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Category Archives: Press center

VCHD  /  Press center
Categories New-posts, Press center

VCHD Cargo records a modest growth in 2020

The transport company VCHD Cargo closed 2020 with positive results. Despite a huge drop in export volumes in the first and second quarter of last year, the company’s preliminary results indicate an overall 6.5% increase in turnover to CZK 777 mln. The growth was primarily driven by the German subsidiary VCHD Cargo GmbH. The company managed to maintain its investment strategy last year and even hired new employees. Employee health and IT were the key focus of the company’s efforts last year.

VCHD Cargo has announced its preliminary financial results for 2020, a year marked by unprecedented events on both the global and regional level. The VCHD Cargo group generated a turnover of CZK 777 mln, or 6.5% more than in the previous year. The Czech company VCHD Cargo a. s. achieved a steady financial result of CZK 729 mln (compared with CZK 725 mln in 2019) while the German-based branch VCHD Cargo GmbH increased its turnover from CZK 5 mln in 2019 to CZK 48 mln in 2020. VCHD Cargo Board Chairman Ing. Petr Kozel says: “The results reflect two facts – a drop due to a global pandemic, especially in the Czech market, in March and April 2020, followed by a massive revival in the autumn and at the end of the year. And secondly, we are now reaping the fruits of our efforts that initiated our business activity in Germany in 2019.” According to Petr Kozel, the loss of revenues in the Czech Republic during the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic was outweighed by an increase in transport volumes in the autumn and businesses’ efforts to get ready for brexit with many of them bringing in more stock in order to avoid complications expected to occur with a “hard brexit”. The company’s business in Germany focuses mainly on the domestic German market, which proved to be more stable last year and the company was, furthermore, able to attract new customers.”

VCHD Cargo continued to invest in its growth and development – specifically EUR 3,500,000. “Even during the difficult times of the Q1 marked by serious uncertainties about the future evolution of the new coronavirus pandemic we continued with our planned investments,” Petr Kozel explains and adds: “money was put into three major areas of our business – development and renovation of our branches, technology and renewal of our fleet and information technologies and, last but not least, protection of our people.” VCHD Cargo renovated its branch in Havlíčkův Brod and partly its branch in Kladno, purchased a total of 45 towing vehicles, trailers and cargo vehicles in a total value of CZK 77 mln and hired new people for middle management. Furthermore, the company was also one of the first to warn about the dangers of the pandemic as it was confronted with the reality of anti-coronavirus protection measures due to its regular cargo lines to Italy event before the fist cases of the disease appeared in the Czech Republic. “Since the start of the pandemic, we spent nearly CZK 400,000 on protective tools and items for our employees as well as disinfection and ionisation technologies for our vehicles.”

In 2021, VCHD Cargo plans ongoing additions to its team and want to attract new clients both in the Czech and German markets. The company wants to continue with major investments in new vehicles up to a total of CZK 100 mln and hopes to complete development projects in its branches in Havlíčkův Brod and Kladno. “Thanks to our wonderful team we were able to get through the difficult year 2020 with success and this year we want to focus on reinforcing our position of a reliable partner for our customers and a good employer for our staff,” Petr Kozel concludes.

Author klient
Categories New-posts, Press center

Petra Růžičková to lead a new VCHD Cargo branch

The Czech transport company VCHD Cargo has founded a new branch – VCHD Cargo České Budějovice – with the experienced logistics specialist Petra Růžičková at the helm. In her new position, she will be responsible for the company’s activities in South Bohemia and beyond.

VCHD Cargo České Budějovice will be strategically focused on customers in the south of our country including many industrial and retail companies as well as customers in the cross-border regions of Austria and Germany. Ing. Petr Kozel, Chairman of the VCHD Cargo Board, explains: “By founding the new branch, we are strengthening our presence in a strategic part of the Czech Republic,” adding: “What we found in Petra Růžičková is an experienced branch manager with logistics know-how and detailed understanding of the region. Having the town of České Budějovice as our base also allows us to serve our current and potential customers in Austria and Bavaria. Our travel time to these customers is now one to two hours and we believe that once the pandemic is over personal meetings will once again be an integral part of relationship management.”

Born in České Budějovice, Petra Růžičková has worked in logistics for more than 16 years. She graduate from a business high school and earned an MBA in transport, communications and logistics. She has worked in logistics since 2004 when she got a job in the logistics department of Robert Bosch s.r.o. Between 2007 and 2010, she worked in DACHSER EST as sales manager and deputy head of branch. She has since progressed in her career serving as a manager in the transport company Unitrans Bohemia where she was responsible for strategic management and a team of nearly 100 employees. For the past eight years, she worked in DACHSER Czech Republic as a DIY segment solutions manager, shipping manager and branch manager.

Petra Růžičková speaks English and German and can communicate in Russia. In her free time, she likes to travel and enjoys sports.

Author klient
Categories New-posts, Press center

VCHD Cargo has founded a Millionaires’ Club

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 28thanniversary 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.”

Author klient
Categories New-posts, Press center

VCHD Cargo adopts a long-term investment strategy with new fleet investments

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.

Author klient
Categories New-posts, Press center, Social responsibility

VCHD Cargo continues its support of first responders

The Czech transport company VCHD Cargo has extended its support of the Czech SAR Team, a voluntary first responder organisation dedicated to search and rescue of missing or lost persons and assistance during emergency situations. This year, VCHD Cargo’s financial support will be used to purchase a special rescue trailer.

“We started supporting the Czech SAR Team in 2019 at the initiative of one of our employees who devotes his free time to serve as part of the organisation’s rescue team,” says Ing. Petr Kozel, the Chairman of the VCHD Cargo, a.s. Board of Directors. Last year, VCHD Cargo provided funds for the purchase of medical material. This year, the company will contribute towards the purchase of a special rescue trailer designed for transport of rescued individuals from remote locations. “Last year alone, the Czech SAR Team carried out over 60 missions, often in dense wooded areas inaccessible for regular search-and-rescue equipment. This year, we decided, since we are a transport company, to help the first responders acquire equipment that will help them transport injured, exhausted or disoriented people in difficult terrain, Petr Kozel explains.

The Czech SAR Team is an independent search-and-rescue association. Its core mission is to search for missing or lost individuals in all parts of the Czech Republic with the help of all-terrain vehicles and other special devices used by the team’s members. The association works in close partnership with the Integrated Rescue System during natural disasters including floods, forest fires, etc. VCHD Cargo has supported numerous non-profit initiatives for many years and in 2020 decided to provide a total of CZK 50,000 to the Czech SAR Team.

Author klient
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