From father to son

Stian Winsens works as a professional driver for the Norwegian company Digre Transport AS. Just like his bosses, he attaches great importance to being as comfortable as possible on board his MAN. The owners of Digre Transport AS are and have been drivers themselves, which explains why they have a genuine interest in their drivers and trucks.

The company’s story starts with Ingvald Digre, who ran a livestock business in the 1930s and purchased his first truck for this purpose in 1937. After only a short time, he decided to devote his time predominantly to the transportation business. His son, Ingmund, also got into the business of transporting goods, buying his first truck in 1961 and then his first MAN with a crane body in 1981. In 1993, Ingmund’s son, Øystein, followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and bought his first truck before going into business with Ingmund to form Digre Transport AS in the year 2000.

The company, which is currently run by Øystein and his brother Hans, now has 43 trucks, 70 percent of which are from MAN, and has 55 employees. One of those employees is 38-year-old Stian Winsens. He’s been a professional trucker for 18 years and, for the most part, covers the route between Trondheim and Oslo/Fredrikstad. In days gone by, his assignments took him to France and the United Kingdom on a regular basis. He describes that as “a wonderful experience”, and he would not mind embarking on tours like those again. That being said, he is more than happy to be out and about in Norway.

“I love my job and my truck. I am not the type of person who could work in an office. I need the freedom that my cab affords me.”

To ensure he can make the most of his freedom, he attaches great importance to being as comfortable as possible in the cab of his MAN TGX 26.580. “Together with my company, we invested some money to make the cab that bit more comfortable,” Stian says.

The flat hierarchy at Digre makes it easy for drivers to approach the managers about any issues. As such, the interests of the drivers take on a predominant role and the company does a great deal to make everyday life as easy as possible for its drivers.

Stian heads out on 50 percent of his tours, which often see him transporting windows, glass and building materials, with a 25-metre-long truck/trailer road train and a total mass of 60 tonnes. Given the fact that not all roads in Norway are suitable for driving with a 25-metre-long vehicle, he also has to fall back on an older, 19-metre-long trailer every now and then.

Stian is pleased that his son Nikolai is already showing a keen interest in his father’s work. In his case, as well, this passion for trucks and trucking is being passed from father to son, as is the case with his bosses in the Digre family.