Safely refuelled

Dangerous cargo – petrol and diesel always come into this category. For thoroughbred trucker, Michael Kayka, however, they are just transport goods like any other. Every night he ensures that the traffic does not come to a standstill.

When Michael Kayka talks about his job as a dangerous goods driver, it sounds like the safest job in the world. On the one hand, this is because of his calm voice. On the other hand, it is because of the experience and sense of responsibility that emanates from each and every word he says. He has been a professional driver since 2009. He has been driving tanker trucks for the North German company Johannes Martens for two years now, specialising in deliveries to petrol stations. In order to take on this role, he took part in a one-week intensive course on the topic of dangerous goods to gain what is known as the ADR license. All drivers who wish to transport explosive substances, radioactive goods and liquid or gaseous goods in a tanker have to hold this qualification. And, as Michael says, “it was the precondition for getting the job with Johannes Martens.”

Not for the faint-hearted

For him, the fuel that he transports is no different to any other cargo that he transports. Of course, he is asked by family and friends time and again whether he gets afraid. “I look after my cargo in the correct manner and with great caution. I know that I am driving dangerous goods but I don’t tell myself the whole time: ‘Drive carefully or something will go wrong!’ – that would only make me nervous,” explains Michael. He drives his tanker almost exclusively at night. 

It goes without saying that it took some time to get used to the new, topsy-turvy working hours. But now he is fully accustomed to this schedule. Only at weekends is it a little bit of a struggle: “I’m quite tired during the day because I’m awake during the day and sleep at night.” As a long-distance truck driver, he sleeps in his truck, an MAN TGX 18.500, when he’s on tour. The truck’s XLX cab is both his work place and living room and is simply ideal. 

Exemplary teamwork with the materials requirement department

While Michael is sleeping during the day, the materials requirement department plans his trip for that evening. The products he should take on board and their respective volumes are included in this planning process. The driving schedule also specifies the petrol stations he should stop at.

Michael’s first stop on his shift is the fuel depot. When he clocks in at the fuel depot, he enters everything he needs into the computer and is assigned a filling lane. As soon as all of the hoses and cables have been connected correctly, the process of filling the five chambers of his tanker begins automatically. The truck is filled from front to back. The thinking behind this is that there would be more weight on the drive axle of the vehicle if there was an issue with the filling process and the system stopped. “If I started at the back and the chamber at the front was empty, I would be faced with the issue of the drive axle being disabled. I wouldn’t have any traction on the road and I wouldn’t be able to keep driving,” explains Michael. He knows exactly how his truck responds at different fill levels and how to drive it. He also has complete trust in his MAN truck, which never lets him down when he is out on the road. He also has to ensure that the chambers are not overfilled and that he does not exceed the maximum number of litres when entering the fill quantity into the filling system computer. “If I overfill a chamber, the product trips a limit value sensor. This sends a signal to the loading facility, stopping it automatically.”

He would also be made aware of the excessive filling quantity by a loud bang, the base valve would close and the product feed would stop. “I would have to then disconnect everything, drive off and unload fuel before I could refill the chamber,” explains Michael. Cleanliness is the be all and end all: Following the filling and dumping process, Michael must ensure that there is no product residue in the end-to-end control cabinet. He can only continue with his journey after he has completed this inspection. 

In his opinion, the biggest challenge he is faced with in his job is ensuring that fuel is delivered to the petrol stations on time and shortages are prevented. End consumers take it for granted that they can fill up their vehicles with petrol or diesel whenever they stop at a petrol station. Truckers like Michael make sure that this is the case. He and his colleagues deliver fuel to petrol stations around the clock to keep this service running. What happens if a petrol station does run out of fuel? “That happens,” says Michael, “but those petrol stations are then prioritised by our materials requirement planners so they receive their fuel more quickly.”

A digital and analogous approach to refuelling 

In many cases, the interface between the petrol stations and the materials requirement department is a digital one: “At many petrol stations, our materials requirement department can retrieve fill levels by taking electronic readings,” explains Michael. However, the older approach in which the driver takes a fill level reading with a dipstick and notes down the level is also used. When the driver returns from their trip, the materials requirement planner records the levels by entering them into the system. This provides a good indication of the fill level that the petrol station currently has. The materials requirement planner can then use an algorithm to calculate how much time will pass before another delivery is required, or how much they sell on average per day.

“I like being out and about. I feel at home out on the road.”

Why does he like his job so much?

“I like being out and about. I feel at home out on the road.” And he likes the relaxed working environment: “Because I can drive out to most petrol stations and the fuel depots around the clock, the deadline pressure is manageable.”  

The job becomes physically demanding at petrol stations where he has to fill the individual tanks directly. Some of these tanks are a long way from each other. In these cases, he has to put significant effort into dragging the hose eight to nine metres to reach the tanks. Either that, or move the vehicle several times. Suddenly the average stop time of 45 minutes per customer has turned into a one and a half hour mission. 

And the smell? Part of the job and an aspect that you have to come to terms with. “You come into contact with it now and again,” says Michael. Those who are very sensitive to it cannot do the job.
Michael has found his dream job. He describes himself as a “trucker through and through” and feels perfectly at home out on the road with cargo that he is optimally trained to handle.