Van Gend & Loos was a Dutch

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics * Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations *Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

company. It was established in 1809, and was purchased by

DHL DHL is an American founded, German logistics company providing courier, package delivery and express mail service, which is a division of the German logistics firm Deutsche Post. The company group delivers over 1.8 billion parcels per year. ...

in 2003.

History

Van Gend & Loos was established by the

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

-based innkeeper and carriage driver Jan-Baptist van Gend. He had married a woman from the Loos family in 1796. When Van Gend's brother-in-law Petrus Josephus Loos died in 1809, his

diligence Diligence—carefulness and persistent effort or work—is one of the seven heavenly virtues. It is indicative of a work ethic, the belief that work is good in itself. In students Bernard et al. suggest that diligence in students is defin ...

company was merged with Van Gend's company to form Van Gend & Loos. The ''De Algemeene Postwagen Onderneming J.B. van Gend & Loos'' (General Postal Carriage Company J.B. van Gend & Loos) gradually expanded its network of diligence services, to transport passengers, goods and money. The company remained active in the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

(and beyond) when

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

became independent from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 1830. Van Gend & Loos had trouble keeping up with competition from

rail transport Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

. Diligence services between places that also had a railway connection, had to be abandoned. Van Gend & Loos did offer a connection to places where a railway hadn't yet been constructed, but the number of such places declined with the expansion of the railway system. Disestablishment of the company was even considered in the 19th century. Van Gend & Loos was purchased by employee Hipolyte Colignon, who revitalised the company. He abandoned passenger transport, and focussed on the transport of

break bulk cargo In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, refers to goods that are stowed on board ship in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bills of ladin ...

from and to railway stations. To this end, he signed deals with railway companies. Railway companies in their turn had trouble keeping up with the competition from motorised traffic, particularly trucks, vans and buses, in the 1920s. The national railroad company established the ''Algemeene Transport Onderneming'' (ATO; General Transport Company), which used both buses and trucks. The ATO was intended to transport break bulk cargo from and to the railway stations, which had been Van Gend & Loos' market. In 1928, the national railway company took over Van Gend & Loos. The ''N.V. Expeditie Onderneming Van Gend & Loos'' switched to trucks, and grew significantly. Important railway stations had large

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of citie ...

s, with freight wagons on one side, and grey and orange Van Gend & Loos trucks and vans on the other side. The corporate headquarters were moved to

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the fourth-largest city and a municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, in the very centre of mainland Net ...

in 1960, near the headquarters of the

Nederlandse Spoorwegen Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS; ; en, "Dutch Railways") is the principal passenger railway operator in the Netherlands. It is a Dutch state-owned company founded in 1938. The Dutch rail network is one of the busiest in the European Union, and t ...

, the Dutch railway company. ''

Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen ''Van Gend en Loos v Nederlandse Administratie der Belastingen'' (1963) Case 26/62 was a landmark case of the European Court of Justice which established that provisions of the '' Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community'' were cap ...

'' (1963) was a case that gave Van Gend en Loos a place in the history of

European Union law European Union law is a system of rules operating within the member states of the European Union (EU). Since the founding of the European Coal and Steel Community following World War II, the EU has developed the aim to "promote peace, its valu ...

Takeover

The company was reorganised in 1984. Railway transport of break bulk cargo was abandoned, and the company focussed on transport by truck. Van Gend & Loos was sold to Nedlloyd in 1986, with its main focus becoming the transport of packages and

pallet A pallet (also called a skid) is a flat transport structure, which supports goods in a stable fashion while being lifted by a forklift, a pallet jack, a front loader, a jacking device, or an erect crane. A pallet is the structural founda ...

s within the

Benelux The Benelux Union ( nl, Benelux Unie; french: Union Benelux; lb, Benelux-Unioun), also known as simply Benelux, is a politico- economic union and formal international intergovernmental cooperation of three neighboring states in western Europe ...

area. Nedlloyd sold Van Gend & Loos to

Deutsche Post The Deutsche Post AG, operating under the trade name Deutsche Post DHL Group, is a German multinational package delivery and supply chain management company headquartered in Bonn, Germany. It is one of the world's largest courier companies ...

(DP) in 1999. The three daughter companies of DP (Danzas, DHL Worldwide Express and Van Gend & Loos) were merged to form

in 2003, ending the almost 200-year history of Van Gend & Loos.

History

Takeover

See also