Trucks and their masters
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Several years ago I met a trucker and asked how he chose what truck to drive (it was a Scania R620). It’s not just a vehicle as your everyday car. It’s a tool, a workspace and accommodation all in one.
-I found it interesting he didn’t even acknowledge any other brands and upon further drilling his answer can be distilled to: “I tried a Volvo, it was laughable in comparison. Everything else is junk.” Funnily enough, when we met a few years later he was driving a Volvo (the deal was too good to pass he said). But ever since that first meeting I thought about this guy and his answer almost every day as I drive past shit-loads of trucks hauling on the corridor between Poland/Ukraine and Italy/Spain.
As the daily commute was becoming dreary I’ve started playing a game where I count trucks. After a few childish attempts I equipped myself with a tool to make it easier to track what brands the trucks were and how many I passed. So with my “scientific” sampling method I’m analyzing the market share of various truck companies on the road in Slovenia. It’s by default different than whatever official market share is in Europe (one example here). I’m only considering one 130km section of one road in one country for about an hour per morning/afternoon.
What became more interesting than the market share itself was the sheer number of trucks that drive by. On a typical day of a typical week that number hovers around 700 HGVs per hour (max 2000/h, min 300/h @ 10min intervals) . It’s just insane how much “stuff” gets hauled via this road east to west and vice versa.
But to come back to the original question, what trucks do these guys choose to work in (ignoring the fact their boss makes that choice for most)? The clear Finnish favorites Scania and Volvo are obviously not as popular around here. But not doing that bad either.
I wonder what his comment will be? Also, he might have to wait all week to count 700 trucks. :) *numbers corrected with more accurate data
