Devoted to trucks

The four brothers grew up with the logistics company their father started. Egbert explains: “Our house was connected to the company building. Our devotion to lorries started at a young age. Once we got our drivers licence, we started working in the company as drivers.” The brothers were free to choose any career path they wanted. However, they unanimously chose to work for the logistics company of their father.

In 1975 the brothers took over the company of father Versteijnen and turned it into a progressive, international company. Ad Versteijnen tells: “If you want to be successful in your business life – especially when working with family members- it is of the utmost importance to be honest at all times. We as brothers always kept a fine line between business and private.” Within the company Gerard, as the oldest brother, was in charge. The other brothers all had tasks and responsibilities for their own.

“If you want to be successful in your business life it is of the utmost importance to be honest”

Gerard was the first son that started working at Versteijnen Logistics, first as a lorry driver and later as a planner. “I helped in acquisition, the hiring process of new drivers and I supported our warehouse in Loven.” The company started in the Siriusstraat in Loven, Tilburg, after which it moved to the Pegasusweg in 1986. There the company had a plot of 20.000 m2 including a warehouse of 6.000 square meters. Egbert: “In 1988 we took a risk by expanding the company to Hungary so we could cater to the needs of our client Philips.” In 1991 the company moved to industrial park Vossenberg after which it ‘landed’ in the Zeusstraat in 1999.

The constant factor of Versteijnen? The friendly atmosphere and the solidarity which, from day one, are part of the company. Wim explains: “Because we were with four, there was always a ‘Versteijnen’ on the work floor. We always highly valued working together with our own employees. The effects of this are still visible today: we still have employees working for us who started 40 years ago.”

Versteijnen Logistics has always been progressive. As such the four brothers have collected some great stories throughout the years. “The medical equipment of Philips Medical used to be transported in wooden boxes. We as Versteijnen Logistics were the first to work with trucks were equipped with 100% air suspension to transport their goods. Together with Philips we ran a test in which the medical equipment, without packaging, was transported in one of our air suspended lorries. The number plate of this lorry was XB-45-11, I remember that vividly.” Ad: ‘’I delivered the first freight to Norway in 1972. Nowadays Philips Medicals still is our client, that says enough!”

“We as Versteijnen Logistics were the first to work with trucks that had 100% air suspension”

During the time the four brothers were at the head of the company, they innovated a lot. Wim: “We were, and still are, experts in large-volume transport as such we upgraded the capacity from 30 to 40 pallets. We were able to do this using so called top sleeper lorries, with which automatically more space is created.” Ad adds: “We are also experts in planning and production processing. At that time, I worked on the planning from Thursday till Friday, without any rest. It literally and figuratively got us far.”

The four brothers felt comfortable passing on Versteijnen Logistics. Wim tells: “It was a total surprise for us that Jorn wanted to take over the business. We always thought there wasn’t a successor from within the family.” Gerard adds: “We are proud that our third generation will continue the service that we offered and that a lot of the clients from ‘our time’ still believe in Versteijnen Logistics. The continuity is strong, and quality guaranteed.”