publicly confirmed in the sources reviewed.

Digital Presence

Eurotransport.de/transaktuell is the newspaper's digital home within the ETM Verlag's extensive internet offering at eurotransport.de, with daily updated news on technology, business, logistics, traffic, politics, test reports, and events. The website ranks among the highest-reach online portals of the commercial vehicle and logistics industry, serving management and specialist staff in forwarders, transport companies, works traffic, and vehicle construction as well as professional drivers.

The trans aktuell symposia, with their programs and registration at veranstaltung.etm.de, extend the brand's digital event presence. Dedicated apps or podcasts for the trans aktuell brand are not detailed in the sources reviewed.