Truly experienced: Kurt Rohr has seen four decades from behind the wheel

A gentle uphill gradient, a long bend and a clear view of the hills opposite: the RoadStars team has found an ideal location in the Odenwald mountains to snap some photos with Kurt Rohr. But in order to get to it, the driver has to turn his Actros around in a very tight space, some distance away. Will he make it? "Of course, no problem!" says Kurt Rohr – steering the truck past the photographers as requested a few minutes later. And in a flash, it's in the can!

This here is an experienced driver! Kurt drove trucks for forty years before recently retiring. "At first I drove a seven-and-a-half-tonner, then I moved on to long-distance freight haulage. I told myself: I'm young, and I need to get out!" says Kurt from Schwetzingen. Finally he did long-distance trips all over Germany, for many years. One peculiarity of Rohr's career is that for well over three decades, and up to his retirement, he worked for the same employer, Pfenning Logistics near Mannheim, known in particular as a trade logistics provider.

All sorts of adventures.

Four decades at the wheel means all sorts of adventures! Kurt likes to recall his deliveries to the island of Sylt – where he had to cross the Hindenburg dam via railway. Or to the south of France: "In the past I often used to spend the weekend in Marseilles and go out with other colleagues," says the father of two and grandfather of three. Many friendships were made and have lasted for many years.

The story which is still very much in the forefront of Kurt's memory happened in the south of France, not far from the Spanish border. "I got snowed in and had to spend two days at a fruit depot." But the lucky thing was that other drivers had been stranded too, so he didn't get bored – and the other drivers coming from Spain with goods which Kurt was supposed to be taking from the fruit depot to Germany had also got stuck. In particular, the manager of the place took pity on his uninvited guests: "He bought us all meals at a restaurant and in the end it all turned into a party."

– Kurt Rohr

More stress, but more safety too.

Kurt says that such a laid-back attitude would probably not be possible today: "In recent years the job has been getting noticeably tougher." Shorter delivery times, more and more regulated driving and stopping times and frequent official checks: it wasn't all roses, as Kurt, now in his mid-sixties, tells. "On the other hand, many of these things are in the interests of safety, so there's a good reason for them." Also, nowadays the trucks are better and more comfortable than in the so-called good old days. "My Actros ran perfectly, it was reliable and I had plenty of space in it."

Like many truckers of his generation, Kurt started work without any formal training: "Back then, I just turned up with a truck driving licence I'd got in the army." But later on, when Pfenning Logistics offered him the opportunity of training to be a professional truck driver, he immediately said yes. "I knew how to drive, but going through everything again from scratch, from vehicle technology to securing dangerous loads, was really useful." Nowadays, young drivers learn all that from the beginning. But – talking of stress – should you become a trucker today? Kurt doesn't hesitate for a second: "If you really want to do it, you'll enjoy it!"

Photos: Alex Kraus