One year ago, the Czech transport company VCHD Cargo expanded its businesses to the neighbouring Germany and founded a dedicated subsidiary VCHD Cargo GmbH in Radeburg. The German business has successfully entered the German long-distance and domestic transport market, expanded its truck fleet and will soon hire more employees.
Creation of the new subsidiary in the vicinity of Dresden was based on a through market analysis that confirmed good potential of the German market, especially in terms of line services. “Given our traditionally good contacts in the German market, we decided to create VCHD Cargo GmbH in order to get an easier access to the German domestic business that had been out of our reach previously due to a ban on cabotage,” VCHD Cargo a.s. chairman Ing. Petr Kozel explains. The German subsidiary VCHD Cargo GmbH Radeburg was officially founded in January 2019 and its first truck hit the road in June 2019. The company currently operates 8 regular lines within Germany and two more trucks will be launched into operation within a few weeks.
“For many years, the Czech republic has struggled with a lack of professional drivers, compounded with a growing trend of qualified people leaving for job opportunities abroad for various, often personal reasons,” Petr Kozel says, adding: “We have been aware of this trend for a long time and we now offer our employees the chance to work on international lines.” By creating the German subsidiary, the number of jobs for core Czech employees has further increased. “We are rather strict in selecting potential candidates for positions in our German subsidiary and prefer employees with whom we have had long-standing positive relationships. As a family-owned company with a strong emphasis on traditional values, we are able to offer them many benefits even outside of the Czech Republic, ranging from the use of company apartments to an opportunity to completely relocate abroad with their families.”
“Doing business in Germany is different than in the Czech Republic in terms of the legal environment and stronger protection of employee rights as well as the specific conditions of the local market,” Petr Kozel says looking back at the first year of German operations, adding: “Regular new transport deals are harder to find but once a customer has good experience they tend to transform into long-term partners.” Another difference lies in lower demands on cash flow management in Germany. This year, VCHD Cargo GmbH expects revenues of around EUR 1.5 mln and wants to add more drivers and forwarding agents to its core team in Radeburg.