All this funny story started this week at Taipale company, where I and Iza working on our practical education part of the exchange. On Monday, professor Jahne and students Vili, Niko, and us of course went to Taipale company for the first day. The company is a subsidiary of one of the biggest trucking and logistics firms in the country named Kaukokiito.
On Tuesday we both went on a drive with two drivers and helped them with delivery. I don’t remember the very complicated name of my driver but he was a great guy. He is about 35 years old and a member of a company for 12 years now. His English wasn’t great but mine is either so we communicated very well for finish conditions. He knew all 22 stops we had to deliver and his skills with truck and packages are great.
On Wednesday I went on a drive with another driver named Eero I think. He is a very talkative, funny and interesting guy just 1 year and 2 months older than me, so he is 20 now. He is very organized and precise during driving. It was snowing and Finns don’t clean the roads evidently, so you must drive with your head and must not underestimate the slippery roads. When the truck slips of the road, you just wait on help. We nearly had a problem but with his calm and good driving skills and my little help outside the truck, we managed the situation without serious troubles. We were talking since the first minute we sat in the truck. We have talked about everything; differences between countries, school system, working and driving, cars stuff, culture, and living differences…
There was a moment when we drove from Vianor service and I saw a beautiful Mercedes Actros with a long trailer and I said: “Oh my God, that is so beautiful and long”. He just looked at me and he started to wave his arms, hold his head, and laugh at the same time. When we defined what for he was so shocked I was a little bit ashamed. He couldn’t believe, that our laws only allow us to drive 18.75 meters long truck compositions, meantime in Finland accepted new changes in this field soo they can drive a maximum length of 34.5 meters and a maximum total mass of 75 tons.
It’s really surprising and unusual for us to see such a long composition on the road but Fins think differently. If you can drive 2 trailers with 1 truck that’s good for the company and mean less pollution and logistics organization. I hope we will make some changes in Slovenia too.
