Fran\u00e7ois Waelbers may officially be the fleet manager at Widem Logistics, but in reality, he is much more than that. He is a mentor, motivator, and the secret weapon in our mission toward more sustainable transport. New drivers don’t get dry theory lessons from him, but hands-on experience and personal guidance, plus the chance to earn a nice bonus if they can beat him in fuel-efficient and eco driving.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div> Fran\u00e7ois, you’re fleet manager at Widem Logistics, but it’s clear you do much more than just manage the fleet?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois<\/i>:<\/b><\/span> (laughs) Yes, that’s true. My official title is fleet manager, but in practice I also help new and existing drivers to drive more eco friendly and defensively. That’s important for the company because it saves costs, but especially for the environment to drive more sustainably. And honestly, I just enjoy doing it.<\/span><\/p>\n How exactly do you approach that?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois<\/i>:<\/b><\/span> Every new driver who starts with us is required to have completed 35 hours of refresher training (code 95). My focus is on defensive and economic driving, and to get insight into this I ride along with the driver for 3 hours. In the first hour I just observe: I say nothing, I just watch. In the second hour I start giving tips, things like keeping distance, letting the truck roll out, anticipating traffic. And in the third hour I let them try to drive as economically as possible.<\/span> And then they can even earn a bonus, right?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois:<\/i><\/span><\/b> <\/i>That’s right! If they drive more economically (and thus more sustainably) than I do during the first three months, they get a bonus of 250 euros from Widem Logistics. So far, only 1 person has almost managed it. <\/span><\/p>\n What are some of the tips you often give?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois:<\/i><\/span><\/b> Keeping distance is a very important one. If you keep sufficient distance, you don’t have to brake as much and you can let it roll more. Many drivers have the tendency to drive too close, which means they constantly have to accelerate and brake. That costs unnecessarily much fuel. <\/span><\/p>\n You’re actually eligible for retirement, but you’re staying at Widem Logistics? <\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois:<\/i><\/span><\/b> They asked me if I wanted to stay a bit longer, and I actually didn’t hesitate for a second. I enjoy this work far too much to just stop. So I’m going to continue for a while longer. During the week I stay in student housing in West Flanders, because I actually come from Pelt. That’s quite a drive, but I still do it with pleasure.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div> What motivates you most in your job?<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n Fran\u00e7ois:<\/i><\/span><\/b> <\/i>When I see that a driver after a few weeks drives more calmly and sustainably, then I’m satisfied. That gives me satisfaction. I really want to contribute something for the company and for the environment. <\/span><\/p>\n Thank you for this conversation Fran\u00e7ois!<\/span> <\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10981,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11003"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11011,"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11003\/revisions\/11011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10981"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.widem.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI don’t just give training to new employees, drivers who have been with Widem for longer are also monitored and regularly get extra tips from me.<\/span><\/p>\n