Green Speed unburdens growers with new Scania P320

Green Speed transport from Naaldwijk provides a collection service for potted plants between growers and the auction with five trucks. For just under a year, the company has also been taking care of a large number of growers with a new Scania P320 4×2 box truck with an extended day cab. "A world-class vehicle," believes driver Dylan Pronk, who also serves as the right-hand man for owner Lennaert Lievaart within the company. 

"Our work consists of hauling away mainly potted plants from the growers to the auction. This is a job where the driver works fairly independently and therefore has quite a responsibility. He drives someone else's sensitive merchandise and has to make sure that everything arrives picobully exactly in the right place at the auction. You really have to know your way around that," Dylan explains. "In the summer we mainly drive potted plants. I can take 16 auction carts or 31 Danes at a time with this car. In the winter, we also transport a lot of cultivation for vegetable plants. We start early every day, with a peak between say 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.. Then it's really hard work. The advantage of this work is that normally we're home around six in the evening. So it's a regular job. Except in the summer months. Then it can get really busy. But that's part of the job, isn't it?"

Green Speed has been around for nine years and has only grown since then. "It started with one Scania and now we already have five. With a good chance another one will be added soon. Why we drive that brand you ask? "It's a solid car. We've had one here that was no less than 18 years old! And there was never anything wrong with it. Really indestructible. In addition, we have a very good relationship with Scania Maasdijk, our dealer. In this business, you can never service at regular hours and we are too small to spare a car. So the dealer always does the maintenance for us in the evening hours. That's really nice because that way we have the maximum uptime."

Not that the trucks need a whole lot of maintenance. "I drive the newest one, a Scania P320. It now has 50,000 kilometers on it. So with that, you're maneuvering almost as much as you're driving it forward." What Dylan greatly appreciates about the truck is the great visibility all around and the space of the extended day cab. "It's very often tight in our work. And not all growers have a pit or a dock. Sometimes you just have to go quite a long way back over the dam. And then you benefit a lot from this car's great mirror arrangement. Together with the little camera on the back, you get it in place everywhere. And what I also really like is the combination of the very low entry level and yet very spacious cabin. We hop in and out of the car about 40-50 times a day. You don't want to think about having to climb three steps. Our other cars have a day cab. I've always enjoyed working in that. But compared to this cabin, it's suddenly cramped. If I take off my coat here, it's just behind the wheel and I can just hang it up. The only thing I miss here is a refrigerator. That's a wish for the next car."

That Dylan chose 320 hp is because, as he says himself, there is still more weight in such a box truck than you would think. "A load of chrysanthemums is still heavier than you would say by sight. And if you go back with dismantled cask, you're just sitting on the weight. On the other hand, that's fun. Because then you notice how well the engine pulls and how well the gearbox shifts. Because then the car really has to work."