Customised transport solutions enable goods to move efficiently across borders and regulatory frameworks. They reconcile load geometry, legal constraints, and environmental objectives into vehicles that genuinely deliver value. For one hundred years, Burgers Carrosserie, a Dutch coachbuilder that evolved into an engineering-led trailer specialist, has crafted precisely those tailored solutions. It draws on a century of hands-on experience to uphold a reputation that clients trust when complexity meets time-sensitive logistics.
The company's origins are modest yet telling. In 1925, Koos Burgers began producing farm carts and agricultural vehicles, before swiftly pivoting to closed bodies for the flower trade in Aalsmeer. Those early commissions taught Burgers to combine close customer collaboration with tight control over the build process.
This dual focus guided the company's move to larger premises in the 1980s and the eventual rebranding to Burgers Carrosserie. Over the decades, the firm honed its craft, developing practical solutions that anticipated the specific needs of hauliers and retailers.
Today, Burgers defines its mission as designing bespoke transport solutions that make fleets smarter and greener. Its most recognised innovation, the Double Deck trailer, provides significantly increased loading capacity compared to conventional designs, helping operators optimise space and reduce the number of vehicles required. This enhanced efficiency can lead to meaningful savings across fuel consumption, staffing, and operational overheads, allowing businesses to realise value more quickly and sustainably.
Alongside the Double Deck, the company manufactures custom closed bodies, refrigerated units, LZV Ecocombi combinations, motor vehicles with trailer systems, loading bins, and specialized race trailers. Each is tailored to a client's cargo profile and route structure.
A key differentiator is Burgers' decision to keep engineering, production, and service tightly integrated. "When we manage the entire lifecycle in-house, we're able to tailor each build to the realities of its destination," says CEO Jeroen Naalden. "That might mean narrower, lower profiles for parts of Asia, extended lengths for South America, or higher payloads for Scandinavia."
Burgers operates through three primary service hubs in the Netherlands and a partner network that spans much of Europe, with outreach into Chile and Japan. This infrastructure enables the company to offer maintenance contracts, body transfers to new vehicles, and 24/7 emergency support where required.
The recent leadership transition marked a shift from family heritage to systematic innovation. Naalden succeeded the third Burgers generation and reoriented the company's trajectory around engineering capability.
An engineer by training, he established a permanent engineering team to translate complex international regulations and customer requirements into manufacturable trailers, implemented a modern ERP system to streamline production flows, and launched the Burgers Builds Better programme to embed lean techniques on the shop floor. These operational changes have significantly improved throughout and allowed Burgers to expand its commercial footprint without relinquishing the hands-on expertise that made it resilient.
Concrete milestones anchor this narrative. The Double Deck concept gained broad acceptance across the industry, and Burgers marked a major delivery milestone that symbolised how an idea born in a modest workshop had matured into a recognised standard in modern logistics.
"We're hearing from our dealers that lead times are getting shorter, and our technicians are seeing fewer breakdowns when clients opt for full-service agreements," shares Naalden. "Operators who've made the switch to higher-capacity trailers are also noticing real gains, such as better route efficiency and a lighter environmental footprint per pallet. It's encouraging to see the impact play out across the board."
Overall, the company's impact is multi-layered. Carriers run leaner fleets with smaller environmental footprints. Burgers grows its presence in export markets while staying strong at home. The industry gains a clear example of how a long-standing builder can evolve into a modern engineering partner without losing its identity.
As Burgers steps into its second century, it remains committed to preserving a craftsman's eye for detail while institutionalising technical curiosity. Under Jeroen Naalden, the firm has fused artisanal knowledge with scalable engineering practice, positioning Burgers to continue solving the real-world problems that keep goods moving across an ever more complex world.
