International transport at its best
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“At this point in time, we have 191 trucks of our own and we work with subcontractors who jointly have another 30 trucks,” says Robert Kaluzynski, Operations Director at KOIMEX S.A. “We only have megatrailers, so we can load much more for our clients. In addition, the roofs can be lifted to ease loading and unloading.”
Another aspect that makes KOIMEX stand out is that the company is closely involved with its clients and their plans, and has invested in special trailers to optimize logistics and international transport for them and to build strong partnerships.
For instance, KOIMEX has lighter trailers for clients in the steel industry, and trailers that permit horizontal transport of paper. Its clients are companies trading for instance in paper and paper waste, woodwork for gardening, chemicals and hazardous goods, industrial and agricultural machines, white goods and food.
In addition, KOIMEX works for major freight forwarding and logistics companies. Asked about developments in their market of international road transport, Mr. Kaluzynski observes that it is a challenge in any country to find enough drivers, which is even more of an issue because of the fact that many current drivers are nearing retirement age.
In general, the Polish transport market is large enough to employ another 100,000 drivers. “We completed 21,000 orders in 2017 and are very content to have enough excellent drivers, even enough to be able to grow,” he notes. “We have a mix of drivers from Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. All our drivers are well-trained and are assessed based on monthly KPI’s.”
The company is investing heavily in social and medical benefits for its 320 employees, and is planning a building in Swiebodzin where drivers can relax and socialize. Another challenge is posed by European regulations imposed on the transport sector in order to make it safer and cleaner. Its Mobility Packages require transport companies to invest in their fleet and operations.
An important asset for KOIMEX is that the company invested in an advanced IT system for order management and telematics. It started using Trimble in 2011, investing in computers and scanners in all trucks for order handling and communication with the drivers.
The driver has access to all important information about the order and the best route to the client, as well as extra information about easy loading and unloading at the destination. All signed transport documents are available for our customers in electronic format within ten minutes after unloading.
The heart of our operations is providing high quality, supported by our advanced IT systems, megatrailers and expert employees who speak local languages. Robert KaluzynskiOperations Director
By 2015 the company had developed its own TMS system (Transport Management System) on top of that to fine tune all operations. “In terms of IT and telematics we are well prepared to meet the new European regulations. Such investments are costly, so we do expect that transport rates will rise in coming months,” Mr. Kaluzynski notes.
In 2016, KOIMEX built a new headquarters and a 6,000 m² warehouse for an e-commerce customer. Geographically located on the proverbial crossroads from east to west and north to south, the warehouse is ideally located to serve a client who is active in Poland and Germany. This relatively new activity is already successful and in the next few years the company is looking at new locations for other warehouses.
“We will also develop services that make optimum use of the synergy between transport and warehousing,” the Operations Director enthuses. “In addition, we are planning to set up our own offices in France and Germany to be close to our customers.”
