Trucks

25 Volvo FH Heroes

The Volvo FH is the truck of the drivers. But before it reaches the driver, it passes the minds and hands of a vast number of passionate employees. Here are 25 of the heroes working hard to make every Volvo FH contribute to your business success.
Man standing in front of Volvo FH

25: Stig Falk. Gothenburg, Sweden
Industrial designer (1993)

– I was an industrial designer in 1993 when the Volvo FH was launched. What I’m most proud of is that we started so early in the process with the construction and that we already knew what we wanted to do. When I see a Volvo FH today, I feel satisfied.

24: Wijnand van den Brink. Beesd, The Netherlands
Manager Special Products & Innovation
  

– I still think the Volvo FH introduction in 1993 was outstanding. It was a true revolution with respect to the cab and engine technology. The enthusiasm of dealers and customers exceeded all expectations, which was clearly visible in the number of orders. For me personally, it has been fantastic to play an active role in transferring knowledge from the Dutch market to the Volvo headquarters and vice-versa, and in adapting the trucks to the specific Dutch market demands.

23: Staffan Rödjedal. Gothenburg, Sweden
Senior Product Manager, Volvo FH

– The Volvo FH is developed to attract the best drivers and at the same time provide the owner with the highest possible productivity. 

22: Raili Riiberg. Estonia, Tallinn
Volvo Trucks Sales and Marketing manager

– I was part of the Volvo FH4 launch team in Gothenburg in 2012 and it has been a pleasure to see the trucks being delivered to our customers in Estonia. My job is to make sure that our customers are involved in the Volvo community and can enjoy their journey with the trucks. With a small and excellent sales team, we make sure that Volvo FH trucks are delivered to our customers in the best way.

21: Thomas Thuresson. Lundby – Gothenburg, Sweden
Segment Manager – LongHaul

– Volvo FH has since 1993 set new standards in the trucking industry. My global responsibility is to make sure that that this continues, that we are driving progress and that the Volvo FH always should be the customers’ first natural choice.

20: Mats Karlsson Lindh. Gothenburg, Sweden
Director, Product Planning

– I’ve spent 35 years of my life being a part of the development and evolution of Volvo trucks. I’ve been part of all the major facelifts during those years. It’s been very rewarding to see and hear the customers’ verdict on the news we have presented. It gives a lot of energy going forward to try to, once again, exceed our customers’ expectations.

19: Sonia Rodrigues. Curitiba, Brazil
Coordinator Manufacturing F line

– My part in making the Volvo FH a great truck is to lead engaged people who produce a high-performance vehicle, that impresses and awakens admiration from everyone on the roads.

18: Eskil Sturesson. Gothenburg, Sweden
Chief Engineer

– As Chief Project Manager for the Volvo FH launched in 2002, it was an honor to work with a fantastic team that developed the successful Volvo FH!

17: Simona Hanoun. Tuve – Gothenburg, Sweden
Assembler

– I do my very best in performing my tasks on the base module chassis to send out a flawless truck of high quality to our customers.

16: Roman Trosin. Tallinn, Estonia
Territory manager, VFS Estonia

– I provide flexible and wise financial solutions to customers that wish to purchase Volvo FH. I work closely with the Volvo Group salesforce to make sure our customers get suitable support services for their FH trucks.

15: Ida Leitner. Tuve – Gothenburg, Sweden
Assembler

– My part of the work is to ensure quality loading in the container for a satisfied customer.

14: Martin Tomlinson. Warwick, United Kingdom
Head of Product Demonstration, UK & Ireland

–  I demonstrate the Volvo FH, the best truck on the market, to our customer and journalists.

13: Diogo Dias dos Santos. Curitiba, Brazil
Manufacture GTO E&BM

– We work every day with intensity and engagement, always focused on the success of the customer. A number of vehicles come through our team and we always strive to have a safe and healthy environment, since this enables us to deliver excellent quality.

12: Glenn Johansson. Gothenburg, Sweden
Product Safety Manager

– I was working as Airbag Project leader when Volvo Trucks, as the first heavy truck manufacturer, introduced the driver airbag in 1995. Beside all the challenges like developing the airbag system itself, the best proof of the overall crashworthiness of the FH I got in 1997 when a German newspaper reported on the front-page, “I thank God and Volvo for surviving the crash”.

It was a statement from a driver of an airbag equipped Volvo FH that had crashed into the rear of a parked truck in a very high speed on the highway. The driver walked out of the cab after the crash without any injuries and went back to work a few days later. 

11: Sander Kõivuste. Tartu, Estonia
Sales administrator

– I work as a sales administrator and am a Volvo ambassador who makes sure Volvo FH is handed over to the customer with needed trainings so that the truck will be used in the best way. I work to always have the client’s best interest in mind.

10: Shilpa Vijayakumar. Bangalore, India
Associate Mechanical Engineer, Brakes and Tires

– I work with brakes and their CAD modules, including to document them; this way I play a part in making sure that the right parts go in each truck. 

9: Björn Andersson. Gothenburg, Sweden
Sr Principal Engineer

– Working with creative and innovative technology for 44 years, such as the first airbag for heavy trucks and developing the steering column for Volvo FH, which is still in world class, was and is still very exciting to work with.

8: John Comer. Warwick, United Kingdom
Head of Product Managment

– It is a great honour and privilege to work with the Volvo FH and watch how it has delivered progress over the last 25 years and more importantly how it has delivered customer success. I drove the first field test truck from Gothenburg to Lockerbie in the UK in December 1992.

Driving up the M6, I thought there was going to be a major southbound incident as every truck driver was on their citizens band radio and rubber necking to get an extensive view of the stunning aerodynamic profile. Breathtaking in 1993 and still stunning today - happy 25th to the Volvo FH.

7: Claudio Gallerani. Boltiere – Zingonia, Italy
Commercial Director

– My entire working life and career at Volvo is strongly connected to Volvo FH, starting from the first launch in 1993. Since then, I’ve been following the growth of this marvellous truck in all the development phases during all these years: always innovative, always one step ahead compared to all other competitors. Selling it every day always brings me new satisfaction and motivation in going forward.

6: Anjan YVK. Bangalore, India
Senior Engineer – Special Vehicle & Customer Adaptation Support

– I work with technical solutions and support in vehicle conversions to meet unique customer demands. 

5: Raquel Amadori. Curitiba, Brazil.
Project Buyer at Volvo Group Latin America

– I’m a Project Buyer at Volvo Group. I’m responsible for developing new parts to trucks and monitoring the performance of the supply chain. It is part of my job to negotiate the best conditions to supply Volvo’s line. I work at Cab Interior and I’m developing a new seat, bunk, interior trim, curtains to the Volvo FH truck.

4: José Miguel Alberquilla. Madrid, Spain
Service Market Commercial Offer Manager

– The FH launching was my first big event at Volvo. I would like to represent all the aftersales people that have been working during this 25 years, today and tomorrow, to maintain the FH high quality on the road.

3: Marius Beniulis. Vilnius, Lithuania
Service Market Commercial Team Leader

– Together with my colleagues I’m responsible for the successful work of the Service Market department. We work with service and product sales, analyze product groups and customer segments, create various service promotions and special offers. Every day I come to work and I know that a success of a company starts with what I can do to improve quality. Even the smallest improvement makes great changes in the end.

2: Catarina Notemyr. Gothenburg, Sweden
Teamleader

– I started at Volvo Trucks model workshop in 1989 as a model carpenter and from the very first day I have worked with creating models for the Volvo FH cab. Since then, I have been working as a team leader in the model/prototype workshop and to develop the cab with continuous improvement and quality.

1: Aguinaldo Oliveira. Curitiba, Brazil
Manufacture GTO E&BM

– I am a team leader and work in the final release of FH trucks. We carry out the functional testing of the vehicles and validate the entire assembly process to clear the truck for delivery to our customers. The Volvo FH is a safe vehicle, extremely durable, very comfortable and the most important: assembled thinking about the success of the customer.