Exactly ten years ago, Ram Menen, Emirates SkyCargo’s former visionary divisional senior vice president, exclaimed these words: “When I’m older, I want to be like Dieter.” The occasion was the 80th birthday of Dieter Haltmayer, the legendary founder of Quick Cargo Service. Now, precisely a decade on, they met again on the occasion of a double jubilee: Dieter’s 90th birthday and QCS’s 50th anniversary. And just like ten years ago, it was a record-breaking party full of highlights and superlatives.
How should a tribute to a legend of the German and European forwarding world begin? The best way is with a characterization of Dieter Haltmayer by Thorsten Hoelser, Managing Director of the forwarding association in the federal states of Hesse and Rhineland-Palatinate (SLV): “When most top managers were sometimes shy to address hot topics for fear of getting burned, Dieter was and still is the one not afraid to be the mouthpiece for air freight forwarders, and he has never been one to mince his words.”
Self-made man and team player
In fact, that’s how the air freight industry knows this distinctive character: always clear, always straightforward, always solution focused. And at the same time constantly charming. The secret of his success: he is a typical self-made man, but also a team player. This combination, coupled with an unerring instinct for the freight forwarding business, has made Quick Cargo one of the leading family-run IATA freight forwarding agencies in Germany and Europe. The stages covered along the way are described and illustrated in Wolfgang Schubert’s recently published and remarkable book: “50 Years of Quick Cargo Service”.*
It all started with a Volkswagen
An orange Volkswagen minivan and thousands of empty suitcases played a key role in the company’s rise. Following the inception of the firm in 1974, QCS bought the VW transporter to carry textile shipments flown in from Hong Kong in overnight trips from Frankfurt to a consignee near Hanover. “In those early days, working 12 or even 14 hours each day was more the rule than the exception,” he recalls. Two years later, the first really big deal followed: the government of Nigeria ordered 450,000 suitcases and the same number of travel bags for pilgrims heading to Mecca. Dieter chartered Boeing 707s and DC-8s to fly the items from Frankfurt to Lagos, this way earning his first 100,000 Deutschmarks. Supported by his young family, the Haltmayers personally handled shipments on the apron by hand and stowed the items into the aircraft. Back then, “security” and “inspections” were foreign words, he reminds of the wild times in cargo. The surplus he mainly reinvested in the company by moving into a bigger office at Frankfurt airport and doubling the staff.
Combining business and fun
Now, 50 years later, Quick Cargo Service has become a brand with offices across Europe. According to business data, the firm is in excellent shape. The family-run company is a well-known and highly respected name in air and ocean freight and active in niche markets like time critical shipments, including OBC services.
One USP must also be mentioned: QCS can party. In this discipline, they are German, if not European, champions among freight forwarders. This was once again the case at the end of NOV24 at the Hilton Hotel Frankfurt-Gravenbruch. 230 invitees showed up and partied into the early hours of the morning to the stirring samba rhythms of a Brazilian dance group and some rock bands. The guests came from practically everywhere, including a business partner from New Zealand, who had the longest journey. Also present: all leading managers of the 30 QCS offices in Germany and Europe, family members, retirees and personal friends. And company patron Dieter? He passed the baton to his son Stephan and his daughters Heidi and Jenny years ago. But that doesn’t stop him from regularly visiting the company headquarters in person to take a look at business developments. The ninety-year-old is a man who can’t let go!
*“50 Years of Quick Cargo Service” is available from Heidi.Haltmayer@quick-cargo-service.de . It is free of charge.
