Based in the Port of Rotterdam for many years. One of the larger Rotterdam logistics service providers. The family business with a history dating back 100 years that keeps all logistics activities in its own hands. And above all thoroughly Rotterdam. That is Neele-Vat in a nutshell.
Ruud Vat's grandfather started a transport company with horse and cart for fruit and vegetables to Barendrecht in the last century. In 1926 he bought a truck, but crashed in 1932. The company was stopped and the license leased to RSK (Reiman, Stok & Kersten). Ruud's father and uncle started as drivers in 1933 until 1945. In that year they established a transport company together with RSK's permits. After a time, they continued separately. Piet Vat took over the Goedkoop & de Geus company. In the 1960s, during the transport dip, Ruud's father merged with Kersten & Hunik. This was not an equal merger, however, and shortly thereafter Ruud's father had to leave the company. He started Vatrapex, but had to close it in 1975 because of an unpaid debt of DM 800,000. In 1975, Ruud Vat started his own company with the support of his father and uncle. Customers like Eastman Chemical and de Jong's machine factory were served with shipments to Saudi Arabia. The start was in the Rotterdam Hulstkamp building during the second oil crisis. He acquired transport licenses from the Vatrapex estate and over the years purchased his own trucks. In 1981, he sold all the equipment and permits and became a freight forwarder. He explains: "I was too big for the napkin and too small for the tablecloth. I had to expand, but interest rates were much higher then. State Secretary Van Hulten of the PPR declared a tonnage freeze, which made permits pricey. I took advantage of that." This was the beginning of the Rotterdam family business with now more than 1,000 employees. Below are the milestones since 1975:
From a modest office in the Hulstkamp Building on Rotterdam's Maaskade, Ruud Vat begins a great adventure. What starts as a dream of one man with the permits and a few trucks from his father's company, forms the inspired basis of the warm family business we are today.
Our family grows and so do our ambitions. We move to the Van Riemsdijkweg, where we occupy our first 500 m² of our own storage space. Here we lay the first building block for our warehousing branch, with the personal care for goods that has characterized us ever since.
In Albrandswaard, we are literally building our common future. With the commissioning of 7,000 m² of office and storage space right along the A15 motorway, we are creating a central location where our people work side by side on the best logistics solutions.
As a family business, we dare to pioneer and invest in real specialties. On the Maasvlakte we are starting the construction of a huge distribution center for dangerous goods. With this we are showing our entrepreneurship and our responsibility for safety and quality for the port and our customers.
A historic moment in our history: the families of VAT Logistics and Neele Logistics merged into one. Two cultures that fit seamlessly together now form Neele-Vat Logistics. Together we are stronger and look to the future with a shared vision....
With the establishment of Rotterdam Blending & Filling (RBF) on the Maasvlakte, we show that we really listen to our customers. We extend our services to the blending and filling of liquids; we think along and relieve our partners, just like you do in a good family.
We are strengthening our position as a global logistics partner by acquiring Otentic Logistics & Otentic Customs. This not only expands our warehousing capacity, but also adds in-depth customs expertise to our family, allowing us to further unburden our customers.
We are deepening our European network by expanding our air and ocean freight activities. Rotterdam Air & Ocean Freight (RASF) and BCS Express (Ireland) are becoming part of the organization, further spreading our wings in Europe. We are also moving into the City Terminal in Rotterdam to further optimize our container flows
We proudly celebrate our 50th anniversary, a milestone we achieve with a global team. In this special year, our CEO Cuno Vat will be named 'Port Man of the Year 2025', a wonderful recognition of our strong family culture and growth. We also welcome new 'local heroes' from Spain (Nord Cargo), Belgium (Cool Solutions), Germany (Dörrenhaus) and Switzerland (Schouten Transport)..
