Ambassador Thierry Chusseau

Transpian
Le Pian-Médoc, France

“I have a very good opinion of JONSERED cranes. First of all the top seat is very well adapted to the crane operator. He has everything at hand and is safe. The crane is soft, flexible and accurate, and has a very good reliability. ”

- Thierry Chusseau

2015, a timber transport company situated in Aquitaine, was in severe trouble. Today this company is called TRANSPIAN and is enjoying a healthy growth and has turned into a solid and sustainable business. With it’s modern ways of working, TRANSPIAN made an impressive turn around and today the company is a leading player within the timber transport business and a role model to other companies.

So how did the story go? Let’s go back to 2015 when all seemed hopeless. This was when Stéphane Lainé, the current manager of TRANSPIAN, decided to take over the trouble ridden company. Where others saw very few business opportunities Stéphane, who had his background in the transport sector of various goods and special transport, saw possibilities. Although the world of forestry was completely new to him, Stéphane considered this to be a new and exciting challenge. And, he discovered, he liked this type of business as it was different from other transport businesses. “In this business, appropriate field knowledge and local expertise is required.” he explains. Stéphane had a solid knowledge of how to run a transport company effectively, but for the appropriate field knowledge and local expertise he put his trust in Thierry Chusseau, one of the most experienced employees of the former company. In addition to Thierry’s extensive experience, he was also a very skilled timber truck driver who had climbed the ladder. Today Thierry works as “Head of agency” in TRANSPIAN.

Thierry grew up living and breathing forestry as his father before him was working as a forester in Charentes Maritimes. “My father was a wood contractor and I grew up in the world of forestry” he says. Thierry started his career as a stevedore and throughout his professional life acquired experience with all sorts of jobs within the forest industry ranging from logging, planting new forest to timber transport.

Stéphane’s takeover of the former company saved it. The first thing Stéphane identified was the need for modernization. He invested in a completely new fleet of 3 timber trucks all equipped with JONSERED cranes. He also developed a new computer program to optimize the logistics and support his timber truck drivers in their daily work. “An IT company developed software that lets you know what is happening in real time. The drivers are equipped with tablets and instructions are sent to them. They can also validate loading and delivery.” Stéphane explains.

Thierry remembers the takeover fondly “For me the takeover by TRANSPIAN was a great experience. We were working with antiquated methods but since Mr. Laines’ take-over he has invested in computerized business solutions.”

The company’s modernization was a result of several needs. One was to improve the way the former company worked in order to make a profitable business and to be able to meet the ever increasing competition. The other was to enable the business to meet the tough environmental targets and legislations set by the government. The solution was a new fleet of fuel efficient trucks all equipped with JONSERED cranes and a modern logistics system. The result; a successful timber transport company with a reduced CO2 footprint.

How TRANSPIAN works and acts as an eco-responsible company in respect to the world around is something Stéphane does not take lightly. But it is also important to him that TRANSPIAN is a company with great expertise who are reliable and responsive to its customers. It is a company that takes the timber transport business seriously, delivering high quality services whilst priding themselves on always putting safety first.

But why choose JONSERED cranes?
“I have a very good opinion of JONSERED cranes. First of all the top seat is very well adapted to the crane operator; he has everything close at hand and is safe. The crane is smooth, maneuverable and accurate, and has a very good reliability.” Thierry states.

And as for smoothness and having things running without hiccups is something Stéphane can relate to
“I feel I have had a good day when EVERYTHING has run smoothly!” he says with a smile.

The successful take over and turn around of TRANSPIAN is an example of how sometimes what seems to be the end of it all is actually the beginning of something new. Thierry remembers an event that influenced the entire forest industry of France in a similar way. “Lothar”, the terrible storm in 1999, is one of the most serious and overwhelming memories from Thierry’s 25 years of working in the forestry business.

It was around Christmas that Lothar hit central Europe with full force, and caused severe damage in several countries. In France the storm drew in on the morning of 26th of December and the north of France was hit head on with Normandy being hit particularly hard. At the eye of the storm the pressure level reached 960 mPa and at around 7 a.m. in the morning wind gusts were measured to reach
81 – 93 knots in Paris-Orly. Millions of trees were uprooted , falling on houses, blocking roads and tearing down power-lines. In some areas power was cut off for 10 days.

“The landscape was completely devastated with thousands of cubic meters of fallen trees.” Thierry remembers. It was a national catastrophe, but in times of trouble there were also possibilities. Overnight the activity within the forestry business in France grew by a factor of 15, and the storm alone generated
5 years of work. “The solidarity was enormous! European colleagues came to help from Finland, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. People arrived with their logging and transporting teams.” Thierry remembers and adds “Although the storm generated big losses, at the same time it saved 60% of the local forestry companies”. And it comes to show that even in the darkest of times if there is hope, solidarity and a will to work hard it is possible to turn tough times into a prosperous future.