Heavy trucks: danger on the roads | M6 | Enquête Exclusive

Falling wages, hellish schedules, competition from Eastern Europe… A truck driver’s job is getting harder. And some drivers, too exhausted or over-stressed, become bombs on wheels”. Result: freight trucks are involved in 12% of road accidents. The cause: drugs, alcohol, driver falling asleep or excessive speed. Among the most dangerous are the ones they call the “slaves of the road”. Drivers from Eastern Europe, paid 600 Euros a month and able to travel 3,000 kilometers without sleep. It’s competition that the French cannot rival. Some, like Stéphane, crack and want to give it up. Others, such as Denis, a driver for 25 years, continue their work with a passion… on condition they don’t go through Calais. Each day, at the gateway to England, hundreds of illegal immigrants lay siege to the trucks, and many succeed in hiding away on board. Sometimes at the risk of their lives. The truck drivers also have to face a new problem: theft of goods. More and more trucks are being robbed. It’s a real criminal organization (with bogus drivers) roaming the roads of France and selling the stolen loads all over Europe. We had exclusive access to the presumed boss of an international Mafia freight robbery setup. Despite all the problems, the profession is still a source of dreams. Especially for those who love beautiful machines. In France drivers travel in sparkling chrome trucks with devastating lines that leave nothing to envy compared with the giant “made in the USA” models.”