Tradition

Beginnings

1936 – Jože Bizjak (the father) finished school in Zagreb in 1932 at the age of 20 and got his truck driving licence. He drove for the wholesaler Adamič from Kranj for four years. In 1936 he bought his first truck. His first vehicle was an American-made FORD INTERNATIONAL, which had a petrol engine with 100 hp (horse power).

New roads had to be built because of the rapid development of industry. Father Jože helped build the first concrete road from Kranj to Ljubljana with his truck. He drove cement for the road from the cement works in Mojstrana, and the sand and track ballast from the quarry in Zgornja Kokra.

Father Jože used the new-built road every day while transporting products from the Kranj industry to Ljubljana. The raw materials arrived by train and he transported them from the train station to the factories. He mostly transported rubber products (hot-water bottles), textiles and Oven soap.

1940 – beginning of the Second World War

The truck was taken from him and driven to Sremska Mitrovica. Father was mobilized and drove an ambulance.

There was a serious shortage of goods after the war, but the need for transport was still great. Thus, with the help of his friend Ludvik Starič (the Flying Kranjec), father built a semi-auto van from the remains of a German passenger car. They sewed through the wooden bodywork and installed a dump body at the rear part of the vehicle.

In spring 1950 father bought an OPEL BLITZ truck with a load capacity of 3.5 t.

With this truck he transported mail. In December of that same year he drove his wife Poldka to the obstetrician in Kranj, dr. Andrejašič. Their son Alexander – or Sašo, as he is often called – was born during the ride. Father and son were not just together at birth, but spent all their time together, and wherever they went their truck went with them. The fact that Sašo began driving after Jože’s accident is evidence of just how good the father was at teaching ‘Sašita’ and how good a student Saša was. However, since Saša was only 7 years old at the time, his mother helped him; she turned the steering wheel, while the gas and transmission gear were Alexander’s job. The little driver was even trusted by the police, who issued a special licence stating that such a mother-and-son team is allowed to transport mail.

This was a tough time for the tradesmen. There were no sick days and they had to pay for the hospital by themselves. The father’s injury was severe – he caught fire while cleaning the spare parts of the truck. He was therefore unable to drive for over a year. Even the regulatory framework was not favourable for tradesmen at that time. To this end, they established a fund for tradesmen. Jože Bizjak became a member. The drivers and mechanics also felt the need to establish an association specifically for their own field of work. Thus, Jože Bizjak was one of the founding members of the Association of Drivers and Mechanics in Kranj.

In 1973, when father Jože retired, the son Alexander Bizjak continued the family tradition of transport. The promising young man soon expanded his services. The rubber industry in Kranj developed quickly. He transported its products – especially car tyres and V-belts – throughout Yugoslavia. He kept track the changes that were happening in society. Because the period between 1970 and 1980 was the time of intensive construction, he bought a truck – MB 16 26 – a tipper with a trailer and started driving cement for Merkur stores all over Upper Carniola and later also for all of the Markur customers throughout Slovenia and Croatia. Soon there was too much work for just one truck, so he bought another truck in 1984 – MB 16-38 – with a semi-trailer. He employed his first driver, his nephew Igor Trilar.

But Alexander did not only invest in trucks. Regular vehicle maintenance was also very important to him. Through the years he made sure that he had a garage (rented in Voglje near Kranj). In 1980 he bought 3000m² of land in Zgornje Bitnje near Kranj. He waited for three years for the construction project documents, started building the garage in spring 1984 and fully built it by winter of that same year. Now he did not only have a garage in Bitnje, but also a place for maintenance and vehicle washing. In 1984 he already had a high-pressure cleaner for washing trucks and an airgun for lubricating goods vehicles and trailers. He also had an air compressor with 10 bars power for changing tyres.

He waited for three years to get his construction project documentation, but this eventually paid off, because the building with its adjoining parking lot still meets all the legal requirements and can still be used today.

In 1980 his first son Grega was born, and in 1985 his second son Rok. Even as small boys they spent all of their time alongside their father in his truck. On Saturdays and Sundays they helped him with the washing and vehicle maintenance.

During this time Alexander was an active driver and tradesman.

When Slovenia became independent the need arose for international transport. He felt that there was a need for new types of transport – transport of perishable goods. Therefore, in 1992 he bought his first semi-trailer refrigerator body and began transporting fruit and vegetables from Italy, flowers from Holland in 1994, etc.

He expanded his business every year; he bought new vehicles, employed new drivers and found new business partners. But it was not always easy, especially at the time when there were difficulties with transport permits. In order to be able to transport more goods he bought the most advanced environmentally friendly vehicles of EURO emission standards 3, 4 and 5.

Each year Bizjak Transport became more recognisable in domestic and international transport. They gained their recognisability with quality work; an overall result of good work by all of their employees. Every employee has contributed his part in the chain of successes and the growth of Bizjak Transport.

Given the expansion and new needs in transport, they started planning the construction of a logistics support centre. Again, Alexander had to tackle the problem of finding a big enough piece of land to realize his goals. In 2005 he bought some land in Jesenice and began preparing the documentation for the construction of the centre. In 2007 construction works began, followed by interior fittings and the opening of the new logistics centre in Jesenice.

Today

The scope of work has significantly increased, as has the number of vehicles and employees. The development and new commercial premises are the main reasons why the company was restructured and a new company under the name SIGR Transport and Storage Ltd. was established (short name: SIGR Ltd.)

The prime objective of the company is to continue the good work, namely:

• maintaining and improving the quality of services by providing modern and environmentally friendly goods vehicles,
• providing and implementing a system that fully enables high-quality and safe transportation of perishable and commercial goods,
• constant growth, development and maintenance of good partnerships that are based on the quality of services, reliability, customer satisfaction and market attractive prices,
• educated, professional and highly trained employees, producing their own experts.

Their main service is transport of perishable goods in domestic and international truck transport.

The load vehicles and trailers are entirely manufactured so as to comply with the requirements for transporting perishable goods (for example flowers). Vehicle dimensions, appropriate temperature regimes and ecological standards of the modern society are all taken into account.