Vast expanse: strapping Actros 2563 models distribute food and goods across northern Norway

Business & Logistics

Nordic Power.

ServiceNord Engros AS supplies restaurants and canteens in northern Norway with everything they need. For transporting goods in the polar region, Actros with top-of-the-range engines are the best solution, says CEO Jørn Johansen.

On tour through Norway’s far north with catering delivery company ServiceNord Engros AS.


What do the chef in a top restaurant on the Lofoten islands, the barkeeper in a student disco in Tromsø, the woman running a snack bar alongside the E10 near Narvik and the procurement officer at the Arctic research station in Spitsbergen have in common? They all live in the far north of Europe, a region full of extremes. And they all enjoy the benefits of the vast range of products offered by ServiceNord Engros AS.


This wholesaler operates a warehouse in Harstad, some 250 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, and this is a place that caters to all tastes all year round: fruit and vegetables, meat and fish, eggs and dairy products, staple foods such as flour, noodles and rice, frozen food, canned food, soft drinks, wine and beer, and last but not least, sweets and toiletries.

“We have almost everything here, and we can order anything we don’t happen to have in stock within a short time,” says Jørn Johansen, a managing shareholder of ServiceNord.

From Harstad, not only do the company’s white trucks supply restaurants, pubs and snack bars with food and daily necessities; hospitals, retirement homes and government canteens are also part of ServiceNord’s clientele – even in this remote part of the country, the social infrastructure is in good shape, as it is everywhere throughout Norway.


The region covers an area almost as large as England, yet it is populated by only about half a million people. While ServiceNord is not the biggest supplier in this region with its many far-flung settlements, the company has earned itself a permanent place in the supply infrastructure of Norway’s Arctic region. “Compared with the competition, we do go the extra mile for our customers,” is how Jørn Johansen sums up his recipe for success.


Flexible service. Customers can place orders on ServiceNord’s website round the clock, even just before the trucks leave.


Up to 800 kilometres a day.

For a start, there is the broad range of products, capable of keeping both price-sensitive buyers as well as particularly discerning and sophisticated customers happy. ServiceNord’s shareholding in the nationwide cooperative Servicegrossistene is key to the good price-performance ratio they can offer. Then there is the company’s unparalleled willingness to provide the best service: “We allow customers to still place orders until just before the truck is ready to leave,” says Johansen as he takes us on a inspection tour through his well-stocked warehouse. “And if they need something out of the ordinary, then we will take care of that, too.”


“Our Actros trucks spend almost no time at the workshop, and our drivers appreciate the comfort of the spacious cab featuring the SoloStar Concept.”

– CEO Jørn Johansen


Broad range. The product range at Jørn Johansen’s ServiceNord warehouse in Harstad leaves absolutely nothing to be desired.
Broad range. The product range at Jørn Johansen’s ServiceNord warehouse in Harstad leaves absolutely nothing to be desired.
Action delivery man. Driver Stig André Madsen easily unhitches trailer and tractor unit, making delivery a few minutes later to Dag Steinar Fredriksen Myklebust, Anker Brygge restaurant chef.
Action delivery man. Driver Stig André Madsen easily unhitches trailer and tractor unit, making delivery a few minutes later to Dag Steinar Fredriksen Myklebust, Anker Brygge restaurant chef.

Heavy-duty distribution haulage in the far North is really a special form of long-distance transportation. Whereas central Europeans are focused on making deliveries over the “last mile” more efficient, up here it is more often than not a matter of negotiating the last 500 kilometres.

These drivers can cover up to 800 kilometres in a day, yet still manage to make deliveries to maybe 20 customers or more in one shift.

The company’s 12 heavy trucks are constantly on the road on behalf of ServiceNord to ensure that deliveries get there on time. Today, six of them already bear the prestigious star. Swedish brands have traditionally been well represented in long-distance haulage up in the North.

But ServiceNord already has six Actros in its fleet, and two more are on order. Jørn Johansen: “Our Actros trucks spend almost no time at the workshop, and our drivers appreciate the comfort of the spacious cab featuring the SoloStar Concept.”


Both of those aspects matter, because ice and snow during winter and sometimes unpaved roads during the summer present trucks and truckers with major challenges. ServiceNord drivers often have to spend the night in the cab out on lonely stretches in the far North before they can make their way back to Harstad. In winter they have to cope with extreme sub-zero temperatures and months of darkness. Bridges and mountain passes are often impassable, repeatedly forcing them to take long detours.


Hilly terrain. ServiceNord has opted for the Actros with the OM 473 engine producing 460 kW because this truck is the best performer on the many inclines, like the one shown here, on Gimsøystraumen Bridge.


Even in summer, the terrain is hard on the trucks: there are no motorways or expressways up this way. It is overland roads all the way, and they are as curvy as they are hilly, stretching over hundreds of kilometres, reaching out to rocky islands and spanning mighty fjords along the way.


Given these extreme conditions, Jørn Johansen decided that his drivers should hit the road in nothing less than top-of-the-range vehicles. In his opinion the top model, the Actros 2563 with 460 kW and maximum torque of 3000 Nm, is the perfect truck for this region. “This Actros is as quick going up the many hills and mountains as it is going down. In the end, that certainly pays off for us.”

ServiceNord plans the distribution routes to allow drivers to maintain high average speeds. The top-of-the-line engine lets the driver gain half an hour compared with less powerful trucks, making it possible to reach an additional unloading point and still be within the maximum driving time allowed. Or he may even make it all the way back home.



Efficient thanks to top engines.

“We did try to make do with less powerful trucks at one stage,” recalls Jørn Johansen. “But in our mountainous region it meant that not only did the average speed drop, fuel consumption quickly soared, because drivers had to push the pedal to the metal far too often.”

Stig André Madsen seconds that. He has been a driver for ServiceNord for 16 years, and he has become a true believer in the Actros. Madsen heads out on his tour of the Lofoten in his fully laden truck twice a week. From Å (Moskenes) in the south to Svolvær in the north, he knows every pothole and every rise along the narrow country roads running through the archipelago. “When you are out there it is a good thing to have a truck you can trust, that helps you stay on top of things.”


Regular delivery point. The fishing and shipyard town of Svolvær on the east coast of the Lofoten island Austvågøya has numerous ServiceNord customers and is also very popular with tourists.
Regular delivery point. The fishing and shipyard town of Svolvær on the east coast of the Lofoten island Austvågøya has numerous ServiceNord customers and is also very popular with tourists.

Madsen loves his job. He knows every one of his customers on the islands, often having known them for years. “The people out here are friendlier than on the mainland. They are laid back, they live in harmony with nature, and they know that I will always turn up, even if it takes an hour longer if there is a storm brewing.”

At work Madsen is known as “Mr. Lofoten” because he can complete his demanding tour with its many drop-off points so quickly, flexibly and efficiently.

Sometimes Madsen is in luck and his mother-in-law will mind his two daughters so that his wife Cecilia can join him in the Actros. “It’s roomy enough in here for the two days it takes, and the views of the landscape from the driver’s cab are simply fantastic!”


Photos: Matthias Aletsee
Video: Martin Schneider-Lau

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