Often, the work week starts during the night of Sunday to Monday. The drivers will spend their entire week in their truck, to get home only by Friday night, sometimes even Saturday morning.
Samir at his company's office, checking in to pick up his program for the coming days.
A truck-driver and a mechanic inspecting a truck.
Samir organizing his freight. He essentially conveys fruits and vegetables, mostly between France and the Netherlands.
Loading of fruits in Rungis, early in the morning.
Adrien is standing by while his customer is loading a tractor on his truck.
Samir grew up in Seine Saint-Denis, Paris suburbs. His parents are from Morocco. When he was a kid, the whole family used to drive there every summer. On the road, he watched the trucks. That is, where his desire was born to become a truck driver. Now, he drives one day and night.
Trucks drive through all of Europe day and night.
Adrien has already driven several hundred kilometres. He seizes the mandatory break to have a cup of coffee. He will rush back on the road as soon as possible, to load a construction vehicle before it is too late in the day.
One of the first missions of the week for Adrien is to transfer a load of pipes on his truck.
After several hundred kilometres on the road, Adrien unloads the line pipes.
Due to the ferocious pace, the trucker community has slowly been falling apart over the years. Adrien barely has the time to grab a sandwich on the road.
The Truck Stops are obligatory locations for the drivers. They can eat here, park their trucks and sleep or take showers, and, above all, they can meet.
Samir takes a break on a parking lot, where he meets another driver from his company. The French regulation imposes daily driving time limits, and consequently highly inconvenient series of breaks. Truck drivers never cease to juggle with these time constraints.
Samir is about to unload his shipment of vegetables as quickly as possible.
Samir gassing up.
Adrien calls his wife before she goes to bed, to discuss the Christmas presents they are planning to offer their kids.
One of the main daily difficulties for truck-drivers is to find a place where to park for the night. It happens that truck access to entire areas is restricted, forcing them to drive longer, and taking the risk of overstepping regulatory limits. The financial consequences can be heavy.
Adrien awakening. More than a work place, the truck is a living space.
Adrien takes his breakfast in the cafeteria of a client company.
Samir seizes the opportunity of a bar’s bathroom to freshen up.
Samir restarts rushing through ranges of fruit cages.
The exploding trade of goods leads to an increasing share of road transport, that overflows freeways and invades state highways and secondary roads.
Samir calculating his driving time of the past days to ensure he does not exceed the regulatory limits risking a significant fine. In his binder, the picture of his daughter, Sounna. He won’t see her until the end of the week, but talks to her on the phone as often as he can.
Samir back at his employer’s premises in Rotterdam, after traveling several thousands of kilometres since the start of the week.
Before heading back to France, Samir pampers the truck he lives in for more than five days a week.
Before heading back to France, Samir pampers the truck he lives in for more than five days a week.
The week is nearly over. Samir has dinner in his truck before sleeping a couple of hours. He will hit the road again in the middle of the night to head back to Paris region, where he lives, looking forward to spending the weekend with his daughter and his wife.
Samir lives in the Paris area, where he is returning to for the weekend.