HISTORY
The beginning
Merchant Hans Chr. Svendsen registered his first truck in June 1941. The company was named "H.C. Svendsen", which later became "H.C. Svendsen A / S".
The company was dealing from the start with waste collection of municipality Lyngby-Taarbæk and construction applications for the municipality and contractors. After the war, the company got a lot of excavators and other construction equipment, which was rented out to the municipality and contractors. This resulted in being known for having a large number of crane trucks in operation.
For a number of years the company also operated a large Mobil petrol station in Lyngby. Hans Chr. Svendsen was not only a successful haulier, he was also a well-known figure in Lyngby, where he also operated a large farm where he bred trotting horses, of which the trotting horse named Mobil was the most famous.
His son, Steen Svendsen, later took over the company and ran it for several years, but he became ill and in 1990 he decided to sell the company.
It was purchased that year by "A/S Rich. Frederiksen & Co", with Hans Frederiksen as Managing Director.
A transport company with a long history
The Frederiksen family started in the transport business nearly 100 years ago, when the merchant Jens Peter Frederiksen moved from Copenhagen to a smaller grocers shop in Vejleby – a small village in Hornsherred approx. 55 km from Copenhagen. Jens Peter began here in 1909/1910 with two teams of horses, which he used to operate a freight route to Frederikssund, as well as a regular haulage contractor business.
His son Richard joined the company in 1920 and soon afterwards the business was motorised, with a proud Ford T, with a capacity of 1,100 kg, as the first lorry. In 1934, the business was divided within the family and Richard continued with the haulage contractor business, while his sister continued with the grocery shop.
Thus, the company took its name from the son and became "A/S Rich. Frederiksen & Co", which today is a holding company.
Transport and logistics
In 1958/1959, the first transports for a large freight forwarding business based in Copenhagen were carried out outside the country, namely between Copenhagen and Stockholm. Richard died suddenly in 1960, and his oldest son, Jens, who was 19 years old at the time, continued to run the business with Richard's widow, while the youngest son, Hans, continued his recently-commenced education in the freight-forwarding business in Copenhagen. Hans held a range of different positions within transport and logistics, including in the building contractor business in Copenhagen, until he joined the family business in 1970.
In 1987, Jens Frederiksen decided to concentrate his efforts on his great hobby, horses, and Hans Frederiksen bought his shares and became the sole shareholder in the family company.
The family has been active in the transport business throughout the years and it has owned and operated several transport companies. Since the purchase in 1990, new activities have been added regularly. Whereas the international section immediately became a core part of the company, others were gradually added over the years. Today, the company is divided into 6 departments and together they employ approx. 500 people in Denmark and abroad.
The 4th generation takes over
In 1995 a generational handover was completed and Hans Frederiksen´s two sons, Mads og Jacob, joined the company, each with a shareholding of 33%. Thus the company has passed to the 4th generation.
Mads Frederiksen, who has a BSc in Business Administration and Commercial law, a Master Degree in Law and is a qualified Shipping Agent, joined the company in 1995.
Jacob Frederiksen, who has a background as a Market Economist in Logistics and also has a Shipping Agent education from Scansped (now Schenker), joined the company's Finnish office in 1998.