360 degrees TimoCom customer

Traditional, family run company

The Italian logistics firm Rampinini Ernesto's company history includes four generations of the family. From the beginning: In 1906, great grandfather Natale Gaetano founded the company "Vetture e Trasporti, di Rampinini Natalae" (Coach and Transport Rampinini Natale), which transported goods and passengers. His son Ernesto began helping his father in 1945, which is how the modern company "Rampinini Ernesto" got started. The industry and the technology have developed over time. Thus, Ernesto purchased the company's first lorry to transport freight. Later on, Ernesto's grandson Mattia, the company's current CEO, took over the firm and opened five new office buildings in other Italian cities. Not only that, he built the company's first storage warehouse and continued to gather experience in transport, load and goods management. Over time, the company came to specialise in transport of food, pharmaceuticals, veterinary drugs, textiles and fashion, and chemical products. However, as Europe became more intertwined and the company had to deal with stronger competition, the Italian logistics company had trouble getting a foot in the door of the market. It was often the case that their lorries returned from Europe without a return load. Rampinini Ernesto needed  a solution quickly, if the company wanted to stay competitive.

An allround transport platform

The solution came in 2003, with TimoCom's freight and vehicle exchange. For more than 10 years, Rampinini Ernesto has used the transport platform for international and even national transport. "These days, we find more freight to be transported within Italy on TimoCom's freight exchange than we do on national freight exchanges," the CEO explained. The freight search means expensive empty runs are a thing of the past: "After we began using TimoCom, we were able to increase the utilised capacity of our fleet by 30%. Not only that, the warehousing exchange is very helpful for us, as we can use it to temporarily rent out our large warehouse spaces" Rampinini reports. The calculation solution helps with cost calculation and route planning for all transports. The company uses the online transport directory to keep in contact with important partners, and they use the tendering platform to secure fixed contracts for certain routes, allowing them to plan better. "Ever since the Business Messenger was introduced last year, we can negotiate very simply on individual offers, it is very practical" the CEO explained.

Not only that, by using TimoCom, the Italian logistics company was able to increase their margin by 15%. Furthermore, they no longer have trouble with business partners refusing to pay: "Ever since we joined TimoCom, we have not had to worry about debt collection. We trust TimoCom, and we feel secure and well protected with them," said the CEO. But Rampinini reports that the company has experienced more than just economic gain; they have also made excellent progress in terms of the environment. "Our emissions calculations, carried out by the Italian start-up GreenRouter, show that we were able to reduce our CO2 emissions by 23% with TimoCom in 2003 and 2004, as opposed to the period 1999 to 2002 in which we were not using the transport platform." 

The example provided by Rampinini Ernesto makes it clear that all of TimoCom's functions are sensible and advantageous for a regular transport provider, given that the company, like Mattia Rampinini, knows how to use and implement them.