Appreciation is fundamentally important

Partnership, honesty and respect are part of the corporate philosophy embodied by Weinmann Spedition & Logistik GmbH & Co KG.

Michael Weinmann, the owner of Weinmann Spedition & Logistik GmbH & Co. KG, is confident that “in our profession, you can reinvent yourself every day”. The driving profession is a varied one with many different contacts and the potential for further development in the transport industry is considerable. However, the positive aspects are also in conflict with the lack of recognition and appreciation of professional drivers. For Weinmann himself, the right public image for drivers is therefore one of the most important topics in the transport sector. There is a lack of awareness of what drivers do every day. “Unfortunately, the image of the pandemic heroes could not be maintained,” states Weinmann.

“In my opinion, people should get less worked up and be more appreciative. Everyone wants to get their goods as quickly as possible.”

The immense burden that this time pressure represents for the industry is not taken into consideration at all. “The general image of drivers has to improve,” Weinmann is convinced. For this to happen, it is important to portray the everyday life of professional drivers authentically and to convey it more realistically.

Consciously approaching issues differently

This realistic image is also particularly important to him in his own company: From his previous work in a large company, he knows what issues drivers experience and their concerns. “I picked up on these points in order to consciously approach them differently in my own company,” explains the entrepreneur. At Weinmann, each driver is assigned their own fixed truck and semitrailer, which they look after themselves. Firstly, there are no disputes among each other, and secondly, this measure increases the individual drivers’ sense of responsibility “because everyone takes care of organising and maintaining their vehicle themselves,” explains Weinmann, and everyone has a clear area of responsibility.

To ensure that the company’s drivers can attend to personal and family matters, they alternate between “long” and “short” weeks. In addition to the good dialogue with its drivers, an informal working atmosphere and increasing salaries based on length of service, Weinmann shows appreciation to its drivers in large part through the vehicles themselves. The company’s MAN fleet consists of well-equipped trucks, where great emphasis is also placed on individuality – every vehicle looks different. On the one hand, this helps to meet the drivers’ requirements, but on the other hand, it also conveys an important message to people outside the company: “We also want the general public to see that we appreciate the work our drivers do,” explains Weinmann. Therefore, his company has a “good fleet for people who want to do the job”.

The initiative as an important step in the right direction

And drivers with a “passion for the job” can be found at Weinmann. For example, in the case of Werner, a long-standing employee. He has been driving long-distance transport for several decades now, is proud of his MAN vehicle and even after suffering from cancer, he is certain that he wants to spend the time he has left before retiring behind the wheel of his truck emblazoned with the lion logo. “I wanted to give something back to him,” says Weinmann, explaining his decision to send Werner’s MAN truck off with the MAN Initiative trailer. Werner is happy about the honourable duty he has as a “Driving for Germany” ambassador and is often approached by the public about the campaign. Michael Weinmann is also pleased that “this has led to many good conversations about the initiative and what we stand for in the industry”.

From his point of view, it is a good first step in order to finally bring all stakeholders to the table and ensure that the right measures for the transport sector are implemented together: “I drive for Germany because there hasn’t been an initiative like this before. It is run jointly by MAN, the haulage companies and the drivers – I like this sense of community!” And the initiative is a decisive and important step towards staying on top of the issues in the transport sector.