Nedlin Drivers Academy

To pick up and deliver laundry to customers’ premises, Nedlin employs its own drivers. Professionals who know our customers and the situation on site. In the Nedlin Drivers Academy, we train drivers ourselves together with our partners, driving schools Keijbeck and Osseforth. From B to C to CE and LZV driving licence: Robert, Maurice, Jason and Heidi tell us all about it.

LOVES driving car 10, a DAF trailer GOES out on the weekends until late at night ENJOYS working at night

“Colleagues in Brussels call me ‘the king of the night’. Every night we drive 5 or 6 cars through the city. If anyone has a problem, or if there is a difficult situation at a customer, we help each other out. And if someone finishes earlier, he helps the others. That way, everyone gets home on time. And we are still a team, even if we drive alone.

Brussels is tricky to drive by truck. As coordinator, I know all the hotels. After completing the Drivers Academy, I can advise on how to approach customers at the box truck and CE level. The work is physical. You have to take laundry carts over cobblestones, uphill and downhill in car parks. I love that. I’m not the type to just twiddle my thumbs.”

WORKING at Nedlin since 2019 PLAYED international tennis tournaments HOPES to pick that up again soon: ideal in combination with his work DRIVES a Mercedes Sprinter.

“I entered Nedlin through the laundry. Sometimes I would make a trip, if a batch of clothes had to go to a customer quickly. That’s possible in Hoensbroek, as your B driving licence is sufficient for certain cars. Later I was asked if I wanted to drive more often, including the big truck. Now I am training for a C driving licence and combine driving with laundry work.

I really like that combination. I visit different customers and often show new drivers the work. Or I go along if there is a problem, so we can resolve it quickly. I love that: figuring things out, the interaction with customers and colleagues. I never would have expected that. Sander Simons, Plant Manager at Nedlin Industry, is the driving force behind my development. He saw what I could do.”

SPENDS his spare time fishing carp by the pond GOES on a men’s trip with friends every year HAS some time to himself on those trips as a married man with two children.

“I had just got my C driving licence when I saw that Nedlin was looking for drivers. I figured: let’s give it a try. The company is growing, you can go in many directions. And getting my CE seemed like a good idea. After 7 months through the employment agency, I entered permanent employment. Then I immediately started taking lessons. 10 lessons later, I had my CE driving licence.

Now I can drive everything, from the smallest to the biggest vehicle. I like the tractor-trailer best. I started on the hotel side, now I drive for hotels as well as hospitals. That’s what I like about this work: the variety, the different customers and destinations. No two days are the same.”

DRIVES the Mercedes Artego truck-trailer LOVES walking with her three dogs as well as tattooing HAS already inked up her husband and 20-year-old son.

“Driving was always my thing. My father and partner are also truck drivers. An info evening at the Parkstad Limburg Stadium explained what the work at Nedlin entailed. The shadowing day was also great. At Nedlin Industry, we drive for a lot of customers where as an additional service we put the clothes into lockers. That’s a nice combination. But you have to be good with people.

I have now been working here for 2.5 years. First through the employment agency, then in permanent employment. I first got my C driving licence here. Recently, I also got my CE. Work starts early and also finishes early. I drive locally for two days, and the other two I enjoy going long distance through the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.”