Skip to main content

Air freight

In Switzerland, an Opel delivery van had to be airlifted from a mountain, following a navigation error by its driver. The driver followed the directions given by his satellite navigation system, which told him to follow a narrow track that wound slowly upwards.
February 21, 2012 Read time: 1 min
In Switzerland, an Opel delivery van had to be airlifted from a mountain, following a navigation error by its driver. The driver followed the directions given by his satellite navigation system, which told him to follow a narrow track that wound slowly upwards. Trusting his GPS system, the man drove as directed up the narrow pathway until the vehicle could move no further. The van finally became firmly wedged between a fence and a stone wall and unable to turn around or reverse, the driver called the emergency services. They provided a helicopter to remove the van. However a local fireman praised the driver's off-road skills in negotiating the goat track in his Opel van.

Related Content

  • Skanska’s sophisticated satellite system saves fuel
    April 23, 2013
    Satellite vehicle tracking technology from Isotrak is helping Skanska UK’s utilities business save on fuel and be kinder to the environment by reducing emissions. Using the real time system to track the company’s mobile workforce on the road enables efficient vehicle management and provides detailed reporting on individual driving styles for each driver. This is said to have enabled Skanska UK, a leading utility infrastructure and asset management provider, covering telecommunications, gas, power and water
  • Deciding whether to buy new or used equipment
    May 20, 2015
    Customers can face the choice of buying used or new equipment – Dan Gilkes writes. The decision to buy either new or used equipment is almost as old as the construction plant market itself. However some of the reasons for choosing between the two might well be changing, to meet new demands from customers across the world and to cope with a changing supply base. Ever more stringent emissions legislation in Europe, the US and Japan, rapidly developing emerging markets that want the productivity of the latest
  • IRF World Congress: Road user charging
    October 16, 2024
    Where will the money come from to develop and maintain tomorrow’s sustainable road network, no mater in what nation? This was the focus of another session at the IRF World Congress in Istanbul of day of the three-day event.
  • Strong demand for German construction machines
    July 13, 2017
    Strong demand for construction machines is being reported by the German equipment manufacturing association, the VDMA. Its report says that following a good start to 2017, the upward trend has continued for the construction and building equipment industry.