Forklift operator's job is like a game of Tetris: an efficient load takes a good eye

Marko Niemi, who has worked at Best-Hall for almost 20 years loading shipments, enjoys the challenge of his work as a forklift operator. Every shipment heading out into the world is different, and it takes a keen eye to load the building blocks onto the truck just right.

“My job is a bit like a game of Tetris,” Marko Niemi says, laughing. He works at the Kälviä factory, loading parts for Best-Hall buildings to be shipped all over the world.

Niemi is responsible for collecting the steel structures and other elements of a building, and loading the most optimal load possible for transport to the installation site.

“The more efficiently a single truck is loaded, the fewer transports are needed,” Niemi points out to explain the importance of planning the loads carefully and making them as large as possible.

Free rein

Niemi gave up his truck driving job for Best-Hall in 2004, after a friend told him about a vacancy for a forklift operator. He says that his previous work experience is still useful, as it helps him understand the driver and their situation.

Niemi likes the autonomy of his work.

“We have transport meetings to go over the projects that will be going out during the week and the times when everything will be picked up, and then it’s up to me to organise the correct items first into the loading area and from there onto the trucks.”

Each load is different

Shipments loaded by Niemi are sent both to the Finnish market and abroad, to areas such as Central Europe, Norway and the UK. Each building is unique, so the set of components needed to build it varies as well. The largest project Niemi recalls is one that involved loading a total of 338 shipping containers.

According to the forklift operator, who has been dispatching buildings all over the world for a long time, loading has become easier over the years. Niemi praises the continuous development.

“The machines have improved, which has made my work much easier and faster. We have also constantly renewed our working methods and thought about how to get the job done as smoothly as possible.”