With a feature on eurotransportTV, a campaign song and an international rollout in eleven languages, the new “Respect at the loading bay – wide awake for humanity” initiative launched on 19 April. It is supported by Hellwach mit 80 km/h e. V., DocStop für Europäer e. V. and ETM Verlag.
At the heart of it is an issue that has been well known in the industry for years, but is often only discussed on the sidelines: how professional drivers are treated at the loading bay. Long waiting times, lack of infrastructure, additional work during loading and unloading, and a condescending tone are everyday reality in many places. That is exactly where the campaign comes in.
Not road vs. loading bay – but stress vs. safety
The initiative’s message is clear: stress at the loading bay doesn’t stay at the loading bay. It comes along for the ride.
In the 12-minute TV feature accompanying the campaign launch, Dieter Schäfer, spokesperson for Hellwach mit 80 km/h, describes the chain of effects like this:
“Stress affects the autonomic nervous system. That makes the driver feel unwell. Feeling unwell leads to insomnia, insomnia leads to fatigue, and fatigue leads to microsleep.”
This ties in with the association’s ongoing work. For years, Hellwach mit 80 km/h has been active in prevention initiatives on topics such as zero alcohol, microsleep and distraction in road traffic.
Schäfer has also spoken several times on trans.iNFO as a safety expert: Truck accidents: crash figures are rising. Expert warns against misjudgements
The new initiative now expands this focus to an issue that comes even earlier in a driver’s day-to-day reality: the situation during loading and unloading.
The loading bay as a daily friction point
The film portrays the loading bay as one of the most common stress factors in drivers’ everyday work. It is not only about waiting, but also about a lack of appreciation.
Henrik Müller, a transport entrepreneur from Mannheim and the main figure in the feature, quotes a sentence he says he hears again and again in conversations with drivers:
“I don’t want to go there anymore – I’m treated badly there.”
He talks about pallets that are supposed to be dragged across the warehouse, about extra tasks that are not part of the actual job, and about a tone that leaves drivers with the feeling “that you’re worth little to nothing when you show up there with your truck”.
This is exactly what the campaign slogan addresses: “It starts at the loading bay.” And it means not only respect, but safety too.
Appreciation as prevention, not a side issue
The initiators explicitly link the topic to accident prevention. The film states that stress and frustration at the loading bay contribute to serious road accidents.
Schäfer refers to a survey by the European Transport Federation among more than 2,500 bus and truck drivers. According to the survey, 27 percent said they had fallen asleep at the wheel at least once and up to three times within 12 months.
The campaign does not draw a monocausal conclusion from this, but it strongly highlights a connection that is plausible in practice: anyone who waits for hours, is treated condescendingly, can’t find a toilet and has to take on additional tasks does not continue the journey unburdened.
One driver puts it this way in the feature:
“If I’m treated kindly, I’m happy to go there. If I’m treated inhumanely, it eats away at me. And I take that feeling with me into the night and end up sleeping restlessly because of it. And the next day I’m tired.”
A topic trans.iNFO has already covered
The problem is not entirely new. trans.iNFO already reported in 2025 on the burdens associated with loading and unloading.
In October last year, an article discussed industry associations’ demand for EU-wide reforms to loading and unloading, as well as pallet exchange. Even then, the focus was on the fact that drivers in Europe still take on tasks that are not part of their actual job – with consequences for health, safety and the competitiveness of transport companies.
Developments in Italy have also already been covered by trans.iNFO. Since May 2025, new rules on truck waiting times and late payments have been in force there. Among other things, automatic compensation was introduced for excessively long waiting times. Both topics show that what happens at the loading bay is no longer a “soft” social issue, but part of the commercial and safety reality in road freight transport.
Between song, symbolism and a real pain point
What’s unusual is the form the campaign is taking. Instead of a position paper or an association statement, it launches with a song, a music video and a filmed feature.
The title “It starts at the loading bay” comes from Dieter Schäfer. The video was produced by Norbert Boewing. Henrik Müller appears in the lead role; among the supporting appearances is the so-called Max-80 tanker truck from specialist haulage company Weigand from Sittensen. Stefan Weigand, the company’s managing director and also active on the board of the BGL state association in Lower Saxony, is also supporting the initiative.
ETM Verlag is supporting the initiative as a media partner. The campaign is being rolled out not only in German, but in ten additional language versions – explicitly with a European logistics community in mind.
What the industry makes of it
The film does not ignore the fact that shippers, warehouses and freight forwarders are also working under enormous time and cost pressure. That is precisely why the campaign is not about assigning blame, but about a minimum standard of respectful interaction.
Oliver Trost sums it up in the feature:
“A reasonable, humane way of dealing with each other at the loading bay – that’s what we’re demanding, and it would certainly help.”
The campaign distils this into a simple message: safety doesn’t start on the motorway, and it doesn’t start with driver assistance systems. It starts where drivers are treated like human beings every day – or where they aren’t.
If the initiative hits a nerve, it’s this one: for years, the industry has been discussing the driver shortage, the attractiveness of the profession and safety. Less often does it talk so directly about everyday life at the loading bay. “Respect at the loading bay” does exactly that – and is therefore likely to resonate strongly.
Music video
The music video was released alongside the campaign launch. A first impression of the campaign and its multilingual rollout is available via a YouTube playlist.
