Fresh Blood

Thursday 16 December 2016
Since 29 November, BRL Leiden has been the new IM recovery operator in the Wassenaar region. This was an important but certainly not the only change to the recovery network of the Stichting IMN, in the closing days of 2016. Over the past few weeks, the recovery world was surprised by the bankruptcy of Bergingscentrale Bollenstreek, the decision by Wolves Berging to withdraw from Friesland, and the return of Takel-, Berging- en Transportbedrijf A. Barendregt to the A15 and A16 motorways near Ridderkerk. In 15 districts, that together generate a full 9% of the national volume, Stichting IMN was forced to contract a new IM recovery operator.

Nico Zwetsloot of BRL Leiden, accompanied by his Great Dane Kenzo (photograph: Lotje Fotografeert)

BRL Leiden, established in 2010, has never previously signed an IM contract. This makes BRL the first newcomer to the network of the Stichting IMN since Bergingsdienst.nl in 2009. BRL director Nico Zwetsloot started his career at Van den Ameele Berging in Oegstgeest, before working at the Leiden-based division of Logicx. BRL Leiden now employs a team of 15, and operates a fleet of 12 recovery vehicles.

BRL will be taking the place of Bergingscentrale Bollenstreek. That company was declared bankrupt on 28 November 2016, and as a result was forced to halt work on the network of main roads around Hoofddorp. The district in question, NH133 is one of the busiest in the country. The Stichting IMN decided to divide the district into two sections that have been awarded to two neighbouring recovery companies Smits Kraan- en Sleepbedrijf and Bergingscentrale H. van der Vliet. Bergingscentrale Bollenstreek was established in 1993 and for time some was one of the largest IM recovery operators in the Netherlands.

Wolves Berging is another of the country's larger recovery operators. This company opened a number of branches in Friesland in 2015, and this year was awarded 65% of all IM work in the province. However, as not all clients for recovery work signed up with the company, Wolves decided this month to withdraw from Friesland. All IM districts will be transferred to BCF Mobiliteit, a collaborative venture between the Friesland-based recovery operators Betten, Hof and Tolman.

Another far-reaching change to the IM network affected the Southeastern corner of the Rijnmond area. Since 1 April 2016 this has been the base of operations of Vreugdenhil Berging, a company that has delivered excellent service on the motorways around The Hague, for many years. Vreugdenhil, however, came to the conclusion that the company is not able to guarantee compliance with its own quality standards on the IM roads in Rotterdam, and therefore called upon Stichting IMN to dissolve the Recovery agreement 2016 - 2019, for those areas. The districts in question ZH167 and ZH168 have now been awarded to Takel-, Berging- en Transportbedrijf A. Barendregt in Rhoon, which as a result now serves the entire southern bank of the Meuse, and the Island of Dordrecht.

Cake with a photograph of the Ridderster motorway junction, presented to Takel-, Berging- en Transportbedrijf A. Barendregt by an anonymous admirer. (photograph: Barendregt)

Finally, there were a number of districts in which the recovery agreement had to be dissolved because the contracted recovery operator failed to achieve the required arrival times. The districts in question were D52 Assen, NH122 Heiloo, NB323 Oss, L357 Venlo and L368 Vaals. District NB331 was voluntarily handed over by the Van Eijck Group, as the area had become isolated from the company's other areas of operation, following the loss of the NB323 district. An overview of the districts in which a new recovery operator has been contracted since November 2016 appears in the table below.

Changes in recovery companies since 1 November 2016