Page 48 - TPM Issue2

Author: Daniel Wietlisbach

DAF 2600

‘van Seumeren’

Right:
The DAF 2600 6x2 tractor
finished to the former fleet
#250’ container.

Above:
Another heavyweight
model release from Conrad
in 1:50th scale.

50 years ago, in 1969, Jan van Wees began to work for van Seumeren crane operators. Because
Jan’s father had passed away early in his life, Jan ran the farm with his mother. This earned him
the sobriquet ‘Farmer’. He was known by this nickname while doing crane work around the
world and he became like one of the van Seumeren family. To begin with, Jan used a small truck
to transport all kinds of small parts that were needed for the work the cranes were doing at the
time. A little later, the fleet was enlarged with two two-axle trucks which were given the fleet
numbers 3 and 22. The first three-axle truck, #25, was added in 1972; it was a DAF 2600 6x2.
When van Seumeren got its first low-deck trailer, an 8-axle with a capacity of 200 t, Jan was the
first driver and it was also the beginning of his career in the heavy-transport sector.

I n the introduction to the first
book about the history of van
Seumeren, Frans von Seumeren,
among others, praised Jan’s
capacity to memorize: “During the
beginning of the growth period of the
business we seemed to forget all kinds
of parts like steel plates, crane mats
and even outrigger parts frequently.
When all efforts to find the missing
parts were exhausted, Jan was the last

48 TPMMW Magazine - Winter 2019