RoadStars presents
My Truck is my castle
"King of my castle". These are the words adorning Jürgen Schuster’s Actros. But the driver community is just as important to him as his cool truck.
Hi Jürgen, thank you for joining us! Anyone who knows you may say "about time". After all, you are really dedicated to the trucker profession and Mercedes-Benz trucks...
You could say that. Though I’m not a trucker. To me, truckers are my colleagues in the USA who drive for thousands of kilometres at a time. I also drive all over Europe, but I transport general cargo and make two or three stops every day. When you’re on the road every day, you're constantly being faced with new challenges. Every loading point is different, sometimes you have to do tricky manoeuvres, sometimes it's difficult to load and unload the truck in a controlled manner. Then I have to make sure I have all my papers in order, pay the right customs duty, the customer has to be satisfied, I have to take care of the vehicle ... but that's what I love about my job.
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What truck do you drive?
An Actros 1853. As a child, I was allowed to ride in a truck with my grandfather, and then I started with a Sprinter myself. And when I had the chance, I got my truck driver’s licence. Now I’m driving my dream vehicle.
Your Actros is almost like your second home...
That’s right, I just love driving. What's more, I have a fantastic vehicle. It's got the biggest cab on offer, SoloStar Concept, sound system, climate-controlled suspension seat, starry sky, electric roller sunblind, welcome light, the list goes on!
Perhaps the frame cover, sheet metal in the vehicle colour and black tanks will be added soon. In my opinion Mercedes is very classy. You shouldn't ruin the aesthetics of something by going overboard. It's important to get the right overall impression.
What do you do in your free time?
I also end up travelling a lot during my free time, meeting fellow drivers, all facing the same botherances! But seriously: I think it is absolutely vital that we drivers form a community. At the end of the day, we all share the same passion. When I hear that everyone's just sitting alone in their cabs during breaks or that colleagues are criticising each other... I don't understand that. I think it's better when we have more contact with one another, share with one another! If we don't even treat ourselves with respect, we can hardly expect others to respect us!
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Fotos: Jürgen Schuster