Spot-check tool piloted at terminals
Recently, PostNord launched a pilot of Responsible Trucking’s spot-check tool at selected terminals in all markets.
“It’s a survey available in several languages for all external truck drivers who come to our terminals, to help us continuously keep track of the drivers’ situation and get input on what we can improve for them. We want to become an even better workplace for all drivers – regardless of whether they’re employed by us or by a supplier,” Sharro Abdulahad, Operations Manager at Pilängen terminal in Örebro, explains.
Sharro stresses the importance of the survey being anonymous so that people dare to speak up.
“It’s in our interest that all drivers feel they’re important to us, even if they work elsewhere. We build a relationship with all drivers that come to our terminals regularly, and that relationship also creates happy co-workers who enjoy going to work,” Sharro says.
Better conditions at terminals
The spot-check tool will be implemented at further terminals in 2024. Based on the feedback received via the spot-check tool, PostNord will take action. New terminals being built will offer an area with facilities for external drivers. Also, we are looking into how existing terminals can be given a makeover to improve conditions. Steps towards this have already been taken.
“Here in Örebro, we have toilets and a coffee area available at the terminal. If external drivers want to heat up their food and eat in our staff canteen, we accompany them, but for security reasons we can’t let them have free access. Security is our number one concern,” Sharro says.
Simple measures make a big difference
About 600–800 trucks pass through the gate at Pilängen daily, many of them under the watchful eye of Niklas Bader, guard at the gate house.
“I meet about 150 drivers every day, and over the years I’ve gotten to know most drivers, including the external ones. Sometimes they use the toilet here in the gate house and I make them a cup of coffee,” says Niklas, who has worked for PostNord since delivering Christmas cards back in 1992. His wife Anna is one of the external drivers, and she just completed the spot-check survey. They both welcome the upgrade in standards for truck drivers, as does Joakim Thenstedt, partner and driver at Örebro Flyttningsbyrå, a moving company that has been a PostNord supplier since 2015. Joakim is well acquainted with the Pilängen terminal and greets Niklas in the gate house like an old friend. He often stops by for a quick coffee on his break.
“As a driver, it’s important to have access to a toilet and some coffee, but these are not available at all terminals. In some places, we must knock and hope someone lets us in, and during short breaks we don’t have time for that,” Joakim says.
His dream is for all drivers to have quick and easy access to a lunchroom with vending machines stocked with food and snacks, where food can be heated, and the drivers can eat and rest. Sharro also emphasizes the importance of the changes:
“They represent yet another step towards social sustainability and becoming a great place to work. We must give all co-workers the conditions to do a good job. Happy co-workers mean high productivity and high quality.”
