About Royal Rotra - Digital Forwarder

For more than 100 years, our team has been there for you.

In 2009 we received the official designation Royal from the hands of the Queen's Commissioner. Machiel and Harm Roelofsen proudly accepted the title. For the brothers, this is recognition of the standards and values that Rotra has stood for as a company for more than a hundred years.

"A family business?
That means you do it together."

As an entrepreneur in a family business, you can make different choices than entrepreneurs in a publicly traded company. That gives you room to make different choices. Choices that make for a healthier business in the long run. Your company benefits from this, but so do the people who work with you. We notice this in both our workforce and our customer base. We have employees as well as customers who have been with us for 40 years. Often they have changed over the years as much as we have.

2022

Family business of the year

The Gelderland Family Business Guild has named Rotra family business of the year.

2023

FD Gazelle

Full of pride we are told that we are one of the FD gazelle. This puts us once again among the fastest growing companies in the Netherlands.

100th anniversary

Predicate royal

Rotra has been confirmed to hold the designation Royal. This has been continued after the disposal of the road transport arm.

2012

FD Gazelle

For the first time in our history, we have been named as one of the FD Gazelles. With this, we are once again amongst the fastest-growing companies in the Netherlands.

Innovation and transition in a 100-year-old company.

1909: Transport company H.W. Roelofsen

Hermanus Wilhelmus Roelofsen begins transport work, including for the purpose of road construction. The first transport is by horse and cart.

1925-1930: Purchase of DAF tipper trailer and tractor.

This truck costs as much as four
houses together on the Rozenveldsingel in Doesburg. In the years following the purchase, the nature of transport changes and, among other things, the first groupage trips to Rotterdam are made.

1959: Start of international transport

A start is made on international transport with tankers for The Humber Oil Company in Amsterdam.

1982: Expansion with sea and air freight

The establishment of an air and sea freight forwarding office in Rotterdam and Schiphol for worldwide air and sea freight shipments takes place.

1998: The first steps in software development are made

Rotra is one of the first logistics service providers to begin far-reaching automation by developing a Transport Management System (TMS) together with GreenCat.

2005: Opening of automatic warehouse for Royal Gazelle

Rotra opens the most advanced bicycle logistics center in the world for our client Royal Gazelle B.V. In 2007, we win the Logimatch award with it.

2006: Automatic trip planning system

Rotra installs an automatic trip scheduling system to reduce miles driven and relieve the environment.

2017: Opening container terminal

After years of intensive preparation, Container Terminal Doesburg is operational. Since then, the flow of goods by inland shipping has increased significantly. There are now daily sailings from Doesburg to and from Rotterdam and Antwerp and vice versa.

2020: Divestment from road transport. Rotra is now fully digital

As a digital forwarder, Rotra focuses on expanding its air and sea freight business and sells its road transport and logistics business units.

2020-2024: Growth through digital logistics

Existing and new shippers are seeing the benefits of digitizing their logistics. This is causing 125% growth year on year.

join a winning team

Will you join our team?

For 115 years we've been helping our clients get ahead, but we're not exactly stuck in the past. We're looking for people who want to help us build our digital future. People who understand that experience is valuable, but change is even more valuable. Who embrace new technology, but also understand that real progress is about people.

Do you recognize yourself in this? And do you get energy from an organization that uses its rich history as a springboard to tomorrow? Then we have a great conversation ahead of us. Because we are ready for the next 115 years. Are you?

See our vacancies

A scale-up with 115 years of history