Fourteen depots became ten, without losing a single customer.
Halvorsen Logistics moves pallet freight for 2,400 business customers across Norway and Sweden, from fourteen depots and a fleet of 380 trucks. In January 2026 its board brought us one question.
11%
higher operating margin in year one
The situation
The board asked: Which depots should the network keep?
For five years, volume had been moving south towards Oslo and Gothenburg, but the depot map still looked the way it did in 2015. The six northern depots ran at about half their capacity, while the two largest southern sites turned trucks away three or four times a week in peak season.
Every region had its own plan. The north wanted to keep its depots and win new customers. The south wanted a new site near Gothenburg. Each plan made sense on its own, but together they cost more than the business earned, so the board could not choose.
What we found
Two thirds of northern volume came from just 31 customers, and every one of them could be served from two hubs.
Once every pallet was traced back to a depot, the north was not the problem. Six half-empty sites were carrying the fixed costs of six full ones.
What we did
Weeks 1 to 2
We traced every pallet
We matched 1.9 million orders from the last two years to the depot, truck and route that served them, and costed all fourteen sites the same way for the first time. Regional finance teams checked every number, so nobody could argue with the base.
Weeks 3 to 5
We put three options on one page
Keep all fourteen depots and add a southern site, merge the six northern depots into two hubs, or hand the north to a partner carrier. Each option showed its cost, its risk and the delivery time for the 31 largest customers.
Weeks 6 to 9
The board chose, and the regions planned the move
The board backed two northern hubs, in Umeå and Trondheim. We built the move plan with the depot managers who would run it, route by route, with a fixed date for every customer conversation.
What changed
11%
Higher operating margin, year one
Trucks ran fuller and six depot leases became two, so operating margin rose within twelve months.
14 to 10
Depots
Six northern depots became two hubs, and next-day delivery in the north stayed next-day.
0
Key customers lost
All 31 largest customers heard about the move from their account manager first. Every one of them renewed.
€3.1m
Saved every year
The saving went into the two southern depots that had been turning work away.
Who made it work
“They asked better questions in two weeks than we had asked ourselves in two years. The plan was ours by the end, which is why it worked.”
Client
Ingrid Halvorsen
Chief Executive, Halvorsen Logistics
Led this work
Thomas Berg
Partner, strategy
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