E’volvo’lution Chapter 6

We got back to the truck yard and Anders called for a meeting in the afternoon. I was told to just relax until then so I went and sat with Berget. She was very appreciative of my business look and sent me off to different places to get papers for her.

The ploy worked as I got a lot of ‘hubba hubba’ comments, and I really felt good when we went off for lunch.

The meeting that afternoon was convened in the lunch room after everyone else had left. Anders, his sons, Gustav, Ludvig, Berget and me were there and Anders made sure the door was closed before he sat us at a couple of tables pulled together.

He opened up with a statement.

“Antonia and I have been given an agreement that we would be soon signing a contract to supply transport services to the army and to NATO.”

There were gasps from those not already in the loop.

“Some of these services will include trips with what the army so quaintly calls ‘sensitive’ loads, similar to the one Antonia made. They want us to put together a fleet of trucks with paintwork so over the top that no-one will suspect that they’re carrying anything but ordinary cargo. They want the trucks to be military specs and Antonia suggested we get ones that follow our practice of only using Volvo.”

“In the last hour I have spoken to our agent here in Tallinn and he spoke to his contacts in Stockholm and they rang me back just thirty minutes ago. They do a ten by six Globetrotter on steroids for their own military and are happy to sell us a few. I told them we will take three now and three later. That’s the crux of this morning’s work, any questions?”

Gustav asked “Is it just Estonia, or do we go further?”

“As far as we understood it, considering that one of the people in the room is on the NATO High Command, we’ll be going anywhere where NATO is.”

That created a hubbub and Gustav gasped, “That would be worth millions of Euro, if not multi-millions.”

Anders nodded, “This is why we’re sitting here now. This could be the making of a huge project. I’ve already held on to a large parcel of land near the airport in case we grew enough to need it. I think that time has come, and we’ll build a modern drive-through transport hub that will be the best in the country, purely for shipments. This site can become the paint and repair facility and storage of trailers.”

Berget asked, “Sir, why am I here?”

Anders smiled, “Berget, the thing about this plan is that all the drivers will be good looking women. We’ll need a person to oversee the well-being of these crews, as well as being the face of our new business. Are you up for it?”

“If Antonia is there to hold me up, yes, I am.”

Ludvig then asked, “Why me, then?” and was told that the yard would need a new site manager because Gustav would be busy with the new one. He knew the business better than anyone else.

“So Bjorn and I would still be here, doing our thing?” Greger asked.

“Yes, pretty much,” Anders said, “There’ll be at least six new trucks to paint and rework, as well as up to twenty sets of double trailers to paint once we get up to speed. I think you’ll have more than enough to keep you busy.”

Greger then asked the question I’d been waiting for, “So these won’t be just plain trucks?”

Anders pointed to me, “Tell him, Antonia, it’s your show as much as mine.”

“The army believes that the previous plan worked because of the three elements – secrecy, girls and in-your-face obviousness,” I said. “We need to keep the side-trips under wraps, hell; I don’t even know what I was carrying. We’ll get some recruits from the Transport Division when they can check their women drivers; and we’ll supply trucks that are good enough to win Truck of the Show next year and even at other shows in Europe. We’re going to be so obviously civilian it’ll make your eyes water.”

Greger smiled, “I’m sure you already have an idea of the design?”

“Actually, I do have some thoughts,” I said, “A team of beautiful women needs to be fully promoted and should be with the trucks at shows. The prize was given to ‘Answer’ because it was a great paint job but also because there was someone who looked like the subject on hand that made all the guys want to take the pictures.”

“I’ve thought that we could do something along the lines of Thor and call the trucks ‘Thor’s Maidens.’ There should be enough room on a double trailer to get good paintings of up to twelve girls and it wouldn’t matter which ones are with the truck. There’ll be a picture for them to pose by. The other thing is that if all the trucks look the same we can be seen to be in a lot of places at the same time.”

“The cab would only have a picture of Thor or his hammer. I think there’ll be support from the army if they have the trucks with a picture of the Thunder God and it will go down well with the macho truck show people as well.”

Greger smiled then put his head down and was sketching furiously.

Ludvig then asked, “What are the specifications we have to abide by?”

Anders said that the Volvo trucks were similar to a Globetrotter but with a much stronger chassis and a bigger engine, the D16 with a lot more power.

“They’re powerful enough to haul a tank on a strong trailer and they’re rated to haul over a hundred and fifty tonnes. The army uses big diameter steel wheels but we can get the magnesium ones we already use. It lowers the clearance a bit but we don’t have to travel over a battlefield. They don’t have a lazy axle, so all three sets of rear wheels are powered. I’m sure that when we send them out they won’t look out of place but would allow us to operate over most of the winter period.”

Greger then showed us a sketch he had made for the trailers. It had Thor at the rear with his hammer pointed forward and lightning coming out of the head. Twelve streaks of lightning ended in twelve blank spots along the lower part of the trailer where the girl’s pictures would be.

Berget said, “That’s great. The uniforms could follow the same pattern with lightning flashes down the pants legs for driving in and on the shirt and skirts for shows.”

I said that at least one girl would have to wear leggings at shows if she was expected to get into the truck.”

Greger laughed, “You want to deny the adoring public the best bit?”

Everyone laughed when I put my tongue out at him.

Anders said, “Right, we need to get things moving. Berget, you put out a call for a new receptionist come office girl so you can train one up. Gustav, you and Ludvig get together and plan our move to the new place when it’s built as well as what changes we make here after that.”

“Greger, I want you and Antonia to talk to the guys at Volvo and arrange to go there after we get the contract signed. Antonia, I expect that the army will want you to be in with the picking of drivers but there’s no rush for that. I‘ll start putting out feelers among the building companies and concreters, if we do get the contract, to get moving on the new yard.”

“Can we have a drive-through truck wash, please?” I asked, “The factory has one that they use after road testing and before delivery. It’s very quick and easy.”

He was about to wind it up, and I had just one more question I wanted to ask.

“When Greger paints Thor, can we do a likeness of that Aussie actor because he’s so handsome.” Everyone laughed.

As you can guess, it was a very jubilant group who walked out of the lunch room. I was sure that the rumour mill would be buzzing until we could formally announce the signing of the contract.

I helped Berget get an advertisement together for the paper and Greger came by with a sheaf of applications from girls wanting to drive.

“Have a read of these,” he ordered, “I had a quick look through but there are so many we’ll need to weed them out, and then organise interviews. If they’re going to be driving high powered doubles they are going to have to be good.”

Berget gave me a briefcase to put the papers in. I suddenly realised that I had passed all of my trade qualifications but was no longer a working mechanic and, strangely, I was a driver of some note that wasn’t being pushed into a cab any more.

It was as strange as everything had been after Greger first asked me that question I couldn’t understand. I‘d been in the country now almost two months and was truly a different person with a project to work through.

As we were about to leave Anders came up to me, “Antonia, I can see by your face that it’s sinking in. There are times when you just need to go with the flow and you’ve done that magnificently. Here’s the business card of our Volvo agent, they also sell cars. I want you to go there and pick one out. I’ve told him you were coming. I can’t have an executive of this company going about on a motor-bike. Berget, you get one as well, you’re going to need it in the days to come.”

He strolled back into his office and I said, quietly, “Some of us would rather be on a motor-bike!” Berget had to sit down while she stifled her giggles.

She called a cab to pick us up and we did what the boss had ordered. The guy at the dealership was very helpful and we both had test drives of a few cars and we both chose a mid-size SUV with all-wheel drive.

I asked for a light blue one. We were told that they would be ready for delivery in a couple of days and we were loaned a sedan in the meantime. Berget drove us back to the yard and then I took it home while she rode her bike home. I said that I’d pick her up in the morning.

I parked the car outside the house and went in. Astrid came to me and gave me a great big hug.

“Greger called me and told me that you’ve been instrumental in the company getting a huge contract. Don’t get changed, Erik called and said that we’re invited to a little dinner tonight, with his minister and his wife. It’s informal in the administration dining room.”

She rushed off to spend at least an hour getting ‘informally’ dressed, and then we drove, in her car, into the city.

She’d been to the building many times, and had a parking permit for the underground car park. Erik met us at the dining room, and led us to the table we joined not just the Minister and his wife, but also Felix and his wife.

I was introduced to both ladies, and we were all seated. The Minister was very effusive but also very discreet. The wives would have known how high their husbands circled, and were not at all nosey about why I was there.

They went off to powder their noses after the main course. Felix held me back as I went to join them.

“I know that our friendly spook gave you a card for the Transport Division contact. I’m sure that you’ll hear from him soon. What I’m going to do is give you this bit of information.”

He passed me a card with a number on it.

“This is the CO of a test track we use to train our best drivers. He has a range of trucks, including the Volvo one you’ll be buying. When you get your team of drivers together and are certain that they can drive, give him a call and he’ll arrange a session at that track. It will test the best of them and, if they do get ticked off by him, they won’t be bothered by anything they encounter on the road.”

I thanked him for that and then he said, “Don’t be surprised by things as they happen, there are a lot of the top brass who are watching you, and wishing you all the success.”

I followed the other ladies to powder my nose and the rest of the evening was very friendly; Astrid getting me home so I could get out of this skirt which seemed to feel a little tighter after the meal.

The next morning I wore a pant suit and went to pick Berget up. She was very bubbly and when we got to the yard she told me to follow her.

Behind the garage area there was a group of offices, a couple of them unused. She told me that she had thought that I’d need one over the next few months. I chose the biggest, and she said she would organise some stationery supplies and a kettle. I went out to the car and grabbed the briefcase. I sat quietly that morning going through the applications.

I weeded out the obvious ones. The ones that were too young or too old for our purposes went first. I wrote a covering letter that thanked them for their input and put that pile aside to get Berget to find someone to type up the response and post them back.

The rest had a range of women, from the early twenties to the mid-thirties. That was within our age range. The final choice would be on face-to face interviews. I marked several that had enough driving experience to be good starters.

There was one way I could cull it further and that was easy. I just picked up the phone and called them, one by one, and chatted with them. Most knew of me or had seen me at the show. I gave each of them five minutes before asking the first question I wanted answering today.

“You know that we show trucks at various shows. Would you be happy to wear a very short skirt and pose for the cameras?” Those that said yes were given the second crucial question.

“We’re planning a fleet which will be travelling all over Europe. Are you able to spend up to a week away from home with just an hour notice?”

Those that said yes to both question got a tick on their application for an interview. Those that said no went with the earlier pile. I was left with just four girls who, I hoped, looked good as well.

I groaned a bit as I got up, I was going to need a better chair. I could drive for hours without a problem but they haven’t yet invented a comfortable office chair.

When I was heading back to the office with the sheaf of rejects the garage foreman asked if he could have a word. I went into the garage where all of the guys were working but I could detect a sense of worry in the air.

“Antonia” he said, “I really don’t know what to make of this. You come here as our best driver in years and also one of the best mechanics I have met and there you are, dressed to the nines and sitting in an office all morning poring over paperwork. The place is buzzing with speculation and it’s getting to us.”

“Don’t worry; something happened yesterday that will affect all of us, from Anders down. It’s going to be good, believe me,” I said, “I can’t tell you anything until the paperwork is signed, so tell everyone to be patient. What I’m doing now is sorting out applications from girls wanting to drive with us because our potential customer thinks that a girl is better for that than a guy. Not a big thing, but all part of what’s happening.”

“Ahh!” he nodded, “I was at the show when the boss made his speech about more girl drivers. If there are more out there as careful with the equipment as you are, it will be a lot easier for me.”

Before I left him I quietly said, “If what happened yesterday comes to pass, you’ll have to get up to speed on a Volvo which is nothing like any you have worked on before. It’s going to be a fun time for all of us.”

In the office I gave the papers to Berget and she gave them back to me. She told me to take them a couple of offices further down where the girls there would deal with them. I had to stand while what I wanted was explained, and my handwriting scrutinised.

The secretary then grinned, “Antonia, you’ve passed the test. We do this to find the anger point of new people and you’ve gone a lot longer than most. This will be worked on this afternoon and in the post tonight. Love the suit, by the way.”

We had lunch and then I told Greger that I was going to see Astrid. I wanted to talk about outfit designs for our prospective drivers. If this project wasn’t a success, I was surely learning a lot of new things.

I took the loan car into town and parked near the shop. When I went in Astrid said “Good afternoon, madam, how can I help” and then broke into giggles.

I asked her about getting bespoke outfits made for a group of women drivers and she told me that there was someone she knew. She called the person and then told me that I had an appointment as soon as I arrived. She wrote down an address with some notes on how to get there.

When I arrived at the place it was a company that made sportswear for celebrities and the woman there was very helpful. I told her that I didn’t yet have any sizes so she noted what size I was so that I could model her first output.

I explained that the outfits should be for drivers of big trucks so had to be sturdy pants and the shirt had to be hi-vis. Then I said that there would be a couple of outfits for the girls to wear at shows and that one should be adequate for a girl climbing into and out of a large truck.

I described the overall design as lightning flashes and a single use of the hammer of Thor and the name of Lundin Transport on one shoulder with space for a name on the other and ‘Thors Maidens’ somewhere.

She asked the colour and I realised that we hadn’t decided. I said to make them in a light blue with the lightning in gold, picked out in black and then I added that we would need a Volvo patch on each sleeve, I know I was being a bit forward but I was thinking that these could be a big seller at shows.

That all done I went back to the yard where Berget gave me another pack of applications to look at tomorrow. There was also a copy of the magazine that had the story and pictures from the show. Inside was the article about the company and, to my shock, a centrefold picture of ‘Answer’ with a stunning looking me in a red dress in front of it.

Berget was laughing as I gave her the car keys so she could get home and, when I left, I walked back to my lodgings. I had the thought on the way that I had better organise something for me in that regard.

I couldn’t keep house-sitting with Astrid and Erik. In my room I pulled out my phone and looked up my bank account. I had been very careful with it lately and a lot of things I now had were given, rather than bought. I had a shock when I looked, as I had quite a bit more than I expected.

When I looked at the statement I saw that I had been earning a good wage all the time I had been here, as well as getting the bonus that Greger had offered on that first day at the show.

There was also a good sum that had been deposited by a European Bank on behalf of NATO, I guess as a thank you for getting their load shifted. It really made me wonder if I could have destroyed half a country if I’d hit something along the way.

With this on top of what was left from my original three thousand, I certainly had enough to have a deposit on a rental. Now I knew we would be based near the airport, I knew where I should be looking.

I spoke to Astrid about it over our evening meal and she said that she loved me staying with them and to rethink the idea. I explained that I would need to be closer to the new yard when it was built and she argued that would be months away.

That evening I called my mother and told her that I may be home for a few days but didn’t have any dates yet. I said I may be looking for a place to live. She already knew that I was going out with Berget so suggested that we look for a new place together if we were serious.

I told her I had bought a car with company money and she was amazed. I wondered that maybe, one day, she would be able to come to Tallinn and see what we were doing. I told her that I was looking forward to seeing the family again.

I then found out that my father had returned home and immediately had a falling out with the transport company over the fact that they had let me go so suddenly. He was spending his time overhauling the truck.

That night I slept well for a while but was awake for a couple of hours before I was due to get up. I used that time to think through all of the balls I had up in the air. About the only thing I could do was to wait until people got back to us, except for my search for drivers. That was something I could get my teeth into.

Marianne Gregory © 2022