Johan Staes is the new CEO of Transport and Logistics Flanders. His appointment at the end of October put an end to a long period during which the head of the Flemish federation was vacant. In any case, TLV’s new strongman brings a wealth of experience in leading a professional federation.
Johan Staes worked for almost eight years at the FPS Finance and then worked from 2014 to 2020 as an advisor to Maggie De Block, then Minister of Social Affairs. Between March 2020 and June 2021 he acted as director / head of department at Iriscare (the bi-community public utility institution for everything related to social protection in the Brussels Region). Since then he has been managing director of Vlozo, one of the umbrella organizations in elderly care.
Strategic transformation plan
Truck & Business: Your appointment enables Transport and Logistics Flanders to continue on a new basis. Has the situation of your predecessor now been clarified?
Johan Staes: I have never met Lode Verkinderen personally, but I know that he has been absent for some time for health reasons. The TLV board of directors and he have mutually decided to part ways. This allowed TLV to look for a replacement. I wish Lode Verkinderen that he can now fully concentrate on his recovery.
T&B: He was director, you are introduced as the new CEO. What changes with that?
J. Staes: During the recruitment process, I was able to present to the Board of Directors my vision on the role of a professional federation and that vision clearly appealed to them. We are there to represent our entrepreneurial members and I think the structure of TLV needs to be re-examined. As soon as I start working as CEO, I will start a strategic transformation process together with our members and the Board of Directors that will start with a listening period. I really want to ‘feel’ the sector.
T&B: What have you already discovered about Transport and Logistics Flanders?
J. Staes: That it is an organization that has been around for 92 years and that I am the third person to have led it in the last 50 years. This means that TLV is a stable organization that can count on loyal members and staff who are highly expert in their field and fully committed to the interests of the members.
Heart and muscles
T&B: You come from healthcare, a sector that is completely different from the transport sector…
J. Staes: Yes, but there are also similarities. They are two large sectors with many stakeholders and some of the challenges that companies face are identical: finding staff and an aging population, for example. But the transportation industry faces other challenges, such as wage handicaps and constantly rising costs. In that respect I still feel a bit ‘on the shore’, but I really have the feeling that road transport is regarded as a cash cow by the authorities, when I look at the kilometer tax, the new CO2 component, etc.
T&B: So why did you decide to get involved in this sector?
J. Staes: I come from a sector that is the heart of our welfare state. But that welfare state cannot be maintained without a strong economy. Transport is an indispensable link in a well-functioning economy. By the way, there is another parallel between the sector I come from and the sector I am going to: during Covid, healthcare and transport were the only two sectors that continued to function to keep the country running!
T&B: There are two other professional federations for transport in Belgium and they are united in Transport & Logistics Belgium. How do you see the collaboration with these other entities?
J. Staes: There are also many federations in healthcare. There are even more than in transport. I think that every federation has its own characteristics and emphases, depending on the interests of its members. However, I am convinced that we need to close ranks to meet the challenges in the sector. It is therefore a matter of putting personal interests aside for the good of the sector as a whole.
Johan Staes in short
- Born in 1981
- Graduated in public administration and holds an MBA from Vlerick Business School
- During his career, he worked at the FPS Finance, in the strategic cell of Minister Maggie De Block and at Iriscare, where he was responsible for healthcare and social services in Brussels until 2020.
- Currently managing director of Vlozo.
