“You pay for the past, but you buy the future.”

Ruedi Reisdorf doesn’t really do spin. The long-time owner and CEO of Fracht Group – Switzerland speaks as he finds, laughs a lot and gives the impression he’s much happier building a company than a personal brand – which might explain why he doesn’t have a LinkedIn account!

We recorded the latest episode of Project Cargo Professionals at Fracht’s headquarters in Basel to talk about consolidation, the culture at his 70-year-old company, and why he turned down a football sponsorship until Messi came calling.

Ruedi’s relationship with logistics began early. Very early. “I was taken to the company at the age of five or six and, in my school holidays, I did some filing – something that doesn’t exist anymore,” he says.

His father and namesake founded the business in 1955, and Ruedi took over in 2001 after what he described with a smile as “far too long” working alongside him. “He worked until the age of 88. He was the old type of patriarch. Not always easy.”

Since then, Fracht has grown to over 2,000 people in approximately 160 branches across 60 countries. But its structure remains decentralised. “We are probably the most regionalised company that exists,” says Ruedi. “The decision-making is done at the regional and national level. Here in Basel, there are just three people who manage the company.”

One of the three is his trusted right-hand man Dominik Keller, who Ruedi describes as one of “the best.”

Flexibility has made Fracht an appealing partner for small, family-owned freight forwarders looking for a buyer, but Ruedi insists he’s not out shopping. “They come to us. Often it’s people looking for a good succession plan. They don’t want to sell to a big multinational.”

His approach is respectful but firm. “Usually, they come with an idea of a price, and I say, I can only pay you half. Then they say, thank you, but it’s not enough. And 8 out of 10 come back after some months and say, is your offer still valid?”

But it’s not just about the deal. For Ruedi, culture is non-negotiable. “We never buy a company where the culture is different. Trust is the most important thing.”

Once acquired, companies like Fracht Polytra Belgium Nuno//Fracht and Dextra Transport are folded into the Fracht network with minimal disruption. “We don’t buy to slice. We keep the name, the people, the spirit. That’s why the integration is simple. Complexity practically doesn’t exist.”

That philosophy is increasingly rare in a market where scale is king. The recent acquisition of DB Schenker by DSV was a talking point.

“It was a good thing for us,” he admitted. “A lot of good people have left Schenker. But in my opinion, it was a wrong decision by Deutsche Bahn to sell. The market has not won with the disappearance of Schenker – on the contrary.”

Consolidation means fewer project forwarders, especially those that are privately-held. Could Fracht be one of the last standing? “Maybe,” he said. “But we’re not looking forward to it. It’s terrible how many good companies disappear.”

What keeps Fracht resilient is its diversity. “I say we have 1,000 feet. If one business is not doing well, or one region, we still have 999 other legs that bring us forward.”

He’s also cautious about debt. “Never borrow. You always have to pay back at the worst time. If you can, do it with your own money.”

When I asked him about sponsorships and brand visibility, Ruedi laughed again. “We try to stay in the dark. Let our work do the marketing.” That attitude only changed when Inter Miami CF approached him about sponsoring the team.

“We said no at first. Then they said, we’re signing Messi.”

He shook his head. “Messi is more than football. It’s a one-time chance to have the GOAT in your team. We hope we are the GOAT of project freight forwarding, but at least we have the GOAT of football with us.”

It wasn’t a conventional ROI decision. “It didn’t bring us the money we spent. It’s not marketing, it’s sponsoring. And if it’s sponsoring, there must be something beyond it. An idea. A feeling.”

That idea—of feeling before figures—seems to guide a lot that he does. “Figures only show the past. The feeling is what tells you the future. The figures make the amount of what you pay. The feeling is the amount of what you get.”

At 63, Ruedi still plays football every Thursday with Fracht colleagues in Basel. He’s the referee, he jokes, which helps the company team win more than it loses.

And while he says his passport makes him look old, he’s still full of plans—including preparing to pass the company to his daughter, Andrea R. Reisdorf, one day.

“She has the will and the intelligence. But whatever she changes, I ask her not to change the culture. That is our cradle.”

This episode of Project Cargo Professionals was produced in partnership with VARAMAR , a trusted carrier to and from Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.