Finally, the formal moment arrived: Universal Cargo Argentina turned forty. For a person, forty is a clear sign of maturity. For us, it is too.

Our childhood found us full of dreams and possibilities. We started very, very humbly, in a small office in downtown Buenos Aires, back when telex machines were still in use and typewriters hadn't yet become antiques. Fax machines hadn't even arrived. It was all rather romantic: paper files everywhere, automatic bank transfers were still a dream, and checks arrived in the mail. International calls had to be scheduled hours in advance; today, we can talk to someone thousands of miles away in a matter of seconds, simply by picking up a cell phone.

We put a lot of passion into everything we did. And, little by little, that dream began to become a reality.

There was no magic formula or silver bullet for making it through adolescence. Our people were fundamental to that journey. They helped us weather many of the storms that came our way. When passion wasn't enough, we looked for a purpose. And over the years, we learned to adapt to what the market demanded.

On one hand, we had to embrace all kinds of technology. On the other, we had to keep developing our people so they could meet the demands of an increasingly competitive environment. The experience we gained in international moving gradually led us to develop new services that expanded our commercial offering. One area of the company helped drive another, creating a very interesting synergy. And today, we still feel like one big family when all of our different areas come together.

We often say, as an internal expression, that Universal Cargo Argentina doesn't just move personal belongings. We move personal stories.

The Customs Code doesn't have a category for that. Officially, it talks about unaccompanied baggage or the international transportation of used household goods. But none of those terms comes close to capturing the emotional weight of what we do every day.

Moving personal stories means taking a piece of a family's history to the other side of the world: a grandmother's piece of furniture, the first dictionary someone gave you as a child, or a painting your father made before you were even born. They are objects, yes. But to the people who receive them, they are so much more than that.

Today, our adulthood also finds us thinking about the responsibility we have as part of society. About sustainability, equal opportunities, and, above all, creating opportunities for growth and development for the people who are part of Universal Cargo Argentina.

The challenge ahead is as great as our enthusiasm.

Enero 2024