Digitization and personal go hand in hand at award-winning transporter

In the transport sector, the name AJ Veurink undoubtedly rings a bell with many professionals. For years, this transport company from Roeselare has been known as a punctual, flexible and reliable groupage transporter. Managing director Sandro Paravizzini has big plans to prepare the company for the future. This includes a new company name. Welcome to V1000!

The world of roaring truck engines and shiny trailers holds no secrets for Sandro. He has worked at AJ Veurink since 1996, and at the end of 2019 he came to the helm - or steering wheel, if you will - of the West Flanders transportation company. "Because I have been working in the company for almost three decades, I have gained an excellent understanding of its operation," Sandro confirms. "Based on this helicopter view, I started thinking about how we can further improve our company and prepare it for the future, in a sector and economic environment that are evolving at lightning speed. During this thought exercise, one thing was already clear: our personal approach and far-reaching flexibility are assets that I want to develop further with my team. At the same time, we want to boost our digital services so that our customers can always keep track of their shipments." Mille grazie!

Sandro's mission is clear: to let digitalization and personal contact go hand in hand, so that each customer becomes a true ambassador for the company. With that new direction also comes a new company name and corporate identity, without admittedly drawing a line under the past too abruptly. "For that, I have too much respect for the history of AJ Veurink," Sandro said. "In May 2023, we officially held V1000 above the baptismal font. The V stands for connectedness, progress and renewal. 1000 refers to our soul and my Italian roots: 'mille grazie'. We want to say 'thank you' a thousand times to our employees for their efforts and commitment, and also to our customers and relations for their trust. V1000 must become synonymous with top quality and progressiveness," echoes the ambitious manager. "What is also nice is that the new name has a futuristic connotation."

V1000 digital platform

The latter aspect is no coincidence, as Sandro looks confidently toward the future, with many innovative entrepreneurial plans. "For example, we have had a solid home working policy in place within our company for several years now," he says. "Not only for administrative employees, but also for our dispatchers. We invested heavily in home workstations, also paying attention to cyber security. This digital approach guarantees, among other things, that we can offer our customers the best service in a location-independent way, without losing sight of the togetherness in our V1000 team."

Another digital accomplishment under which Sandro plans to roll out a digital V1000 platform on which customers can track their shipments in real time. And that should go far beyond a classic notification that a shipment will be delivered between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. "From V1000, I want to offer a GPS-driven track-and-trace platform online, with the ability to see to within a few meters where a truck is currently driving. Call it service 2.0, towards a transportation service of the future."

Roadmap for electric driving

In a future-proof transportation firm, the aspect of sustainability obviously cannot be missing. A fleet of fifty classic internal combustion engine V1000 trucks has a hefty carbon footprint, but Sandro wants to see that change as soon as possible. 

"We want to use the momentum of our company relaunch to systematically renew our fleet," he indicates. "The transition to electrification is unstoppable, and with our company we don't want to miss this trend. Therefore, we have initiated a roadmap to electrification within V1000, the first step being the construction of our own high-voltage cabin. Second, investments in our own solar panels are on the agenda, and third, we want to investigate where we will install charging stations for cars and trucks on our company site."

Despite those ambitious sustainability plans, Sandro remains healthily skeptical about this current issue. 

"Many challenges remain when it comes to electrically powered freight transport," he says. "Are the governments in our country making sufficient efforts to promote the switch to electric driving, for example through subsidies and a sufficient supply of public charging points? And what about the mindset among customers? Are they willing to pay more for the heavy investments our sector has to make? And what about smaller carriers who cannot bear this investment cost? Won't they fall by the wayside on their way to green driving?"

Transporter of the Year

In any case, Sandro and his staff are poised for exciting years in the transportation business. "In the Benelux and France, we continue to do our best as a groupage transporter to make a difference for our customers. The fact that we were awarded Transporter of the Year in 2022 was in every way a great motivator to keep growing. Fasten your seatbelts!" ■