Ambassador Maik Ungefroren

The “Goldene Aue, or “Golden Shire” in English, in Germany hints at associations of riches and wealth in many forms. When visiting Maik Ungefroren in the village of Berga, which issituated in this beautiful valley, you will understand that the area is well named. Located in eastern Germany, the valley and its fertile land are bordered by the Harz mountain range to the north and by the Windleite and Kyffhäuser mountains to the south, all of which are covered in lush forests. Through the valley runs the Helme River, supplying water to the farmland and ensuring bountiful harvests in the autumn.

Maik Ungefroren greets us with a big smile and a firm handshake. He has a youthful appearance and is the father of two children, the youngest not even a year old, and as life takes its turns, he is also the owner of Maik Ungefroren Transport und Baustoffe. Some years ago, at just 29 years old and under very difficult circumstances, he had to step up and take responsibility for the business founded by his father.

“The company was founded in 1991 by my father Claus Ungefroren. He owned one truck, and in 1999 he bought a second. Unfortunately, my father died unexpectedly in 2006 and I had to take over the business.”

Back then, Maik and his father Claus did not engage in timber work at all. They had two trucks with tipper bodies, and their business consisted of transporting building and construction materials. It was not until 2008 that Maik decided to buy his first timber truck and thus expanded his business into timber transportation. Today he has eight units in his fleet. “Currently, we have three units equipped with cranes and three units without. We provide services to customers in the paper industry, at the lumber mills, and at biomass plants.” The remaining two trucks are tipper bodies.

It is a tough business, and the pressure is high. “The demand and pressure on the drivers is growing,” Maik states. “They must be able to judge the wood assortment, identify and separate tree species, find the pick-up locations, and coordinate the removal of the trees. These are all things that impact on the drivers’ work, and they have to be able to cope with all of it.”

But it is not only the general workload that is increasing, and there is also an increasing demand regarding safety regulations. As Maik puts it, “Our customers demand that we operate in compliance with legal requirements, which have increased in recent years. This shift of focus is due to more frequent controls and increased attention to security regulations.”

Maik has to work hard to find new solutions so that he can support his operators in their work, keep them safe, and satisfy his customers’ needs for quality deliveries that meet ever-tougher legislation. Adding to this are the difficulties in finding and recruiting new drivers and operators to his business. However, Maik is not afraid to think outside of the box and to try out new solutions. He is always keen on trying new things to improve, get better, and move forwards, and he is bold and pioneering in everything he does.

Therefore it comes as no surprise that Maik is the first German customer to invest in a LOGLIFT HiVision™ crane. To him, it is about improving safety and the work environment, but also about attracting the next generation of timber truck drivers. His decision to buy a HiVision™ crane was an attempt to overcome some of the challenges he faces every day, or as Maik puts it, “I think that the advantages of HiVisionTM are best represented by the comfort and safety for the operator, the increased payload, and above all the attractive work environment. This is important because I believe that in order to attract young, new employees, the work environment must become more appealing.”

To make sure the solution he had chosen for his operator Denny Müller was safe, he even got Dekra approval for the timber truck, and approval was given without remarks! And if you ask for the driver’s opinion, well, he states that he is “Never going back to a cabin crane!”

But still one question remains, and that is why Maik chose to purchase a LOGLIFT crane. To this, Maik responds with a smile, “The decision to purchase another LOGLIFT was quite easy to make—because I already owned two LOGLIFT cranes, and I am very satisfied with the local service. The contact and service provided by the sales representatives is excellent, and this was what made me decide that ‘Yes, I will buy another LOGLIFT’.”