Dolo Trans Olimp carries out international transport operations with a fleet of Actros trucks

In the foyer stands a piece of the company's history. Even though the car transport company Dolo Trans Olimp (DTO) is still a fairly young business, they place a lot of importance on tradition. Upon entering the company's HQ in Pitești, 120 kilometres north-west of Rumania's capital Bucharest, your eyes are instantly drawn to the black front of a first-generation Actros.

"When we started seven years ago, that was one of our first trucks. At the time, we had a total of eight trucks," says DTO's Managing Director Cristian Dolofan. The boss has a very personal connection with the vehicles, having regularly driven them himself back then.

Since its beginnings, DTO has been writing itself quite the success story. From the start, Dolofan consistently placed importance on the most innovative and high-quality equipment features. "We drive what we think are the best trucks and the best trailers," says the head of company with a knock on the solid metalwork of the black long-distance haulage classic produced in Wörth. The front of the Actros hanging on the wall of the entrance hall is also a statement. "Premium quality and the efficiency of our drivers mean we are high performing – and are stronger than many competitors," explains Dolofan.

Not just "quality", but "efficiency"  is a word that the entrepreneur uses repeatedly: "If we don't work efficiently, the best vehicles and the best customers would be of no use to us." He opens the door to an office in which an employee is sitting at a computer. The man is analysing Fleetboard data from the trucks. The company trains its employees itself. Besides maintaining the high quality standards, the DTO fleet is especially focussed on consumption-optimised driving. Dolofan: "It's clearly one of the most important measures in order to remain efficient."

Besides the security staff at the gate and the Fleetboard analyst, the businessman and his wife are almost alone in the company near Pitești today as it's a public holiday in Romania.

Cristian Dolofan looks at the parking area with a smile. "It doesn't happen very often that there are so many trucks on the yard. Today, the majority of our drivers are spending the day with their families." The Actros trucks at DTO are used in many parts of Europe. 390 trucks, mostly Actros 1843 models of the current generation, transport vehicles from four vehicle manufacturers. And very soon, another 100 Actros vehicles will be added to the fleet.

From their very beginnings, DTO's main field of activity has been in the automotive branch. Dolofan: "A good thing for me was that I was able to gather some experience from my uncle's car import business before starting my own company. That's how I knew what was important in business." In 2017, the trucks from DTO transported 200,000 vehicles. In 2019 that number is expected to be 300,000. "We're seeing a positive trend in the market and we expect that to remain stable in the coming years."

The heart of the Rumanian automotive industry.

Large parts of the Rumanian automobile industry are located around the company's headquarters in Pitești. The town in the Wallachia region is also Cristian Dolofan and his wife's home town. And after they completed their studies in Bucharest, they were attracted back to the town. "Pitești isn't just our home town, it's also the right location for our company," says Raluca Dolofan, now standing in front of a map of Europe, explaining where the business is operational. "We also have another location, for example, in Kecskemét, Hungary, where Daimler produces the B-Class, the A-Class and the CLA models."

– Cristian Dolofan, Managing Director of Dolo Trans Olimp in Pitești

Photos: Alexander Tempel