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A LIFE ON THE ROAD
Page 21
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Driver Roelof Heizenberg has spent more than 17 years hauling concrete building elements for construction in the Netherlands, France and Germany.
He has always er*.)yed the freedom and independence of being a driver, but he has also seen many changes.
He says: "Ws tighter. In the old days, the job was less stressful. Nowadays, you have less time to do the same work." Heqenberg is close to retirement and happy about that, having spent the better part of 20 years working 55 to 65 hours a week. "I only see my family for a short time at the weekends, and have a very poor social life," he reveals.
He has earned a good living, been happy to comply with the rules and has never been under pressure by his employers to bend the rules. He has mostly been happy to pick up extra work when he can despite traffic jams costing him both time and money.
He leaves in the dark around 2am and comes home n the dark of the evening. It is, in some ways, a lonely job. Mostly, he must load and unload heavy concrete elements on his own. "For almost 20 years, almost every day, this is all I do, wake and work," says Heizehberg, as he unloads his truck under a single spotlight in the yard.