Roope Hof­fren works at Ponsse as a low­bed truck dri­ver. He has been with the com­pany for just over a year, but trans­por­ting mac­hi­nes in Fin­land and wor­king with heavy vehicles has been fami­liar ter­ri­tory for him for much longer—going back gene­ra­tions.

Roope is a third gene­ra­tion low­bed truck dri­ver. His mater­nal grand­fat­her ear­ned
his living on the road and even­tually reti­red from a career as a low­bed truck dri­ver.
Roope’s fat­her also wor­ked at Ponsse in the same role, mea­ning that low­bed truck trans­port has long been a part of eve­ry­day life for the family.

“I grew up watc­hing what the job invol­ves. That’s how the industry became fami­liar to me,” Hof­fren says.

Before joi­ning Ponsse, Roope gai­ned expe­rience as a heavy vehicle dri­ver. He also spent his year of com­pul­sory mili­tary ser­vice wor­king in trans­port and logis­tics roles. In addi­tion, he has wor­ked on a farm and comple­ted a qua­li­fica­tion as an agricul­tu­ral ent­repre­neur.

Work­days vary in length

A low­bed truck driver’s work­days often start early. In the mor­ning, the task may be to deli­ver a new or used mac­hine to a cus­to­mer, and the return trip takes place once the job is done.

“You can’t always know in advance how long the day will be. Some­ti­mes you’re on
the road over­night it depends on where the mac­hine is going and what kind of jour­ney lies ahead.”

Ponsse’s low­bed truck dri­vers ope­rate throug­hout Fin­land, trans­por­ting mac­hi­nes to cus­to­mers from south to north. Each route is plan­ned on a case by case basis. As a low­bed truck dri­ver, Roope has become fami­liar with roads across the entire country, from Hanko in the south all the way to Pokka in Kit­tilä, Lapland.

“The shor­test route isn’t always the best one. Weat­her and con­di­tions have a big
impact on which route makes the most sense. You try to avoid the smal­lest roads, but some­ti­mes you have to use them especially when deli­ve­ring a mac­hine directly into the forest.”

Expe­rience helps on the road

Low­bed truck trans­port requi­res care­ful con­si­de­ra­tion of many fac­tors, such as load width, bridge clea­rances, and road con­di­tions.

“At first, dri­ving under brid­ges felt nerve rac­king, and I double chec­ked many times to make sure there was enough clea­rance. Pro­fes­sio­nal trans­port maps show bridge heights, but the know­ledge of more expe­rienced dri­vers is often ext­re­mely help­ful.”

At Ponsse, there are six full time low­bed truck dri­vers and one subs­ti­tute. Many of
them have deca­des of expe­rience in trans­port.

“The more expe­rienced col­lea­gues know the rou­tes inc­re­dibly well, and you learn a lot from them. They’ve dri­ven these roads since before there were maps on mobile pho­nes.”

Eve­ry­day work also inclu­des the deve­lop­ment and renewal of equip­ment. Roope
recently recei­ved a new Sca­nia truck, which can be com­bi­ned with a wider and lon­ger semi trai­ler low­bed truck than before. The vehicle has already accu­mu­la­ted around 10,000 kilo­met­res.

A good place to work

Roope joi­ned Ponsse after expres­sing his inte­rest in a low­bed truck dri­ver posi­tion to Antti Jokela, Super­vi­sor of Ponsse Deli­very Cen­ter. When a posi­tion became avai­lable, Roope seized the oppor­tu­nity. He had con­si­de­red the move ear­lier as well, but staff tur­no­ver among dri­vers at Ponsse is low.

After just over a year, the deci­sion feels right.

“This is a good place to work. The industry was already fami­liar to me through my fat­her, so it felt easy to come here.”