• Objednejte si přepravu ještě dnes: +420 312 245 107
  • Order shipping today: +420 312 245 107
  • Bestellen Sie den Transport heute noch: +420 312 245 107

Category Archives: Press center

VCHD  /  Press center
Categories Press center

VCHD Cargo investing in 5th generation Mercedes

The Czech transport company VCHD Cargo has acquired new Mercedes-Benz Actros vehicles. This 5thgeneration truck, the winner of the prestigious Truck of the Year 2020 award, offers a digital interface between the vehicle and the driver, partial autonomous driving mode and state-of-the-art safety features. VCHD Cargo has invested over EUR 500 000 in the new vehicles and plans to buy another 15 trucks of the same brand before the end of this year.

The VCHD Cargo fleet currently includes 160 trucks of various brands, all of which meet the EUR 6 standard and have an average age of 3.3 years. The company recently acquired three Mercedes-Benz Actros 2548 L6x2. The configuration selected by the company has a 3-axle chassis with driven middle axle and a lift axle in the rear. The vehicle has a 12.8-litre stroke engine with 350 kW power and 2.300 Nm torque. VCHD Cargo plans to use these vehicles with swap bodies on its regular international routes.

“We decided to invest in this new generation of vehicles after careful deliberation and evaluation of all options available in the market,” says VCHD Cargo a. s. Board Chairman Ing. Petr Kozel adding that “these models convinced us by their sophisticated technologies, especially those that increase safety and driver comfort. We were especially attracted by modern solutions that help our drivers do their job such as a generous cabin for long-distance hauls.” Unlike other trucks in the VCHD Cargo fleet, the new Actros does not have rear-view mirrors but rather a MirrorCam system – cameras located on the vehicle’s exterior transmit the image to screens in the driver’s cabin. The system gives the driver a better view of the situation around his vehicle while improving the truck’s aerodynamic properties.

The Actros also comes with a groundbreaking dashboard that no longer includes traditional gauge indicators and controls but has instead of two integrated tablets that show all crucial information such as speed, rotational speed, heating and ventilation, all of which can also be displayed on a mobile phone. The tablets can also be used to download updates and applications from Mercedes-Benz or other providers. The flat-floor L BigSpace cabin offers a range of functions that increase the driver’s comfort and driving safety – comfortable, air-suspension and heated seats, multifunctional steering wheel, rain and light sensor, predictive cruise control, traffic sign assistant and independent air-conditioning. “An additional bonus should be lower fuel consumption thanks to the predictive cruise control function and better aerodynamics,” Petr Kozel explains.

VCHD Cargo has so far acquired three Mercedes-Benz Actros vehicles. Before the end of this year, the company’s fleet should increase by another 30 new trucks from Mercedes-Benz and, most probably, Scania and Volvo. VCHD Cargo has already bought 13 new vehicles this year.

Author klient
Categories Press center

VCHD Cargo and measures against the spread of coronavirus

Protecting our drivers – protecting us all 

VCHD Cargo has announced its COVID-19 measures. For nearly two months already, the company has been taking active steps to protect the health of its employees, especially its drivers, at the time of the current coronavirus pandemic, investing more than 10.000 EUR in safety measures.

“I think this unprecedented situation highlights the importance of logistics,” says Ing. Petr Kozel, chairman of the VCHD Cargo a.s. Board, explaining that “in terms of the risk of contracting this infectious disease, our drivers are at the frontlines together with healthcare workers, rescue teams and public order officials. Every day, our colleagues are on the road throughout Europe, including high-risk areas that are among the hardest-hit by the disease. They are there to make sure that there goods in our shops, including online shops whose popularity has recently skyrocketed. They come in contact with strangers on the road and when loading and unloading their vehicles. By protecting them, we, in fact, protect us all. We adopt measures designed to minimise the risk of infection and the risk of importing the disease to the Czech Republic.”

“However, we are faced with many hurdles that make our work even more difficult. First and foremost, there is the slow and inadequate response of certain countries, although wearing of facemasks has become more and more common as the situation worsens. Nevertheless, things like smoking areas where dozens of people congregate at the same time are still a common occurrence, even in Germany,” Petr Kozel continues but also criticises the other extreme – total isolation where some companies go as far as locking driver facilities – toilets, showers, canteens. “This, too, is very bad news for our drivers who spend days on the road and are now unable to enjoy even such simple services. Despite these complications, our drivers continue to do an excellent job. We are grateful to them and do our best to protect them as much as possible.”

As of today, VCHD Cargo has invested more than EUR 10.000 in personal protective items for its drivers and office staff. The company has bought hundreds of face masks, single-use gloves and disinfectants and invested in ozone generators that provide thorough cleaning and efficient liquidation of viruses and bacteria for all vehicles in its fleet. Furthermore, VCHD Cargo introduced strict internal rules for personal hygiene and circulation of individuals and documents in its facilities as early as in February.

“In the current situation, health protection measures are the no. 1 priority for us. We fully implement all new COVID-19 regulations and restrictions and we have developed our own strict in-house mechanisms to combat the virus. I am confident that if all of us – carriers, customers and consumers – behave responsibly we will get safely through this challenging period together,” Petr Kozel concludes.

Author klient
Categories Press center

VCHD Cargo creates new jobs

Leading Czech carrier VCHD Cargo has strengthened its export lines and expanded its team. Since January 2020, the company has created 20 new truck driver jobs. The new employees will serve on the company’s regular lines to Spain as well as in the domestic carrier service in Germany.

At the end of last year, VCHD Cargo announced its planned investments for 2020. Implementation of the plan started right from the beginning of the new year. “We listen to our customers’ needs and we have added new carrier lines to Western Europe,” VCHD Cargo a.s. Chairman Ing. Petr Kozel explains, adding: “This has required investments in both technology and human resources. Since January, we have thus hired 20 new colleagues.”

Two years ago, VCHD Cargo decided to face the tight labour market situation and a shortage of drivers by launching the “Zařiďte si” (Come and drive) project. The objective was to present the company’s job offer to the relevant target group – professional drivers – and provide information about life in the company. “The project has been a success and we now find new drivers mostly through the zaridtesi.cz web site,” says Petr Kozel, adding: “We want to help our new colleagues well adapt to our company system and teach them the principles of our customer service. At the same time, we want them to feel comfortable and welcome in our company.”

VCHD Cargo, therefore, offers numerous benefits and a fair remuneration system to all employees. In the case of drivers, for example, this includes bonuses for cost-efficient driving and loyalty benefits. “We try to set internal rules and conditions that reflect the economic, environmental and social aspects of our business,” Petr Kozel explains. “We also plan our work and investments with view of making our drivers’ difficult job as easy as possible.” For example, VCHD Cargo consistently invests in the latest technologies and has set up a network of company apartments in key destinations that the drivers may use for their mandatory breaks. VCHD Cargo drivers also highly appreciate the freedom to organise their private life thanks to a system of regular lines. VCHD Cargo currently employs 270 drivers in the Czech Republic and another 10 drivers through a foreign affiliate.

 

Author Editor Zábranský/Kittl
Categories Press center

VCHD Cargo is growing in the Czech Republic and expanding to Germany

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.

Author Editor Zábranský/Kittl
Categories Press center

VCHD Cargo: 2,6 million for the fleet

Czech carrier company VCHD Cargo has reported the level of investment in its fleet: this year, the company purchased trucks and trailers worth EUR 2,6 million, which was 8% more year on year. The average age of the company’s fleet is now 2.8 years.

 

There are now more than 150 trucks and 150 trailers with the VCHD Cargo logo navigating European roads and heading to and from more than 70 European destinations on regular VCHD Cargo lines. The company regularly invests in its fleet in order to maintain its average age under 4 years. This year, VCHD Cargo purchased 27 motor vehicles, mostly Scania swap bodies, and 25 trailers. “After this year’s investments, 100% of our trucks meet the highest EUR 6 emission standards,” says VCHD Cargo CEO Ing. Pavel Sirotek, adding: “We strive to minimise our business’s impact on the environment and we always keep this value in mind when acquiring new vehicles. We also regularly train our drivers in safe and economic driving in order to reduce fuel consumption and emissions.”

The VCHD Cargo fleet includes various types and brands of towing and trailer vehicles, all of which are equipped for the transport of hazardous goods pursuant to ADR. The company specialises in regular cargo export lines typically using swap bodies and makes its technology investments accordingly. “There are many parameters that play a role in our purchasing decisions, first and foremost fuel consumption, safety and driver comfort,” says Pavel Sirotek.

Author Editor Zábranský/Kittl
1 … 5 6 7 8 9