On the Road - Long-Haul Driver Biggi - video Dailymotion

DW (English)

Hitch a ride with Biggi, a long-haul truck driver for a logistics firm. Women truckers are still a rarity on German roads, but Biggi loves to get behind the wheel and says she’s married to her rig.

Transcript

00:00 Can I get through there?

00:02 Brigitte Morsch is one of the very few female long-haul truckers in Germany.

00:08 I'm married to my truck. If I had a partner who told me I should stop driving, I'd say no. I'm not quitting. Get lost.

00:18 Despite the good money and freedom, hardly any women want to drive long-haul. Why is that?

00:24 Who needs a gym?

00:27 I'm going to get a drink.

00:29 Morg, on the Swiss border. It's still very early in the morning when Brigitte Morsch starts work.

00:46 She's a full-time driver at the Bäumler Freight Company.

00:50 Guten Morgen. Good morning.

00:56 She greets Eddie her truck. It belongs to the company, but only Biggie, as Brigitte likes to be known, is allowed to drive it.

01:03 She will live, eat and sleep in the truck's five square meters for the next five days.

01:08 No problem for the 58-year-old. Brigitte has led this lifestyle for more than 30 years.

01:15 I just love it. I can't really explain why, but I just feel happy behind the steering wheel.

01:26 Biggie leaves the yard at 5.30. Truck drivers' working hours are strictly regulated in Germany.

01:33 More than 10 hours of actual driving time is prohibited.

01:37 But the entire shift, including preparation, fueling and loading and unloading, is often much longer.

01:44 The shift is normally 13 hours, but it can be extended to 15 hours.

01:52 Today it's only a 12-hour shift, because we're only driving.

01:59 Only 12 hours, but that is still a very long shift.

02:04 Biggie first has to drive 50 kilometers without a trailer, because she has to pick it up from another company.

02:11 But the access road is blocked.

02:15 Oh no! Damn! I have to go another way.

02:22 Can I get through? I can get through. Can I get through?

02:37 It's a tight squeeze, but Biggie knows her Eddie. First problem solved.

02:44 And time for the next.

02:46 Reversing through a warehouse full of obstacles is precision work.

02:52 A bit more maneuvering, because she has to meet the trailer precisely.

02:59 Her load is industrial paint.

03:04 Oh my God!

03:13 Who needs a gym?

03:15 Time to make coffee and do the paperwork.

03:22 It says 7 o'clock, and we were here before 7.

03:28 This is when we finished hooking up.

03:32 She saves everything for her employer in the on-board computer.

03:38 Katharina Bäumler is the shipping company's junior manager.

03:41 The truck's modern on-board computer lets her see exactly where Biggie and Eddie are at any time.

03:48 Here you can see there was very heavy traffic last Monday.

03:53 She could only drive 4 kilometers in 50 minutes, so she was badly delayed.

03:59 From this we know what to do next.

04:04 They have a very good monitoring system.

04:08 And we can see that she fueled up this morning before leaving,

04:13 did the normal pre-drive check, all through the on-board computer.

04:18 Keeping track of it all is important for the haulage company.

04:23 They have 160 trucks on the road, but there aren't enough drivers.

04:28 Katharina would like to hire more.

04:33 If there are any conflicts, which hopefully always will be rare,

04:37 I've had women apologize the next day because they weren't in a good mood.

04:42 It can happen. But I've never had that with men.

04:47 So it's a different kind of cooperation, but both can do the job equally well.

04:53 The company offers women short hauls, so they're always home in the evening.

04:59 Still, only three of the 180 drivers are women, and the boss thinks that's too few.

05:04 Of course we need more people in general.

05:08 So we're glad for every person who joins in, who enjoys it,

05:13 who sees the job as a vocation. Their gender doesn't matter at all.

05:18 50 kilometers away, Biggi's break is finished.

05:22 And just as her boss envisions, truck driving is not a job for her.

05:28 But a vocation.

05:30 You have to put your heart and soul into it, or it doesn't work.

05:40 I don't drive trucks because I have to, but because I want to.

05:46 Take Eddie, for example, my truck.

05:52 Of course he's a truck, but he's also my teammate.

05:57 We work together.

05:59 When he's in a bad way, I'm in a bad way. Just like a partnership.

06:05 I'm married to my truck.

06:07 If I had a partner who told me I should stop driving, I'd say no, I'm not quitting, get lost.

06:13 Driving is my life.

06:23 Her love of driving has cost Biggi two marriages.

06:27 That doesn't bother her, but she deeply regrets not seeing more of her two daughters.

06:32 I've just never spent time with my two girls. And that really eats me up.

06:38 I was never there for them, except by phone.

06:43 I never held them in my arms.

06:48 That was bad. It's still bad.

06:51 During her break, Biggi takes a look at her toe.

07:00 She stubbed it against the doorframe last night. It's been aching for hours.

07:05 I'm not going to do it again.

07:09 I'm not going to do it again.

07:13 Oh boy, it's purple.

07:15 They can't do anything with a little toe. Just bandage two together, I think.

07:23 A plaster will have to do.

07:29 And so Biggi rips off a few hundred more kilometers until, after 12 hours, she pulls into a truck stop.

07:37 So, let's see if we can find a nice spot.

07:43 Save that. Okay.

07:46 Then exit and pause. And now we can shut off the engine.

07:51 The truck is parked and ready to go.

07:56 But the truck is not.

07:59 It's not a truck.

08:03 We're close.

08:05 The truck is parked in the blazing sun.

08:09 It's five o'clock and still 30 degrees in the shade.

08:14 Around eight o'clock she starts getting ready for bed, using the truck stop bathroom.

08:22 It's still light outside, but Biggi has to sleep.

08:26 The alarm is set for three, so she can start off at four as planned.

08:32 But the departure next morning is hectic. Biggi has slept in.

08:37 I shut off the alarm before it rang. And I was awake earlier.

08:42 But then you forget the time.

08:45 Dumb.

08:48 With a bit more speed, she reaches her drop-off point on time.

08:54 Biggi is still sleeping.

08:59 Biggi is solely responsible for getting the paint from her trailer into the company's tanks.

09:05 After the paint is out, she still has to clean the tanks.

09:27 And off to the next job. The hectic morning is over.

09:32 Let's say I've gotten calmer with age.

09:37 I used to be a real hothead, driving at top speed.

09:42 And now I'm only driving at 83.

09:45 Take it easy.

09:48 You only live once. I don't want to make myself crazy or burn myself out.

09:53 I'm taking it easy.

09:56 I'm just taking it easy.

09:58 I'm taking it easy.

10:00 I'm taking it easy.

10:02 (plane engine roaring)

On the Road - Long-Haul Driver Biggi

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