Rotra: leading logistics!

Rotra was founded in Doesburg by Hermanus Roelofsen. Four generations have worked or are still working in the family business. In the early days the goods were still carried by horse and cart, a situation that we can scarcely imagine now.
In the last decades worldwide forwarding by air, sea and land, warehousing, value added activities and supply chain management have been combined in one flexible organisation. That situation has been built up steadily and carefully, with the result that Rotra is a stable company with a sound financial foundation and a reliable global network of logistic partners. 

In 2020, Rotra decided to fully focus on expanding sea and air freight activities as a digital forwarder and to sell the road transport and logistics divisions. With the development of the digital platform RotraNext, Rotra has digitized the entire booking process for worldwide sea and air freight shipments, thereby providing cost and time savings and full transparency in the logistics chain.

Rotra transforms into a digital freight forwarder

Rotra's strategy envisions a transformation to a digital freight forwarder in which it brings together 'the best of both worlds': more than 110 years of expertise in transport and logistics combined with the latest technologies of today's startups. A substantial part of the costs in transport and logistics is not in physical transport, but in administrative handling and communication. Rotra recognizes this like no other and has automated and digitized activities and processes. The focus is on smart use of data so that we can make better decisions even faster and we can serve our customers even better.

Continuity through sustainability and innovation

As a family business, Rotra strives not only to work for its customers, but rather with its customers to be able to develop logistics solutions and concepts that are 100% in line with the shipper's needs. Rotra stands for long-term continuity and has been sorting for the future for more than a century. As a family business, we have a clear identity that is characterized by passion and loyalty. The culture of involvement and responsibility is firmly anchored in our DNA. Above all, we stand for a sustainable business strategy with which we anticipate the long term. In a rapidly changing sector, we are constantly looking for sustainable innovative solutions for the transport sector. This makes Rotra an important contributor with breakthrough innovations in the sector. For example, Rotra started using the first Ethanol truck in Europe in 2008 and was the forerunner in the Netherlands with the use of the Ecocombi. Rotra has been fully committed to the sustainable, alternative fuel LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) for several years. In 2015, Rotra installed its own multimodal LNG filling station at the inland shipping terminal; a first in the EU.