A Day at Work in Jyväskylä
Today was one of those special days when the sky decided to sprinkle the world with fresh snowflakes. The snow was just starting to settle, and I couldn’t help but feel happy about it. After all, snow is always better than rain.
When we arrived at the logistics school, the teachers quickly separated us into groups. Some students headed off to make deliveries with vans and trucks, while others drove an escalator to clear snow from the front of the school. As for me and my friend Matej, who came with me to this student exchange, we were placed in the forklift group. Unlike others, it was just the two of us practicing with the forklift.
I’ve driven forklifts before, so it wasn’t hard to get used to this one. In fact, it was more advanced than the ones we have back in Slovenia. This forklift had options to expand its jaws and move left and right automatically, instead of having to do it manually. Back in Slovenia, we mostly only drive the forklifts without actually handling pallets. The short lesson hours and many students make it difficult to have proper practice time on the polygon. But here, the teachers didn’t doubt our skills and allowed us to drive without even checking if we were capable of doing so.
Practicing with the more advanced forklift felt smooth and efficient. Having more options made everything easier. Matej and I took turns, so both of us had the chance to try it out and get comfortable with the machine. It was a great experience overall.
After the forklift practice, I spent some time with the school’s truck simulators. These simulators are used by students to prepare for their final exams, especially because they include various compositions of trucks. The differences in truck sizes and lengths between Finland and Slovenia are quite noticeable, and the simulators are a great way to practice those variations. They even made me an account to track my progress, which felt quite professional and organized.
The learning path on the simulator is structured like a series of lessons that you have to complete one by one. At the end, you can even try an example polygon similar to the real final exam for a driving license. Of course, it still feels like a simulator – you can feel the difference. Driving long trailers and complex compositions is challenging, but the wide monitors give a dynamic experience that makes it feel closer to reality. While I was practicing, there was one student sitting next to me, working hard and preparing for her own exam.
All in all, it was a productive and interesting day. The combination of practical and simulated learning gave me a better understanding of how things are done here, and it’s a nice change of pace from how we usually practice back in Slovenia.
