1 April 2021
One of the family, that’s what you can call René Vermeer, after 40 years of loyal service to Versteijnen Logistics. In 1981, he ended up as co-rider at the transport company through vocational training. He is now working with the third generation of Versteijnen.
René started with three days of working and two days of school, after which he joined the company full-time. René explains: “I did my very first shift in 1981 and became a co-driver on national and international rides. At that moment, Versteijnen Logistics owned a fleet of 23 trucks. This number has now tripled. Just like the storage, where 50.000 m2 was added. That is a considerable development.”
As a co-driver, René switched to transport planning and later moved on to customer service. René: “I worked in the warehouse for the past ten years, first as a team leader and later as manager.” Here he works, together with another manager, on the day-to-day running of the six warehouses. René: “I am responsible for halls four, five and six. Every day I keep myself busy with managing the work, personnel planning and processes. It is a management function from start to finish.”
René had no experience as a warehouse manager, but recevied extensive training. René: “I don’t like to get stuck in a job. By growing within the company, you stay up to date. Of course I sometimes wondered what it would be like if I had moved to another company, but I see every position that I have been able to hold at Versteijnen Logistics as a new job and I still like it.”
René likes to take his responsibility: “As the person with ultimate responsibility you have to show that you are there and show commitment. You have to lead by example and if that means that you work a weekend every once in a while, then so be it. I can switch easily: if a truck has to be loaded, I can do that too. In that case I am an operator instead of warehouse manager. It is important to be able to switch roles.”
“I can easily switch roles”
The plus of Versteijnen Logistics is obvious to René: “It’s the flexibility that we show to our customers.” He also gets a lot of energy from working together and connecting with the different people at the company. René: “I am proud to work at Versteijnen Logistics. Every day we deliver excellent performances as a team, in good times and in bad times.”
In his last few years at Versteijnen Logistics, René will certainly not get bored. “I still see plenty of challenges in the warehouse in the next few years. For example, we will optimize everything and there are always other things that can be improved. It’s actually just like the entire logistics world: always on the move. That never changes.”
