Rasmus Leonhardt has replaced his chef's knife with the steering wheel of a truck

- I was sent home from my job as a cook during the pandemic, so I chose to start taking my truck driver's license at a night school. I have been a chef since 2006 and have really enjoyed it. But the job as a truck driver has always caught my fancy and when the opportunity arose, I took the plunge, says Rasmus.

Both the trucking industry and life as a truck driver have long been marked by their poor image, where tales of poor working conditions, long working hours, and low salaries are still going strong. But it is not something that Rasmus can recognize from his everyday life.

- You can easily have a family life in addition to working as a truck driver. I show up at 8:00 and return home almost every day at 4:00. Of course, I have overtime once in a while, but my carrier Stavnskær Freight is very flexible. There must be room for a family too – that is their attitude, says Rasmus.

Stavnskær Freight is based in Hillerød and is part of Danske Fragtmænd. In the past, it has not been difficult to get the manpower needed by the company. But in the last year it has become much more difficult to attract skilled labor. General Manager Rasmus Højmark says:

- We find that it has become harder to attract candidates to the company. If they do not live in the area around Hillerød, they are not interested. We therefore attach great importance to offering our employees decent working conditions, attractive employee benefits, and flexibility, so that there is room for having a family life and enjoying leisure activities alongside the job. We in the industry have generally not been very good at this.

When Rasmus sent Stavnskær Freight a job application back in the beginning of 2022, the lack of experience could have made it difficult for him to find his way to the cab at the North Zealand haulage company, but there was something about the former chef that led General Manager Rasmus Højmark to hire him.

- Actually, we often bring in inexperienced drivers. And there was something about Rasmus that made me think we had to try. It took a few months introducing him to our systems and business before he actually reached the cab of a truck, but Rasmus turned out to have a flair for the job, and now he is one of our best drivers.

Rasmus is very happy that Stavnskær Freight gave him a chance despite his lack of experience. And there is no doubt in his mind that the switch to becoming a truck driver is the best choice he has ever made.

- I am proud to be a truck driver and I enjoy the contact you have with customers. I decide when and where I have lunch, and most of the time I even decide what my day will look like. It is great to be a truck driver, Rasmus concludes.