Ahsen Sarimusa
Administration Support

Ahsen loves everything to be in order. And he’s always been fascinated by logistics. So his job at our head office in Rotterdam is the perfect fit.

I studied Mechatronics. It was a very interesting course, but I couldn’t see myself working in a factory. For a while, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But from a young age, I found logistics very interesting. Whenever I saw a truck on the highway I would ask: where is it going, what is it carrying? So I slowly found my way towards logistics.

A pathway to the future

I joined Thermotraffic in the summer of 2023. I applied to a lot of companies and had options with many of them. But Thermotraffic was the only one that worked with a learning pathway with courses that would help me to eventually become a declarant. I found that very attractive, which is why I chose Thermotraffic.

I really like it here and in the first six months I have been able to see the work environment, and get to know my colleagues, the atmosphere, and the way people treat me. All those things are important to me and I must say I am very satisfied.

Helping colleagues

My current role in administration support mainly involves preparing dossiers so that my customer declarant colleagues aren’t overwhelmed with work. There is also some customer contact here and there. It starts with preparing files, putting them in the system, and keeping the schedule. I deal with imports and exports. I’m also dealing with the KCB (Quality Control Bureau), printing KCB pre-applications and eventually forwarding them to the KCB. Sometimes I also go to customs where I hand in documents and bring the documents back with me.

Above all, I make sure everything is in order here. That’s also how my character is, I like to have everything in order.

A busy day

I start at 7 or 8 o’clock. First I have a cup of tea and a chat then I go through the schedules of all our customers. Seeing who is expecting what. Then I check the mail to see what documents have come in. I also keep track of the quality and price of the services we purchase from suppliers.

Then I start preparing the dossiers, I put all that neatly in an Excel file and keep the physical list in order. If, when the documents are made up, there’s a certificate missing, I make sure that the certificate gets into the document. I also check to see if there are any exports, what needs to go? What time should I arrange an inspection for them? Looking at the schedules, is there anything that needs to be adjusted? Sometimes, for example, you have 12 containers. They can’t all be delivered at the same time so you have to move things around. These are all things you have to think about before you make a certain choice, which is a lot of fun. Sort of a puzzle.

A friendly environment

Every day is different. You never know what you’re going to get, how much you’re going to get. And there’s a great variety of very nice colleagues. Some that make everyone laugh, some that get cakes for everyone. There is a bond between colleagues here. That was very important to me before I came to work here.

Thermotraffic is growing fast. In the six months that I have been working here, a lot has already changed. You get the opportunity to grow with it, and I would recommend this as a great time for anyone to join the company.