Friedhelm Schäfer collects timber from the forests of Finland in his Arocs 3263 8x4

Slippery? Snow on the road isn’t slippery. Things get slippery when the snow thaws – when there is water on the icy roads. But traffic is flowing today, with the speed limit at 80 km/h. Snow is normal for five months of the year. Welcome to the Finnish winter.

Peak season in the forest, which is only accessible to harvesting machinery and lorries once the ground has frozen. Otherwise, their axles sink in the dark, swampy soil.

Friedhelm Schäfer – known to his friends as “Veikko” – sets off near Lahti, which is roughly an hour north of Helsinki. He and his Arocs 3263 8x4 have to deal with all kinds of roads on a daily basis, from main roads and well-maintained minor roads through to back roads that have not been cleared. The forest track comes into view. “We don’t use snow chains very often, but this route hasn’t been cleared. We won’t get very far without them,” explains the 50-year-old as he pulls over.

Veikko gets to work.

We continue in similar fashion for two kilometres – and then the woodpile becomes visible. Having been turned and parked in the tightest of spaces, the truck now stands alongside hundreds of cubic metres of top-notch fir, which will be cut into planks at the sawmill.

Veikko climbs onto the crane and gets to work. The hydraulic gripper can hold up to six logs at once. He manoeuvres each one of the 5.20-metre-long pieces of timber into a gap, as it’s important that all the logs are stowed securely during transit.

Veikko and his colleague Pete (who drove his Arocs into the forest at the same time) have soon loaded their cubic metres of timber. “You are very much on your own out here. When there’s two of you, you can help each other out,” says Veikko.

– Friedhelm Schäfer (Veikko)

Leaving the forest in a 76 tonne truck.

It’s time to go, but the truck now has 51 tonnes of timber on board and a total weight of 76 tonnes. Veikko changes gears, but only up into fifth. Nice and slow on this section, as there is a nasty incline up ahead, followed by a bend. He gently applies the brakes; truck and trailer stay nicely in line.

Veikko makes another short stop at the end of the forest trail, where he secures the logs in place. “Then the load sits better. And if the trailer slips into a ditch in the forest, all that happens is that the timber falls out. With a bit of luck, you can then put it back with your crane,” he explains.

Next stop: the sawmill. As it’s about a two-hour drive, we have a bit of time to think. What do you need to survive out here? Good winter tyres, snow chains and a liftable rear axle (so that you have enough weight to start on the axle with the chains). But just as important is the driver themselves. “You can’t afford to be afraid. You have to know when to slow down and you can’t brake too sharply. But the most important skill is being able to read the road. In Iserlohn, I was a good driver. Here, I started out as a novice,” says Veikko.

Photos: Christoph Börries
Video: Martin Schneider-Lau