The Czech transport company VCHD Cargo became stronger last year. It reached a 9% turnover growth to ca CZK 700 million and increased the number of regular export transportation lines to 130. The investments amounting to over CZK 83 million were spent on expanding the vehicle fleet, on information technology and digitization. The Company also expanded to Germany where it founded a subsidiary.
VCHD Cargo is a family company present at the Czech market since 1997. The company’s headquarters are in Kladno, and it has branch offices in Brno and Havlíčkův Brod. During the last five years, the company’s receipts have grown by 46 per cent with most of the turnover generated in transportation services, while forwarding only accounts for two per cent of the turnover. “We are a family company, now a two-generation one, and we manage to profit from more than twenty years of our experience mainly in the international line transportation sector”, explains the VCHD Cargo CEO, Petr Kozel, adding, “we are happy to see that we are doing well and that our clients appreciate our professional transportation services. They are based on the latest technology, IT and our experienced professional staff.”
The modern VCHD Cargo vehicle fleet includes 160 trucks and 170 trailers. CZK 78.5 million were invested in the transportation fleet last year only, of them 66 million were spent on trucks and 12.5 million on trailers. Thus, the current average vehicle age is 2.8 years and the whole vehicle fleet complies with the EUR 6 highest emissions standard. All vehicles are also equipped for the transport of dangerous goods pursuant to the ADR European Agreement. The share of such transportation services accounts for up to 80 per cent of the turnover.
Last year, VCHD Cargo completed the digitization project. It was preceded by process analysis, which found a potential for time and financial savings in data processing. Thus, the Company implemented a new, customized information system that, after its interconnection with an on-line application for operating control, provides complex data on the vehicle fleet and vehicle movement with outputs for the operating control, customer service and the company economic department. .
“It is, above all, our drivers who are behind our success. 260 of them set off on journeys all over Europe every day and we try to prepare the best conditions for their work”, explains Petr Kozel, adding, “this is why we invest in the latest vehicle fleet and information technology, which make our work easier being, at the same time, our tool for further quality enhancement.” VCHD Cargo invested in information technology over CZK 5 million last year. Today, every vehicle is equipped with a modern tablet, interconnected with the operating control allowing, according to Petr Kozel, among other things, functions greatly appreciated by the drivers, such as issuing an electronic record of the operation and vehicle performance, the so-called stazka, or an automatic calculation of the boarding-out allowance.
The drivers are looked after by a team of experienced traffic controllers equipped with excellent foreign language skills, who use the application displaying clearly the current condition of each individual line, each vehicle on the road, and predicting the actual delivery time. The operating control is open 6 days a week, 24 hours a day, and thanks to this application, it can timely react to unpredictable situations on all European roads. “Thanks to good analytic work, our system allows even better quality control and KPI assessment”, continues Petr Kozel enumerating additional benefits.
In addition to the care provided to its existing employees, VCHD Cargo is also active in the job market. Two years ago, the Company launched the Steer your Way project, through which new drivers are acquired. “The situation in the job market has been very bad for the last several years. The generation of professional truck drivers is growing old, the apprenticeships enabling gaining the Category B and C driving licence no longer exist and young people find other professions more attractive”, explains Petr Kozel. “We, in our company, solve this situation by looking after our permanent staff – we offer them a fair remuneration system with benefits, e.g. for economical journeys, and high-quality technology for the performance of their demanding jobs. But as we are doing well and are developing the Company, we are also looking for new drivers in the job market. They can use our web site zaridtesi.cz, and the Steer your New Way project aims at the drivers who would like to work for us abroad.”
This is because VCHD Cargo founded a subsidiary, VCHD Cargo GmbH, in the German town of Radeburg last year. “We have numerous clients in Germany and, due to the cabotage policy, we have not been able to meet their demands”, says Petr Kozel, adding, “in 2019, we obtained all the permits required to launch our business and the trial operation has been running since September”. Now, six vehicles with the VCHD Cargo logo are already driving in Germany, and the Company has plans for further expansion. The job positions are preferentially offered to our trustworthy employees.
In 2020, in the Czech Republic, the VCHD Cargo Company will concentrate on further quality enhancement of its services in keeping with its strategic growth plan. The investments will flow in the development of branch offices, further renovation of the vehicle fleet and employees’ education.
