Owner drivers, politicians, and the real world

Last week, I wrote about my trip up north with an owner driver. I was pleased to see this man taking his job seriously, by going up north with only the very best equipment. I couldn’t help thinking of the way this vital group of entrepreneurs was treated recently by the European Parliament, especially by Said El Khadroui. I’m absolutely sure that Mr. Khadroui intends to increase road safety when I check his propositions. Sadly, I’m also sure that had he done some research into the day-to-day practice, Mr. Khadroui would certainly have come to very different conclusions.
Here’s my example. Owner drivers are keen to adhere to the drivers directive, in order not to exceed any limits. They are keen not to be held too long at police checks, as they are just trying to make as much money out of their time as is allowed. Once again: I completely understand the Khadroui point of view. The driver I accompanied, forms a partnership with a colleague. This colleague is younger and recently married. His wife is pregnant. There’s a lot of business to attend to, so what do they do? The older driver takes a load of potting soil all the way up north and reloads fish.
To unload this fish in due time at the Danish logistics centre of Padborg, an extra driver is hired, as it is impossible for the Dutch driver to make the trip within the time given in the directive. Not this time, however. As I joined him, and as I have a licence as well, the two Dutch colleagues did not need to hire the extra Swedish driver to allow the Dutch driver to catch up on sleep.
The younger Dutch driver loaded at several addresses in central Europe and took himself and his trailer all the way up to Frederikshaven. There, the older Dutch driver and me came off the ferry. We exchanged smiles and banter, and we changed trailers. The older Dutch driver took the same ferry back to Sweden and stayed in Gothenburg for the weekend. His next address was in Örebro on Monday morning.
Meanwhile, the younger colleague took me and the Norwegian fish to Padborg. There, we were unloaded and loaded in the shortest of time, stayed the night near the truck stop, and on the last day of the trip, I was the one driving us back to Holland, as this younger owner driver needed a day off for the week ahead, where he was scheduled to be home for family matters the upcoming Thursday.
I mean, have you ever seen a more efficient way of cooperating and helping each other out, and still making sure everyone’s interests are met? Yes, it takes quite some phoning around to get this all done, but by working together, these drivers served more customers than anyone like Khadroui could imagine.