Ambassador Torbjörn Eng

Tobjörn Eng runs his own company, Telab, in Värmland – a place with a landscape known for its lakes and woods, about 350 kilometres north- west of Stockholm. He has been working as a truck driver transporting timber all his life, following in the footsteps of his father, who started the family business and who passed away a few years ago.

You need to be quite an early bird, don´t you?
– When I’m on the morning shift, I get up at 3:30am. I usually am in the truck by around four, then I work until 3pm when my colleague takes over. During the day, I drive two loads of timber to the lumber mill and then pulpwood to the paper mill. I spend many hours on the road. My truck is two years old and has already gone 400,000km.

What kind of truck is it?
– It’s a Scania. My last one – also a Scania – did over one million km in five years. My father always drove a Volvo, but when I took over the business I fell for Scania.

But you stayed with JONSERED?
– Yes, my father bought his first crane in 1962. I just recently found the picture of the first loader. I think he tried a smaller Hiab crane for a short while, but then he changed back to JONSERED again when he wanted a separate loader. He felt Jonsered was the best solution for his kind of work. And when I took over in 1985, there were only Jonsered loaders in dad’s business, and I stuck with them.

How come?
– There are so many great cranes today, but it makes a big difference knowing the brand, the machine, the intervals of service. I have had my loader cranes for at least seven years, sometimes ten, and if there are not many hassles over ten years, how could it possibly get any better?

Why did your father document all the machines?
– He was interested in photography. Already when my sister was born in 1954, he had bought a camera to document her first steps. When he got his first Scania, in 1948, he started filming the loading. That was before the hydraulic cranes, when it was just a wire winch.

Have you ever thought about opening a museum?
– Maybe when I retire. Most of the material – the Double-8, Super-8 films, photos and so on – are now digitalised. I would really like to make a photo book. We’ll see if it ever happens.

Be honest – have you ever doubted Jonsered?
– When I was quite new in the business, there was the Jonsered 900 – I think it was 1987. That model felt like a prototype and it gave me quite some problems. But then I bought a 9-90 and it was great. And I must say, that without this fantastic sales guy, Jan Jonsén, maybe I would have looked at other brands, but he has been great to work with through the years. I have always been able to ask him for advice.

What is your latest purchase?
– Last year, I bought a JONSERED 1088 with a double extension. It’s great because it gives you the opportunity of loading further away from the road.

You tried the HiVisionTM, what did you think?
– After having tried the HiVisionTM, I will have to say that going from a top seat to a crane cabin was a big step, but this feels like an equally big step to just change seats and stay inside the truck cabin whilst loading the truck without having to go outside. When I think of the continuous development of the HiVisionTM crane it gives me an even more breathtaking feeling just imagining how far it can go, but the development needs to be allowed to take its time!

What do you think in general about the development regarding machines and products?
– In 1992, we saw the first crane with electric control, and people asked, ‘Will that really work?’. But remember, if we never tried new stuff, we would still be working with horse and carriage. Old hydraulic packages are still in use, but it gives you vibes from the Flintstones. Hydraulic packages are heavy, and I have many colleagues with sore shoulders. I have worked with electric cranes since the 1990s and I don’t have any pains. You have to make sure your business and you yourself last, and technology is the answer for this.