Dolf Hubertus - Nabuurs Fleet Manager, The Netherlands

5 happy Goodyear years so far

Logistics is about staying on the move, right? As the Dutch Nabuurs, with HQ in Haps (near Nijmegen), has evolved into a broad supply chain service company, it continues to break ground, to remain futureproof. Which is exactly why they have gone way beyond mere tyres with Goodyear.

"We and Goodyear, we have many more miles to cover."

The bigger picture. The whole chain.

‘Our fleet consists of 350 pulling units and some 250 pulled units’, Dolf Hubertus, Nabuurs Fleet Manager, explains. We have evolved into a broad supply chain services company, offering not only transport and warehousing but also integrated co-packing for example, in a wide range of sectors.’

 

Founded in 1962 as an animal transport specialist, Nabuurs is a top 30 logistics company now with over 100 million euro revenue every year, more than 1100 employees and 220,000 square meters of warehousing.

 

Dolf: ‘The bigger picture, the whole chain. It’s how you stay relevant.’

And how Nabuurs stands strong nowadays.

‘Sure, our diversified offering helped us get through the months of covid lockdown. Our services for the catering industry and schools were unfortunately on an unseen low, but FMCG was and is on speed’, Dolf states matter of factly. ‘It’s how it goes.’

 

A matter of staying ahead of the curve?

‘That is just sound business running, you know. But the same thing happened with our tyres. You need solid tyres, period. With animal transport, for example, you want to avoid delays and interruptions.’

Which is why Nabuurs went for Goodyear about 5 years ago: ‘Excellent lifespan-cost ratio.’

Then they took it to the next level.

As Nabuurs and Goodyear started looking for new ways to make both tyres and fleet perform even better, their way of working evolved.

’For breakdown road assistance, they rely on ServiceLine24. And with the Goodyear Customer Own Casing process, they renew their tyres. All managed from the Nabuurs workshops.

‘It took some time to get used to the data and alerts’, Dolf explains, ‘but the balance is fine now. And it helps us stay ahead of trouble. Big difference in terms of performance.’

Next challenge: sustainability

By 2025 the Netherlands will have turned its 40 main municipalities into zero emission zones. That takes innovation at Nabuurs to a whole new level.

 

‘On the one hand, our excellent tyre pressure and performance today already impact both engine performance and emissions.

 

’On the other hand, Nabuurs are organising themselves even more as a hub now, with distribution centres close to the municipalities. ‘Which we will be equipping with e-vehicles. That transition is happening now.’

 

Can a logistics company remain competitive thay way too?

‘We are experimenting with brand new Goodyear technology which is even more performant and efficient, but I can’t say anymore about that. It’s classified,’ Dolf laughs. ‘It really is.’

‘Just so you know, we and Goodyear, we have many more miles to cover.’

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