Fred Koster behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz for the first time
Vehicle & Technology
J.P. Vis & Zn now have their first ever Actros in service and it's also a first for Fred Koster, too – in his entire driving life, he's only ever driven other brands.
Fred Koster (54) has a new toy: he is the first driver at J.P. Vis & Zn Internationaal Transport B.V. from Westland, The Netherlands with an Actros. The majority of the company's drivers prefer Swedish brands, and Fred also used to drive only Scania or DAF vehicles. We can thus assume that the Actros will be put through the most critical of tests. Fred transports vegetables to Sweden and brings other goods back. Accordingly, he's kept busy every week. Each journey sees him being on the road for around four days, which makes between 150 and 160 thousand kilometres a year. "Thankfully I'm not a stickler for brands," he says. "I've been driving other vehicle brands for 34 years now but that doesn't mean that I'm not willing to try something new. And I have to say, that there's nothing I can complain about. Everything is just fine in the new Actros; the cab is very spacious with its big fridge and a whole lot of storage space. It's got a great seat, the bed is wide and long, so I'm very happy with it."
"Really impressive" is how Fred describes the intelligent
cruise control system PPC. "I often drive in Sweden, heavily
laden with a trailer. When I have to drive uphill, I notice how the
Actros suddenly steams ahead as it's already calculated exactly what
it needs to do!" It takes a bit of getting used to because I've
only very rarely driven an automatic." Incidentally, when Fred
says "heavily laden", he means it! In Sweden, the Actros is
driven as a semitrailer combination with additional trailer, measuring
a total of 25 metres in length and with a gross weight of 60 to 65
tonnes. Despite this weight, the power of the Actros is amazing.
And how does Fred find the truck's design? "The truck genuinely looks very nice. I really like the lights in the sun visor. I also like the fact that there's a camera which monitors the blind spot. And the truck is economical in comparison to those of other brands. You really notice it. Although I do miss the sound of a V8, it's still a very nice truck."
Fred has experienced a lot of things in his life behind the wheel; after all, he's been in the job for 34 years already. He's even worked together with his wife transporting livestock or flowers to the most diverse of places. "It was a really pleasant time," explains Fred. "We both worked hard as we were pretty much on the road non-stop, but it was also great fun. My wife comes from a family of hauliers and you can really tell. Now she no longer gets behind the wheel of the trucks, rather she works in the offices of another haulage firm. But it's great that she has been active in the branch since she was little. She's never moaned if ever I was away for a longer time. Not even when I had to transport generators to the Greek islands and only came home after five weeks. It's really good that she's so understanding."
Now Fred no longer drives to such distant places. "The drive to Sweden is beautiful, even if a bit more monotonous than what I was used to. And working for J.P. Vis is also very enjoyable. It's a well-run company." One thing is clear: Fred loves his job as a trucker, but he reminisces about times in which the transport industry was a little more attractive and liberal. But that doesn't necessarily put him in negative spirit: he looks forward to many more years in this job, especially now he has such an attractive Actros.
Photos: MCR
The new Actros of J.P. Vis & Zn shines with its fine details.
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