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The Czech transport company VCHD Cargo has founded a Millionaires’ Club for drivers who have driven a million kilometres for the company or more. This year, the Club has 23 members and more than 10 of them have actually already reached 1.5 million kilometres behind the wheel of the company’s trucks. All Club members received gifts from VCHD Cargo with the message “You are the most valuable thing we have”. The company hopes to welcome more drivers into the Club soon.

It is a well-known fact that there is a lack of drivers in the market and VCHD Cargo can attest to it. In the year when it celebrates its 28^thanniversary since its foundation, the company employs nearly 350 people in the Czech Republic and Germany. Petr Kozel, chairman of the VCHD Cargo Board of Directors,  is well aware of the fact that a trucker’s life is no easy ride: “Being a driver is one of the toughest professions in the world. From a distance, the work may seem rather romantic but it is a daily routine for our drivers who must maintain a professional attitude and behaviour every day when they represent VCHD. Our drivers are asked to play many roles at the same time that go far beyond just safely driving heavy vehicles, often with fragile or hazardous cargo. They must also be product specialists when they load and unload shipments. They must also be good psychologists and know how to deal with “crisis” situations during loading and unloading,” Petr Kozel explains. “They must be able to communicate in foreign languages, at least at a basic level, because most shipment documents are not in the Czech language.”

Negotiating, loading and properly securing the cargo is only the beginning of a driver’s job. Every day, VCHD Cargo truckers have to drive as much as 600 or even 700 km in heavy traffic. VCHD Cargo knows the value of what they do and has developed a range of tools for employee motivation. The Millionaires’ Club is one of them.

“We tremendously admire our drivers’ work. They are the face of our company and the success of our business greatly depends on them. That’s why we decided to create the Millionaires’ Club to motivate our drivers to stay with us and get the benefits of being loyal to our company,” Petr Kozel continues.

The VCHD Cargo all-time record is held by Jiří Kadlec who has travelled nearly 2.3 million kilometres for the company. “We are in deep awe of drivers like this and Mr. Kadlec is a true legend in our company,” Petr Kozel says. “He has a lot of stories to tell about how the world has changed over the past 25 years that he has worked for us.”

“Being a trucker is not an easy life although our trucks are often full of happiness that we bring to people. All the goods they can buy in shops – I don’t think there is a type of product that I have not had in my trucks at some point,” Jiří Kadlec reflects on the life of drivers. “What could make our lives easier? A bit more respect for our work, which has suffered a lot because of a few, mostly foreign, drivers causing problems on the roads. And more respect for our dispatch team. In these fast and uncertain times, it is the VCHD Cargo 24-hour dispatchers who are always there to help us solve any problem that we may encounter.”

The Czech transport company has announced its plans for future strategic development. Despite an economic downturn, the company has adopted an investment plan that maintains the average age of vehicles in its truck fleet at three years. In line with this strategy, the company has acquired 28 utility towing vehicles and 13 trailers this year so far, as of the end of October.

VCHD Cargo is a Czech company with family capital that has been active in the market since 1997. The company offers road cargo transport and specialises in line services for regular goods as well as food and hazardous cargo. Its strategy is built around high reliability of delivery. This ethos has been put to a serious test this year. “The situation this year is complicated in many respects. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought challenges not only for our drivers in the form of strict hygiene measures, facility entry restrictions and a high risk of contagion on the job, but also for our dispatch staff and managers in terms of operative and strategic planning,” says Ing. Petr Kozel, Chairman of the VCHD Cargo Board, adding: “although we have already invested over half a million Czech korunas in PPE and disinfectants for both our drivers and vehicles, we shall continue investing in the renewal of our fleet in order to guarantee reliable and safe transport services.”

VCHD Cargo has adopted a seven-year investment plan intended to keep the maximum average age of all vehicles in the company’s fleet under three years. The aim is to minimise lost time due to vehicle breakdowns or servicing. VCHD Cargo’s fleet in the Czech Republic and in Germany currently consists of 160 towing vehicles and 170 trailers and the company plans to buy more than ten other vehicles before the end of the year. The company’s preferred suppliers are Mercedes, Scania and Volvo. “We firmly believe that modern technology, high-quality maintenance and experienced drivers are the key to VCHD CARGO remaining a trusted parted for all our European customers,” Petr Kozel concludes.

The Czech transport company VCHD Cargo has a new Business Development Manager, the experienced logistics expert Martin Hustoles. In his new job, he will steer the company’s development, especially in terms of international road transport.

A native of Kladno, Martin Hustoles graduated from a Secondary Technical School with a specialisation in mechanical engineering technology and has since expanded his education through numerous specialist seminars and courses devoted to logistics and management. Martin Hustoles has worked in logistics for over 25 years. He started his career in ESA in 1993, initially working as a dispatcher for international and domestic road transport and later serving on several other positions until 2000 when he left the company as its deputy sales director. Between 2000 and 2016, he worked in UTi Worldwide as the head of the sales department and the Business Development Manager responsible for logistics solutions and meeting the needs of key customers primarily in the automotive and hi-tech industries. Before joining VCHD Cargo, he worked in the logistics company DSV Road a.s. where he served as the Key Account Manager since 2016 when UTi Worldwide was acquired by the holding company DSV. In his capacity of Key Account Manager, Martin Hustoles was responsible for the former UTi Worldwide’s customer portfolio as well as key DSV Road accounts.

In his new job as VCHD Cargo’s Business Development Manager, Martin Hustoles’s objective will be to continue the company’s successful business development primarily in international road transport using the company’s own fleet but he will also work on acquisitions in the forwarding business.

“VCHD Cargo’s large fleet of new vehicles is a clear market advantage. On top of that, the company uses modern green technologies, intelligent TMS (Transport Management System) and professional know-how. The company is also open to new investments. All this comes together to create ideal conditions for an optimal growth strategy,” Martin Hustoles says, adding “I am looking forward to personally contributing to the company’s overall vision of moving forward into the future with stability and prosperity.”

“The job of a Business Development Manager touches on all activities of our company, from working with major customers, through processes involved in day-to-day operation, marketing and economic processes to the development of new business areas,” says Chairman of the VCHD Cargo a.s. Board of Directors Petr Kozel, adding“we are confident that in Martin Hustoles we found a logistics expert who will take our business strategy and use it to grow our transport and, in the future, other logistics services.”

Martin Hustoles is married and has two children. He is fluent in English and Russian and conversational in German, French, Spanish, Italian and Japanese. He spends his free time with his family travelling and enjoying a variety of sports – skiing, cycling and motorsports.