My heart is out there on the open road

TRUCKLIFE

Nadine Sandmüller has embraced the life of a trucker

Nadine Sandmüller has been living the trucker’s dream for almost two years: This dream began back in her childhood days – and she’s had an affinity for the Lion ever since. In this interview, she tells us about her life as a trucker and a very special photoshoot.

Nadine quickly put the dolls to one side when her father let her sit on the co-driver’s seat of his truck as a child and took her to construction sites. “I had a burning desire to get my driving licence after those trips with my dad,” she reveals to us. Then almost two years ago – Nadine is now an adult, a mother of three children aged 12, 15 and 17, and works in the office of her husband’s company – the dream of driving a truck herself finally came true. Nadine got her driving licence and has been transferring trucks ever since, mainly on behalf of the MAN service outlet in Göttingen.

“My husband Jens was also the one who made my dream possible with the balancing act between the office and the road. Thanks to the flexible working hours we have at the company, I can be out on the road a lot. This allows me to strike the ideal balance between the office job and my driving. I just love it,” she says.
And her children are also pleased about their mother’s career path. Nevertheless, it is, of course, a huge challenge for the 39-year-old to combine her professional and family commitments by managing her time appropriately: “Organising the week and getting things to work in a semi-structured way can be chaotic at times,” says Nadine, laughing.

The Lion is very close to my heart

When it comes to her choice of truck, Nadine is a real lionheart. “Even as a child, I was sure that I would drive an MAN one day,” she says. She actually drives a lot of them nowadays: In her work as a transfer driver, she has plenty of opportunity to get to know a wide variety of vehicles. Meeting the latest generation of the MAN TGX was a really special experience for Nadine: “The new series of lions is a real success story,” she says. She was particularly taken with the driving characteristics and comfort of the latest MAN truck.

The likeable trucker from Göttingen was a real hit at the WoMAN photoshoot. As one of the winners of the Trucker’s World “WoMAN” campaign, she was able to enjoy a styling session and subsequent photoshoot – together with her favourite lions, of course. In front of a backdrop she had chosen, they were able to try to outclass what she refers to as “the most beautiful semitrailer tractors from two generations”, an MAN TGX 640 and an MAN F2000. “I would like to say a huge thank you to Keller Transport GbR from Hann. Münden and Nils Jacobi for loaning us the vehicles and for placing their trust in us,” says Nadine.

The resulting pictures are beautiful. Nadine, who actually describes herself as photo-shy, came across as a self-confident trucker when faced with the Trucker’s World camera: “The WoMAN photoshoot was a great experience and thanks to the team we worked with, my nerves died down very quickly. It was just a great day and I was delighted to get the chance to have such an experience.”

And Nadine is always happy when she meets other female drivers and she is very keen for more women to get behind the wheel.

“I think it would be awesome if more women would feel excitement at the thought of driving trucks. It’s such a great job and nowadays we women are accepted in this profession and have made our impression felt.”

In fact, she would like to focus even more on driving trucks. She certainly won’t be letting go of the steering wheel. We are as confident about that as Nadine was confident during the WoMAN photoshoot.