Icom transport is a family company with less than two thousand employees. It operates 300 trucks and 800 buses and has expected a turnover of almost four billion crowns this year. But as everywhere, the pandemic completely rewrote the numbers.
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Turnover fell by 400 million to 3.55 billion and profit fell. “Last year, there was a fall of about 60 million crowns in direct connection with the pandemic,” says Kateřina Kratochvílová, chairwoman of the company’s board of directors, in an interview with Seznam Zprávy. But he immediately adds that in the case of her company it is only 60 million. The decline could have been much greater. The company was saved by the fact that it stands on “several legs”. It operates bus and freight transport, has a network of gas stations and authorized service.
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Christmas timetable during the year
Last spring was especially difficult. “In freight transport, the year started successfully. There was a lot of work, but from day to day trucks in international traffic stopped. The stop lasted two months, “says Kratochvílová, adding that the rest of the year was already stabilized and the autumn wave of the pandemic did not affect the company so much.
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ICOM transport
The ICOM transport Group has 1,800 employees. It operates 800 buses and 300 trucks, a network of petrol stations and an authorized service center. It operates in bus transport in six regions of the Czech Republic and in Prague. They travel in freight transport almost all over Europe.
In 2020, it had a turnover of CZK 3.5 billion – a decrease of CZK 400 million compared to the plan
It transported 29 million people, a drop of about 4 million people.
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But it was much more complicated in bus transport. “We drive in commitment, so we meet the requirements of the regions. In April and May, there was a big slowdown in traffic. Connections were limited to holiday timetables, and some regions even opted for Christmas timetables. Then the holidays continued and now not so many people are transported, “adds Kratochvílová, adding that there was a decrease in passengers by almost a third.
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I don’t expect anything anymore, I just hope
He does not dare to guess when the situation will improve. “When will it return to normal? I don’t expect anything anymore. There are such turbulences here… It has no rules for one to expect something and predict something. That’s why I don’t expect anything anymore, I just hope that the second half of the year will need to be better, “says Kratochvílová.
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Even so, her company has transported 29 million people this year, and buses and trucks have traveled a total of 65 million kilometers, which, by the way, is about 1,600 times around the equator. Even in the ICOM pandemic, Transport has recruited one hundred new drivers and has prepared an investment of 530 million in its vehicle fleet this year.
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“90 million will go by truck, the rest by bus. We are counting on a hundred new buses, “says Kratochvílová, adding that the company wants to expand this year as well and is actively participating in tenders. She most recently won tenders in Teplice and the South Moravian Region.
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2 new pumps
In addition, ICOM also wants to strengthen in the field of filling stations. “We have 18 gas stations, 3 of which are public. Even for cars. We trade almost 80 million liters of fuel a year, “adds Kratochvílová, adding that this year the company wants to exhibit another public gas station in Dačice and is trying to obtain a building permit for a gas station in Litomyšl.
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