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A2 traffic jam near Oberhausen on Monday: heat from auxiliary heating
Photo:
Fabian Strauch / dpa
To person
Stephan Wilke
, 48, is a truck driver at the forwarding company Offergeld.
He lives in Werder (Havel) and raves about the tree blossom in his place of residence.
SPIEGEL:
You stood in a snow jam on the A2 several times on Monday and Tuesday: How did that happen?
Stephan Wilke:
Maybe there was too much traffic or the winter road clearance was not prepared.
Then there were local driving bans for trucks because of the snow, after all, everything was jammed on the motorway.
Where should you go, the parking lots have long been closed.
SPIEGEL:
An odyssey on one of Germany's most important east-west connections.
Wilke:
I set off in Berlin, down towards the Ruhrpott.
I got to the Rehren junction in Lower Saxony, then nothing worked.
Then I spent eleven hours on the autobahn.
The next day I went on to Bad Oeynhausen, where I stood for almost three hours again and then a few more hours in Bielefeld.
SPIEGEL:
How did you get on there at all?
There was a driving ban for trucks in North Rhine-Westphalia and also in parts of Lower Saxony ...
Wilke:
That was canceled in the meantime, it was only valid on Monday night and that was when I was standing.
It was only by chance that colleagues learned that there were bans, nothing came through the media.
SPIEGEL:
A shivering night on the Autobahn: How was that?
Wilke:
A few years ago there was a big onset of winter with closed motorways in the Rhineland, but at least there was still some progress back then.
That was special this time.
SPIEGEL:
Were you frozen?
Wilke:
I have an auxiliary heater and it was warm with that.
At some point in the night the Red Cross came and distributed tea.
SPIEGEL:
And it has to get out again at some point, despite freezing temperatures.
Wilke:
You have to put yourself on the sidelines, but you also get used to it.
SPIEGEL:
Were you otherwise prepared?
Wilke:
We always have clothes and luggage with us for 14 days.
On average we are only on the road for a week, but it can be significantly longer.
SPIEGEL:
Did you expect such chaos when you set off?
Wilke:
I already thought that something could come.
SPIEGEL:
And drove off anyway.
Why?
Wilke:
We have customers that we have to supply.
If you can't do that in a certain time frame, you have to pay contractual penalties.
I had my truck full of white goods that went to Bergheim: washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators.
SPIEGEL:
Did you make it in time?
Wilke:
No, not until noon today, then there was a new time window.
SPIEGEL:
Two and a half days for the Berlin-Bergheim route: Wouldn't it have been better not to drive off in the first place?
Wilke:
No, because you don't really know beforehand.
I am now in Euskirchen to bring a load of diapers to Berlin - and there is absolutely no snow here.
What annoys me, however, is the irrationality of many drivers who ignore overtaking bans or drive at top speed despite the snow.
SPIEGEL:
Is that because business has become tougher overall?
Wilke:
Customers demand more and more: They want their goods overnight.
Fortunately, little has changed in our company.
She ensures that you have enough time between appointments.
But in such an extreme situation that is no longer enough.
SPIEGEL:
And what would you have done if you had to transport fresh flowers or other perishable goods?
Wilke:
The fleet manager would have already said that you wouldn't drive out at first or later.
SPIEGEL:
What did your family say that you spent the night on the autobahn?
Wilke:
My mother, with whom I live in a house, knows that. We are a trucker family, my father drove for more than 30 years, including at Offergeld.
I've been with it for 17 years now.
It is crucial for us to arrive safe and alive.
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