For twelve years he drove the truck himself, but since a while Hans de Groote from Assen has a new hobby: he is a truck spotter.
Armed with a compact camera, the large one is on top of the viaduct at Laaghalerveen. As soon as he sees a truck coming, he grabs his camera and takes a photo. Almost in the same movement he also raises his hand. “I wave as a thank you for the drivers, when they honk or blink.”
Hans has been a driver for years and is back on his way to becoming one. “I went out for a while, it didn’t go well after I went through my back and got home. But I hope I can ride the truck again soon.”
Hans followed someone who spotted trucks online, and that seemed like something to him. He gets a lot of pleasure to capture the trucks. “Scania is my favorite brand,” he says. But he also likes the sound they make. “The more sound the better.”
Photographing is pure hobby, De Groote does not earn any money with it. He does often receive requests from drivers if they can have the photos. “I put all the photos on my Facebook page, truck spotter Hans, and there drivers can pick them from. Or I send them through Messenger.”