The big logistics guide & FAQ
PLZ Profi was developed from practical experience to give dispatchers, hauliers and planners a fast, clean and ad-free tool for daily territory and route planning. Discover here how you can realise the full potential of our tools.
The most important professional features
These tools make the difference between a simple card and a real scheduling tool.
The interactive compass (radar)
An absolute game changer for freight enquiries: Are you looking for additional cargo but only travelling north? Activate the compass, set it to „North“ and the results list will filter itself in real time. With the button „Reverse“ (red) you can also specifically exclude cardinal points.
1-click postcode copy for freight exchanges
Manual marking and accidentally copied spaces are a thing of the past. Simply hover over a postcode in the results list and click on the Clipboard icon (📋). . The system copies the exact numbers to your clipboard - perfect for Timocom, Transporeon & Co.
Instant Excel & PDF export
Do you need to email the postcode areas found to a carrier or enter them into your own TMS? One click on Export (CSV, XLSX, PDF, TXT) is sufficient. The list exported is exactly the one you are currently viewing, you are currently viewing - including your selected sorting and distances.
Country guides: Logistics & postcode systems in Europe
International scheduling requires detailed knowledge. Here you can find out how the postcode systems of our supported countries are structured and what you need to bear in mind when planning.
🇩🇪 Germany (DE) - The heart of European logistics
Germany has one of the densest motorway and logistics networks in the world. The postcode system is strictly 5-digit (introduced in 1993). The first two digits (the so-called routing region) provide dispatchers with immediate information about the rough target area.
- Leading zeros: A typical stumbling block in Excel and many old software systems. Postcodes in the eastern German states (e.g. Saxony, Thuringia) start with a zero (e.g. 01067 Dresden or 04109 Leipzig). Our system processes these postcodes as text, which means that leading zeros are never truncated.
- The hotspots: The Rhine-Ruhr (postcode 40-47), Rhine-Main (postcode 60-65) and Hamburg (postcode 20-22) areas are among the most freight-intensive zones. If you draw a 50km radius here, you will get a lot of hits. Be sure to use our compass in these regions to reduce the number of hits to your specific route!
🇦🇹 Austria (AT) - Transit and topography
Austria is the most important bottleneck for north-south transit (especially to Italy and south-east Europe). The system is based on 4-digit Postcodes. The first digit usually stands for the federal state (1 = Vienna, 4 = Upper Austria, 6 = Tyrol).
- Alpine topography: A 50km radius in Tyrol (e.g. around Innsbruck) looks tempting on a flat map. As a dispatcher, however, always bear in mind that mountains could be in the way. A city can be 30 km away as the crow flies, but requires an 80 km diversions over mountain passes.
- Transit routes: The Brenner motorway (A13) and the Tauern motorway (A10) are the lifelines. Use PLZ Profi to pick up specific additional loads in the valleys around these main axes.
🇪🇸 Spain (ES) - Provinces and coastlines
The Spanish postcode system is also 5-digit, but follows a clear provincial structure. The first two digits (from 01 for Álava to 52 for Melilla) clearly assign each postcode to one of the 50 Spanish provinces.
For freight carriers, Spain is a classic country for long distances and agricultural exports (e.g. from Almería or Murcia). The logistics centres are concentrated in Madrid (postcode 28), Barcelona (postcode 08) and Valencia (postcode 46). Special feature in our search: You can enter Spanish place names (e.g. Málaga or A Coruña) simple Type without accents. The search finds them anyway!
🇨🇿 Czech Republic (CZ) - Industrial motor of Eastern Europe
The Czech Republic has developed into a logistics hub between Western and Eastern Europe (strong automotive and industrial sector). The Czech postcode format (PSČ) is officially 5 digits with one space after the third digit (e.g. 123 45).
We have specially programmed our tool so that it doesn't matter whether you enter „12345“, „123-45“ or „123 45“. The interface always shows you the clean CZ format. Pro tip: However, if you click on the clipboard icon to copy in the Czech Republic search, we deliberately put the „raw“ number (12345) in the clipboard, as freight exchanges such as Timocom often throw errors when you insert spaces in the postcode fields.
The top 5 questions in focus
The most important information at a glance - transparent, quick and to the point.
Is the use of PLZ Profi really free of charge?
Yes, to 100%. We developed PLZ Profi to make everyday work in the planning department noticeably easier, as existing tools were often too confusing or overloaded with annoying adverts. All current functions such as the live map, the interactive compass and all export formats are available to you completely free of charge.
Does PLZ Profi save my search queries or company data?
No, everything runs exclusively on your end device. The search history (the list of your last queries) is only stored in the so-called „local storage“ of your browser (on your hard drive). Absolutely no data is transmitted to our servers. The tool is therefore secure and perfectly suited to the strict data protection requirements of day-to-day haulage.
Why do the markers on the map disappear when I select „All“?
This is a clever Protective function for your PC. If you query a radius of 100 km in dense areas (e.g. the Ruhr region), the system will find hundreds of postcodes in a flash. If these were all drawn as markers on the map, your browser would become extremely slow. With „All“ the map therefore only shows the starting point, but in the list on the right you have access to every single hit for copying and exporting.
How does PLZ Profi calculate the exact distances?
Currently, the distance information (e.g. 45.2 km) is based on the exact As the crow flies (calculated using the complex mathematical Haversine formula) between the geographical centre of your starting point and the destination found. This is extremely fast for the first rough radius delimitation and is standard in the industry. An integration of real road kilometres is being planned.
Can I transfer the results directly into my TMS (Transport Management System)?
Yes, absolutely seamless. You can download the currently filtered list (including your compass settings) immediately as a CSV or Excel file via the export menu below the sorting. These formats can be imported perfectly into almost any modern TMS, emailed to carriers or used as a basis for your own calculations.
Further details & special cases
Here we clarify the technical peculiarities of the search, algorithms and formatting.
How exactly does the sorting by „Top 10“ or „Top 20“ work?
How often are the geodata and postcodes updated?
Can it also be used on a smartphone or tablet?
Is there an API interface for connecting to your own software?
Roadmap - What comes next
We are not standing still. These are the expansion stages that we are currently working on in the background.
Real route (road routing)
As the crow flies is good, travelling distance is better. We are working on a complex server integration that will provide you with the actual driving distance in addition to the as-the-crow flies. Road kilometres is displayed. This means that driving and rest times and freight prices can be derived even more realistically and accurately to the cent.
Expansion of the EU network
Now that Germany, Austria, Spain and the Czech Republic are live, we are currently preparing further high-precision data sets. The rollout for Poland (PL), France (FR) and Italy (IT) takes place step by step on the central „EU countries“ overview page.
Advanced filters (border regions)
A frequent request from dispatchers: the option of seamlessly including the cross-border postcodes of the direct neighbouring country in the same radius with a single click when close to the border (e.g. in Passau or Flensburg).