Driving trucks can take a toll on physical and mental health. Kim Bennert, Hiab’s After Sales and Technical Support Specialist and test driver of the truck equipped with the revolutionary HiVisionTM control system, tells us how he copes with stress.
Photos: Fredrik Karlsson.
The thrill you get in driving a huge truck along the countryside is unmatched. Hiab’s Kim Bennert, who spent 16 years driving logging trucks and operating cranes, knows this. His current role in Hiab’s After Sales and Technical Support team keeps him on the road constantly.
“I always carry my passport and a toothbrush so I can travel at very short notice. I once had 15 minutes to figure out how fast I could get to see a Croatian customer. I was there the next morning. The customer is always our number one priority,” says Bennert cheerily.
The European Union has stringent rules for driving times, including limits on daily hours which cannot exceed 9 hours, and daily rest periods of 11 hours. Bennert has a simple and effective five-step guide to add to this.
- You cannot save time by driving fast. Don’t stress yourself and the truck.
- Never work to the breaking point; you might fall asleep behind the wheel.
- Take a break every couple of hours, to clear your mind and relax your body.
- Don’t eat anything too heavy before a night shift. It will make you feel sluggish.
- Get enough sleep.
In the future, technology will play a big role in making a driver’s job easier and safer. Kim Bennert has been test-driving the truck equipped with Hiab’s state-of-the-art HiVisionTM control system, which uses 3D technology to allow the driver to operate the forestry crane without leaving the truck cabin. Bennert drove the truck in nine countries, including France, Germany, England and Japan, and drove over 25,000 kilometres in Europe in summer 2016.
“HiVision is a huge step up for the safety of drivers. With this, you can even go and pick up logs in the middle of the night, without any problem,” he explains. “But I believe that enough sleep is the most important thing for a truck driver to make the job easier, so don’t skip that.”, concludes Bennert.