Apprentice driver: It was just something I jumped at

It was just something I jumped at

Lina Hansen, 22, is not your usual apprentice driver.  Not just because she’s a young woman, and female drivers are – unfortunately – few and far between, but also because she originally trained as a sales assistant at the supermarket Rema1000, and therefore did not know anything about the transport industry before applying to do the driver’s apprenticeship.

“It was just something I jumped at. I discovered that I wanted to start driving, so I applied to become an apprentice driver with Frode Laursen,” she says.

Lina was employed, and started on 13 January 2020 in Road DK. Here she just managed to get a tractor unit driving licence before the onset of corona and the vocational training colleges closed down, but she was unable to take the trailer licence.

 “It was obviously a pity, because it meant that I couldn’t start driving, but had to spend two months at the terminal before I could take my trailer test in July. On the other hand, I’m very familiar with the warehouse now, and I know where everything is placed, so I’ve decided to look on the bright side.”

All in all, Lina has enjoyed the eight months which her apprenticeship has lasted so far.

“I’ve been given a very warm welcome. Before I started, I was a bit anxious about what it would be like working as a woman in a man’s world. Whether the other drivers would look at me and think ‘What on earth is she doing here?’, but everyone has been really helpful. Of course, some people can’t help making a passing comment, but then I just answer back, and that’s all there is to it.”

Lina also has the gift of the gab, and she soon starts using the same jargon as all the other drivers. Nevertheless, what she likes most is being able to drive off on her own, listening to music or an audio book.

“It’s wonderful! I’d really like to become a long-distance driver when I’m fully trained – or a haulier. It would be great to have my own truck.”