Ohlssons – continuing a legacy

Over the span of 25 years, Swedish hauler Christer Ohlsson has grown his small family business into a successful nationwide company. Operating within the field of waste management, construction and transport, Ohlsson’s passion for serving people is clear. And every day, he works towards being in a league of his own to exceed customer expectations.

Christer Ohlsson was born into a hauling family; his father was a hauler who owned his own company. As a child, Christer rode with his father in trucks and construction machines. That’s where his passion for vehicles and serving people was born. “I’ve been active in this industry ever since I was a child. But my father often said to me: ‘don’t become a hauler, become something else.’”

With a keen interest and a knack for business and economics, Christer decided to study economics for quite some time – probably longer than most people studied back in the day. Despite that, and his dad’s warning, he got sucked back into his father’s legacy at the age of 22 when he bought a share in a hauling company. That’s when he started his professional journey, and he hasn’t looked back since.

After 22 years at the hauling company, Christer decided that it was time to keep growing. He started Ohlssons in 1998 with a handful of other people, focused on what kind of future he could build for himself. What made him take this step? The challenge: “Because I grew up in the industry with my father, I knew the industry, and I knew the opportunities. I don’t know if I should really call it a dream, but I guess I wanted a challenge in some way. I am an entrepreneur, so I saw that I had an opportunity and thought, now is the time.” 

He now employs over 800 people and produces around 1.3 billion SEK in turnover every year. And one of Christer’s favorite things about the industry is the people. He enjoys learning from others, and teaching people – so that he can create a thriving future for the business by pooling people’s knowledge together. He also really values partnerships and collaborations. “It’s all about give and take, and being humble and open. That’s how you build sustainable partnerships,” he says. 

“We live in a world that is not very predictable, so naturally, the more secure collaborative partners we have, the more secure we feel in our operation. Volvo Financial Services are both safe and stable at the same time, so we feel comfortable. Their channels provide simplicity and structure for our systems. And then also we are Swedish, and so are they, so that is also of great importance to me.”   

Today, Ohlssons is working towards offering electric trucks to their customers, and eventually, electric construction machines will also be added to their offering. Something that Christer believes will help to strengthen the brand of Ohlssons and keep it current. This move towards sustainability is something that has been built upon by the Volvo Financial Services partnership, as they support Ohlssons with different programs and financing. “With their IT solutions, follow-ups and by providing us with a solid base on which to make the right decisions on, they are really good at helping us on our sustainability journey.”

Ohlssons now has new goals for the future: to continue building on this idea of circularity. They want to further expand their services and improve their systems for collecting and reusing. Christer sees a huge potential in the environmental sector, and that’s going to be the main focus for now. He knows it will take hard work and motivation to achieve it. But with a positive spirit, a humble approach, and an idea to ‘live as you learn,’ Christer is confident that the company is well-equipped to achieve a broader offering and a more sustainable future.

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