The story of Jolien, the woman behind the wheel

At TVH Equipment, Jolien Jonckheere (35) is our only female driver. For a full year now, she has been delivering and collecting machines in every corner of Flanders — sometimes even in Wallonia or northern France — and she always does it with her two little dogs in the cabin. “I didn’t drive for five years, but I missed it so much that I just started again,” she says.

From animal care to the transport sector

That Jolien would one day become a driver was anything but obvious. She studied animal care, but soon noticed there wasn’t much future in it. What did stay with her were the rides with her uncle, who was a truck driver. “I often went along with him. That’s how I got the taste for it,” she says. At sixteen she started driver training in Kortrijk: a two‑year program with a specialization year, mainly focused on internships and administrative knowledge.

Jolien works for TVH Equipment as a subcontractor through LDM Transport. Her boyfriend, who already drove for LDM and regularly transported aerial platforms for TVH Equipment, used to take her along on his routes. “I found it incredibly appealing,” she says. “Before, I worked in refrigerated transport, but there I mostly did the same things and had to wait a lot. At TVH Equipment every day is different. You have to think creatively: where can I turn? How do I get into that narrow street? Where can I park my truck safely?” The variety is huge: from quiet country roads to busy city traffic with tram tracks, from narrow alleys to construction sites where you first have to find the machine you’re collecting. “I like it when it’s challenging,” she says clearly. “And that exact mix of challenge, variety and responsibility was the reason I wanted to drive for TVH Equipment via LDM.”

One woman in a man’s world

“When I started, the team had a sort of wait‑and‑see attitude. You could see them thinking: how long will she last?” Jolien says. “But I always received respect and help. It’s a great team.” She now feels completely included. And yes, people sometimes react when they see her at work. “In the city, people sometimes stop, look, and give a thumbs‑up. I get a lot of positive reactions. When I was 19, some people would ask ‘where’s your dad?’,” she laughs, “but that doesn’t happen anymore.” Proving herself capable? She mainly had to do that in the beginning. “But that’s true for everyone. Once they see how you work, the respect comes naturally.”

When we ask whether women have specific strengths as drivers, Jolien remains grounded. “I don’t think that’s gender‑dependent. Everyone has their own talents. I do like having a clean cabin and a well‑maintained truck — that’s really important to me. But honestly? My male colleagues do that just as well. They’re in no way inferior.”

Challenges and little moments of joy