Ending up in the driver’s seat during the pandemic

“With each challenge you face, you grow as a person. If it hadn’t been for the coronavirus, I definitely wouldn’t have risen to this one,” says Johanna Leidig from Baden-Württemberg with certainty. The challenge that she is referring to is being behind the wheel of an MAN TGX 26.640 since the first lockdown and driving timber transport bodies for her family’s small haulage company. If it hadn’t been for coronavirus, the 22-year-old would have started a job in the field of industrial engineering after her mechanical engineering degree – a plan that fell through due to the pandemic. That’s why Johanna (who obtained her truck driver’s licence while studying) decided to help out her parents’ company with hauling timber. As a child, she accompanied her father a lot and wanted to steer a truck herself – although she had never wanted to make driving trucks her career. Now she steps into the breach whenever she is needed: “When one driver’s driving time comes to an end, I take over,” she explains.

“I love the feeling of being able to steer such a large vehicle. I like looking in the mirror and seeing the huge quantities of wood that I’m able to transport.”

Johanna is sure that she has been able to improve her driving skills significantly over the past few months and that she has learnt a lot. This includes gaining interesting insights into the day-to-day life of professional drivers – including some things that she doesn’t like as much. Such as the loneliness of the job: “Being alone on the road for hours at a time is a bit difficult for me as someone who likes to talk to other people,” she admits.

After having spent this period of time in the cab, she is certain that she could never consider it as her main job on a permanent basis. In the autumn she will begin studying again – sales management this time – as long term she wants to break into the field of special-purpose mechanical engineering. “I definitely have a huge amount of respect for anyone who does this job every day. Of course, I have particular respect for female timber transportation drivers – there should be a lot more of them,” laughs Johanna. But she won’t turn her back on driving timber transport bodies completely. “Of course, I will spend a large portion of my holidays driving trucks. I could never give up driving completely.”