Page 22 - Port of Hamburg Magazine - 03.18

■ HINTERLAND
22 | Port of Hamburg Magazine | September 2018
RAINER HANSEN STILL ENJOYS DRIVING A TRUCK AT 73
NO CUSTOMS CHECKS AND NO TRAFFIC JAMS
Before joining the autobahn to travel to Scharbeutz, he takes time for a brief stop at another TCO branch at Überseezentrum. Additional pallets join numerous car- tons of play tents and children’s shoes. A few years ago, he would probably only have moved a further 100 metres then before being held up in the day’s first traf- fic jam. Since closure of the Customs posts, traffic flow is better. For Hansen, that is not simply an advan- tage. Previously, drivers were happy to have a gossip while in the queue. Today the process is less personal, yet more efficient.
The route North along the A1 is free. In the other direc- tion, rush-hour traffic towards Hamburg is piling up. Owing to the roadworks near Stillhorn, however, Hansen fears that traffic may accumulate on his return run. Yet he stays relaxed. If there’s no alternative route or neat diversion for insiders, he’ll simply wait and go with the flow. “I can either get uptight, or else not. I just let it be,” is Hansen’s motto.
SUMMONED BY LOUDSPEAKER
When office workers are just switching on their com- puters, Rainer Hansen with his first load has already reached his destination. At 08:30 he reports at the dis- counter’s central warehouse. Not many fellow drivers
are ahead of him. Nevertheless, half an hour passes before he’s called to Gate 47 to deliver his promotional goods. He visits the office briefly to give in the papers, then it’s back to Hamburg. As expected, the traffic slows down before Stillhorn, but without coming to a standstill. Piloting his truck through the outer areas of the port to a competitor is no problem for Hansen. Pal- lets have been landed there that should have gone to TCO. “That can happen, if a shipper with part-loads tops up a container also bound for Hamburg, but actu- ally for another service provider,” explains Hansen. An exchange of cargo, but also of other papers at the win- dow, is routine.
The roads in the port are clear. The digital traffic guid- ance system is at green, with the way clear to TCO’s third branch in the port. Rainer Hansen takes on more freight there, but for the first time this only needs to be shifted within the port. Sometimes this mobile pen- sioner will take a break at a coffee counter in the port. People here know each other, and the filled rolls and coffee are good value. Hansen plans to carry on driving for at least a year. A South America fan, he’s consider- ing a move to his wife’s home country, Colombia. That remains to be seen. With Rainer Hansen as fit as he is now, planning for his sunset years could certainly still be deferred. ■
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