Key points
- Heppner replaces Ziegler and DGS as Europa Road’s partner in France.
- The new set-up includes a new daily line to Strasbourg, alongside services to Gonesse, Lille, Lyon and Le Mans.
- A new weekly service to Athens runs with Goldair Group.
- Europa’s Dartford hub runs over 40 daily groupage services between the UK and more than 50 continental hubs.
Europa Road is the European road freight division of Europa Worldwide Group, an independent UK logistics provider founded in 1966 with an annual turnover of around £300 million. The changes were announced by the company in September.
What changes in France
According to Europa, Heppner now offers five daily departures from French hubs: a new daily line to Strasbourg, plus Gonesse (near Paris), Lille, Lyon and Le Mans. Heppner’s own statement mentions four hubs, without Lille, so shippers using Lille should check the details with Europa.
Heppner is one of France’s largest groupage providers. It operates around 100 branches worldwide, and its road network, which now includes a new hub in Strasbourg, connects more than 40 European countries, with 24- to 72-hour delivery to major European cities, according to the companies.
Patrick Forestier, Group International Network Director at Heppner, said the partnership gives customers “greater choice and reliability on a key European route”.
Why the partner change matters
The switch comes after a turbulent year in French groupage. Ziegler France, one of Europa’s previous partners, was placed into judicial liquidation by the commercial court in Lille on 31 March, as we reported in Ziegler France collapse ends in liquidation as rescue fails. Europa has not linked its decision to Ziegler’s situation.
For UK shippers, a change of continental partner is not just a name on an invoice. In groupage, the partner’s network determines:
- which hubs and postcodes get next-day or two-day delivery,
- cut-off times and collection schedules,
- how customs paperwork and delivery documents are handled on the French side.
That last point is important. France has tightened its import rules for UK exporters this year, as we reported in France tightens import rules for UK exporters from January. A reliable partner with experienced customs staff can make the difference between a smooth delivery and a consignment stuck at the border.
A weekly door to Greece
In Greece, Europa now works with Goldair Group, one of the country’s largest privately owned logistics companies. The new weekly Athens service is designed to improve access to the Greek market.
The company has not said how long the service takes, whether goods travel directly or via transhipment hubs, or how often departures could increase. Shippers should ask about transit times and cut-offs before booking.
UK exports to Greece are still small, but growing. According to the UK Department for Business and Trade, the UK exported goods worth £1.7 billion to Greece in the four quarters to the end of Q1 2026, up 11.4% year on year.
The bigger picture
Groupage remains one of the most complex parts of UK–EU trade after Brexit, because one trailer can carry dozens of consignments, each with its own customs paperwork. As we wrote in Ten years after Brexit, hauliers say: fix the mess, many operators still struggle with the extra cost and admin.
Volumes are moving in the right direction. UK goods exports to the EU rose by 5.2% in July 2026 compared with June, to £16.7 billion, according to the Office for National Statistics.
What shippers and forwarders should do
- Check whether your French delivery postcodes are now handled by Heppner and what transit times apply.
- Confirm cut-off times and collection days for the new Strasbourg line and the Athens service.
- Review customs data and delivery terms, especially for DDP shipments to France.
- Update contacts and claims procedures with the new partners.
For the UK–France corridor, the message is simple: the network behind the trailer has changed, and shippers should check how that affects their own deliveries.
