Martijn Viergever
Forwarder

Martijn is an experienced container planner who truly enjoys being part of the team at the super-busy Port of Rotterdam.

I have worked at Thermotraffic for about three and a half years. Before that, I worked in a similar role at a transporter in Hoogerheide but I had a lot of travelling time – 1.5 hours each day. Thermotraffic is close by and in the heart of the Port of Rotterdam. And I already had a click with the team because I worked with them at my previous company. The team consists of four people: a manager, a team coordinator, and two container planners.

Container planning

I am responsible for container planning. So, the moment a container is available to be moved from the terminal our team arranges the transport. That means from collecting it from the terminal to the inspection point and on to the customer’s desired destination. Nationally and internationally. Within the team, I am mainly responsible for the transport to the cold stores of Eurofrigo, our sister company. And together with my colleague we also arrange road journeys by truck that go beyond the cold store.

Rewards and challenges

It may be a cliché, but every day is different and there is always a new challenge in organizing the transport. It is satisfying to be able to say at the end of the day: “It is all arranged”. Customers are happy and we are happy. Completing the puzzle, that’s fun to do.

On the other hand, you can never predict in advance how things will turn out. You are dependent on how busy it is at the terminal, and Rotterdam is often very busy. You also have to deal with disruptions. You try to plan as far ahead as possible, but this is not entirely possible. We also deal with the inspection points. How busy is it there? How fast does it go? Are there containers with problems or is everything going smoothly?

You need everything coordinated and ready in advance. And you never know in advance how extensive the inspection will be. If there’s a delay you need to inform the customer. There’s a lot more to it than just arranging the transport.

We work with around 25 charter trucks. Most of them are self-employed drivers and we want to make sure they’ve earned enough money at the end of the month. So, you’re working for Thermotraffic, but also for them. There is an obligation towards each other.

Why choose Thermotraffic?

I immediately had a click with Albert, my manager, and Piet, my direct colleague. Albert also invited me to come and have a look, so that I could see what working at Thermotraffic involves. That made the choice easy and I immediately chose Thermotraffic.

Thermotraffic thinks not only about the company, but also about the employees. It’s informal and there is a lot of laughter. You can work in whatever way you like as long as the work is done well. If you manage to get things done together, isn’t that great? You can also make mistakes and learn from them. The conditions are also good. For example, a non-contributory pension is very attractive. And if you do your work well, you are rewarded accordingly.

Training and ambition

I am not currently doing any training, but training is very much encouraged. There are plenty of opportunities to grow here and if you have the ambition you can do anything within the company.