When the word “friends” comes up during the takeover of a company, it marks the best possible beginning of something great. The company formerly known as OTS – Overland Transport Service is now becoming OTS & friends. Founded in 1986 by Andreas Blitzner and Andreas Kownatzki in Hamburg, the OTS founders found a reliable partner to ensure the continued success of their transport company. The result speaks for itself: bound by friendship, they share the core values of reliability, punctuality, and safety in transport.
Harnessing the Euphoria of the Early Years
For 36 years, Andreas Blitzner and Andreas Kownatzki successfully led OTS in Hamburg. They first met in 1985 while working at Interport Stoob. Blitzner came from Ketra in Hamburg, and Kownatzki from Charles Petit in Lübeck. It quickly became clear that the two had much in common, were already respected within the industry, and could count on support from both their employer and clients. They saw their opportunity in a niche of the transport chain—coordinating container transport between depots and ports—and seized it.
Blitzner and Kownatzki fondly remember those early days:
“We carried out intensive client acquisition through personal contacts, investing a lot of time far beyond just desk work. Our office has always been at Neuer Wall 32, a central location in Hamburg, well liked by our staff for its accessibility via public transport. Plus, we could manage costs better there than in a harbor-side office. Document handovers to drivers were handled via mailboxes and port lockers.”
Thanks to digitalization, this particular problem has become obsolete, as there’s now significantly less paperwork that needs to be handed over manually to drivers.
“Some of our first transports in the early phase included barge transports to the Benelux ports,” they continue. “That was completely new for the Hamburg market and proved a great alternative for shippers. We also built strong partnerships for cross-border transports to Rotterdam and Antwerp, and were able to offer these services to our customers—often more cost-effectively than shipping to the northern ports.”
A Generational Change on the Horizon
The transition from OTS to OTS & friends marks a fresh beginning for both company founders. They view this upcoming generational change very positively:
“On the one hand, we’re both looking forward to having more time for our families, and on the other, we are proud that our life’s work will carry on.”
Andreas Blitzner and Andreas Kownatzki can be confident that their proven and successful business model will continue—potentially even expanding. The new team began onboarding in late March to ensure seamless continuity in operations.
The New OTS & friends Vision
For Anton Sieg and the new team—Mohamed Aggoune, Henry Ochs, and Thomas Koopmann (administration)—customer service and personal relationships remain top priorities. By the time of the Transport Logistic Trade Fair in Munich, the company will launch a new website and a fully digital request tool for clients of OTS & friends. To provide even better service, digitalization and networking will continue to be expanded. With the expertise of the new leadership team, the development of innovative services—especially those based on digital technologies—will be driven forward.
The new headquarters of OTS & friends GmbH will be located at Alter Teichweg 13 in Hamburg.
For a personal meeting during the Transport Logistic 2023 fair, Anton Sieg is always available. Feel free to reach out by email or phone.