Over a 100 years Van der Mark

For forty years, Pleun Van der Mark has literally and figuratively pulled the cart. In 1950, he hands over the reins to the second generation, his son Simon A. Van der Mark. It is a difficult period, in which the company has to make do with what it has. Inventiveness is called for, because just after World War II, there is hardly any reliable equipment available. The activities are continued with old, discarded army trucks. Big customers, such as Koni (now in 2010, still a loyal customer) and Van Neerbos, help to get the expanded family business through these economically trying times.

In 1965, the energetic Teun Van der Mark takes the helm from his battle-weary father. With total dedication, he throws himself into the adventure. Right from the start, he has a clear vision; transport must be more than only going from A to B and back. He lays the foundation of the present-day total solution in logistics of Van der Mark. In those years, heavy investments are made in more and better material. New customers are welcomed and in the seventies, emphasis is placed on the transport of lemonade for Herschi and the significantly increased container transport.

IIn the eighties, international transport boomed. Bulky products such as dog and cat food account for a large part of the cargo that is transported far abroad. From a regional transport company, Van der Mark grows into a reputable, international carrier. 

You have to stand out as transport company; that was the firm opinion of Teun Van der Mark. That is why he developed all kinds of additional services such as repacking and packing of goods for customers. That meant that Van der Mark would also be contracted for the transport, so it was an ideal way to retain customers. The old customers stayed, Van Oordt presented itself as a very large new customer. To keep the growth on the right track, Van der Mark moved into a completely new building in the James Wattstraat in Oud-Beijerland in 1998. This meant that there was enough space for further growth and the development of new services.

Too soon, Simon Van der Mark - the fourth generation - has to take over the company from his father in 2000. But he learned the business at his father's knee and had already initiated several activities together with his father and he builds on them. Transport is all very well, but total logistics has the future, so that is where the company's focus was and is. This path appears to be the right one. In the last decade, Van der Mark has evolved into a partner able to provide an all-embracing range of logistics services to its customers. "Does a customer have special wishes? Fine, be my guest. Make them known and we will take care of them. That is the flexibility of Van der Mark," according to Simon.

Nowadays, Van der Mark is a high-tech business using the best technological devices. Radio-beam links with customers, onboard computers in the vehicles, state-of-the-art communication equipment, GPS, a solid automation solution at our offices for planning activities and our financial administration. An advanced bar code scanning and pallet localisation system to adequately manage two locations with a storage capacity of 17.000 pallets. The unstoppable growth is kept on the right track, using proper tools. Of course, there is more to it than technology; in the end, it comes down to the people who have to do the work. Daily, more than fifty motivated professionals go to great lengths for their customers. The trucks of Van der Mark travel millions of kilometers per year (and naturally, they comply with the most recent emission limits). Daily distribution to approximately 250 addresses in the Netherlands and also internationally to Germany, France and Spain. Van der Mark keeps growing and celebrates its centenary.

VDM has been AEO-certified since 2014 and as a result of that numerous new clients selected VDM as the preferred partner for logistics. The strategic alignment with ITH Complast/Pack-It in 2016 boosted the business and from now on VDM also has its own warehouse capacity in Wijchen, but we have the intention to cetralize everything in Oud-Beijerland. We line up for the future and for that reason Simon’s son Tom - the fifth generation - started working as a trainee at VDM. 

In 2020 Tom van der Mark is our youngest (inter)national truck driver (after working for a while in our warehouses in Oud-Beijerland) and his sister Patricia is in her element at the Customer Servicedesk of VDM. Nowadays, Tom is still behind the wheel and Patricia is operational manager. We strengthened our management team to manage the controlled growth and for that same reason we invested in Boltrics, a user-friendly warehouse management system. We had plans to build extra square meters in Oud- Beijerland, but we had the chance to obtain 9 dockshelters, 11.000 square metres and 15.000 pallet positions just around the corners (Alexander Flemmingstraat 2). In 2022 we also obtained the old  Dylan Steel property at Jan van der Heijdenstraat 13, adjacent to the HQ of VDM. Again another 12.000 pallet locations and this gives us the extra space we were looking for. To be continued.