A new century

Giving attention to the history of Fritom is of course not possible without dwelling on the developments that the Fritom companies have undergone. Starting in the 1980s, our companies grew from traditional transport, forwarding and shipping companies into the professional logistics service providers they are today. As in the early years of the Fritom Group, we are still involved in transport, forwarding and storage, but in recent decades more and more activities have been added. And that process continues today. Our companies have an ever widening range of activities with further added value. These include customs handling, air and sea freight, e-fulfilment and information management. Warehousing services have expanded to include VAS and VAL activities (such as packaging, assembly and quality control) that prepare goods for sale and shipment.

We have increasingly started using our logistics knowledge to advise our customers on their logistics bottlenecks, we implement logistics system links, and if the customer wants, we take over the entire logistics process from them. Continuous investment in knowledge and ICT systems further accelerates the development of new, more sustainable and complementary services such as freight management and supplier and smart logistics (automated and more sustainable solutions for transport and storage during every step of the production process), In this process of further logistics professionalization, at the beginning of this century, it was fitting to say goodbye to companies and start new initiatives.

Fritom had its own insurance agency: Westergo Assurantiën. In January 2001, she sold this office to Nationale Nederlanden. Fritom wanted to focus more on its core business. Outside the management of Westergo, there was too little insurance expertise within Fritom and the investments involved in the further expansion of the insurance agency became higher. It was also important that Westergo become an independent proxy company (with more decision-making and signing authority on behalf of insurers). Fritom felt it was time to say goodbye to its insurance activities.

Also in 2001, Afman Transport merged with Gebr. Oldenburger Expediteurs BV to eventually merge into that company. The branch in Baflo disappeared.

And finally, in that year Fritom sold Gromes-Plender Beheer BV with underlying BVs. The company had continued to expand in the preceding years and managing director Jaap Bukman was full of plans for even further expansion. However, the (environmental) legislation surrounding Gromes-Plender's activities became increasingly stringent and extensive, and with it the risks. By mutual agreement, it was decided to sell the company to Jaap Bukman, who, as an expert in the field of organic and inorganic fertilizers and the associated laws and regulations, continued the business independently.

The services of Fritom's freight forwarding companies VMD and TGN were partly overlapping and partly complementary. Through intensive cooperation, it seemed more efficient to bring the operations together in one location. With this in mind, the next step was taken to merge the companies on January 1, 2003. Double costs were eliminated this way. The new company continued under the name Transportgroep Nederland (TGN) BV and settled at the VMD location on Botterweg in Zwolle. This eliminated the need for a branch in Vaassen. These premises were therefore sold.

In 2005, VTK storage and distribution BV joined the Fritom Group. The company was engaged in the storage and handling of hazardous materials. A niche, as this form of storage requires a high degree of knowledge in the field of regulations concerning dangerous goods. For the Fritom Group, this acquisition meant a nice new challenge. In 2013 Fritom decided to resell VTK to a specialist in the field of dangerous goods. She herself then set her sights on yet other logistics projects.

In 2005, the Fritom organization schematically looked like this: