1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148 
Danish air-cargo specialist Erik Svendsen started life with a couple
Page 88
Page 89
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
of borrowed trucks 10 years ago. Since then the business has taken off...
1 DENMARK dMIIIM
Not many hauliers begin life with borrowed trucks but this is how it was in the early days for Erik Svendsen A/S Transport. The ro-year-old business, based at Dragor, is also remarkable for employing an unusually high number of female drivers compared with other Danish companies engaged in international road haulage.
Founder Erik Svendsen explains the company's modest beginnings: "After driving for SAS for some years, I accepted the offer to take over a couple of trucks running contract haulage for the company. However, at the time I couldn't afford to buy the trucks, so I was allowed to borrow them."
The money shortage was something Erik Svendsen
could soon put behind him. In less than ro years the business has grown to 25 trUcks and 20 trailers providing work for four people in administration, 30 regular drivers (five are women), plus relief drivers.
Svendsen and his sub-manager Lars Bruun agree that the women drivers are every bit as good as their male colleagues. "In fact, if some of the male drivers looked over the women's shoulders, they could learn a lot," says Bruun, who previously ran his own haulage business.
At the same time he emphasises that his remark is in no way meant to denigrate the men. It merely serves to stress how determined the women are. Generally they are more organised with regard to everything involving driving and maintenance of the trucks.
"Nobody should think that only the women are competent and dedicated. All our drivers possess those qualities. But because women are more accurate and treat the equipment with care, we see no reasons not to hire more female drivers."
International contract road haulage is run with seven trucks from Copenhagen Airport to other European airports. Because the trucks haul just-in-time goods, there are always two drivers.
Numbers.
"For example, on a trip to Amsterdam it does not pay if numbers are all you care about. On the other hand I believe it is a long-term profitable arrangement. Not only because the trucks arrive on time, but most certainly also because in my experience this provides greater traffic safety and higher quality of transport. Two pairs of eyes see more than one pair," Svendsen explains.
Up to Go% of turnover comes from air cargo pulling for such operations as DHL, Thai Air Cargo and Haugstecl Air Cargo. The rest of the business is longdistance groupage and refrigerated transport plus some domestic distribution within the Copenhagen area.
In to years Erik Svendsen's business has certainly prospered. In spite of this, Svendsen and Bruun are uncertain about continued expansion. They say the industry has become more difficult for both the haulier and the driver. Besides an increase in tough competition, the future will require more training to meet the demands of increased control from authorities.
"It is not the new regulations for running goods that I have in mind here. I believe, as do many of my colleagues, that more regulation will benefit the serious part of the profession," says Svendsen.
• by Per Herber
STIEET LEGAL
IN ■1:11111 II In August this year Danish transport minister Sonja Mikkelsen introduced a raft of tough new regulations to tackle rogue operators. Operator's Licences can be immediately withdrawn for serious cases of overloading, infringement of the drivers' hours regulations and interference with speed limiter&
The speed limit on main highways is set at 89km/h. Drivers breaking this can lose their licence and the truck's owner can be banned from carrying goods.
Diesel costs seven Danish krones (61p) a litre but hauliers are entitled to claim back VAT and other taxes, bringing the cost down to four krones (about 34p).
Erik Svendsen estimates that 20% of turnover is eaten up by fuel and other running expenses, while 40% goes on wages.
MN'S WOE
• "Just as long as I remember, I have been fascinated by trucks." says Linda Westen, one of five female drivers working for Erik Svendsen. She started on lids in 1984 and by 1986 moved to artics. She joined Erik Svendsen in 1995. Westen is pleased with her Mercedes-Benz Actros 1840 with Megaspace cab. "Mostly I'm happy about the cab. It is almost large enough to take a walk in, The only thing I'm not satisfied with is the exhaust brake. Its simply too weak".
Westen drives on contract haulage for DHL, usually in doublemanned vehicles, which allows her to use her experience to teach new drivers. And I also teach them to beat the mats and to tidy the cab!"
Two drivers working around the clock in little space requires understanding. "I once had a co-driver whose emptied all my stuff out of the cabinets and then placed his own kit there." Once a co-driver fell asleep behind the wheel and ran into the highway crash barrier while she was sleeping in the bunk. "For a long time it was difficult for me to sleep with someone else driving."
With two children and a horse, Westen has no time for a boyfriend. She is home as little as eight days a month, and Linda does not think that her life is compatible with a cohabiting man. But to be both mother and long-haul driver has not been a problem. "My 18-year-old daughter lives with me, she manages herself mostly. My seven-year-old son lives with his father and spends alternate weekends with me."
Westen believes wives of longhaul drivers "must have a great understanding of the man's job and be able to be alone a lot".
Working in a male-dominated field, is jealousy a problem with wives and girlfriends? -Not at Erik Svendsen," she stresses. "Drivers and their partners regard me as an equal. But I worked for one haulier where groundless jealousy reached a stage where my male colleagues almost prohibited me from Christmas parties through fear of reaction from wives and girlfriends."