100% trucker
A dedicated trucker, king of the highway, Asphalt Cowboy – professional driver Jens Linders is all of these things. He has been behind of wheel of a truck for over 33 years, much of which has been spent driving for Kipping. He drives locally every day and knows Saxony’s roads like the back of his hand. And his name has been on everyone’s lips since he became one of the Asphalt Cowboys six years ago in the DMAX series of the same name.
In the latest episode in the series, Jens will cause quite a stir with a brand-new MAN TGX 18.580 LLS. He recently received the thoughtfully designed lion and was as excited about it as a child at Christmas. Jens was born in and grew up in Saxony. This is also where his family is from. He has three children and the town of Hartha in Saxony is where Kurt Kipping Spedition GmbH is based, the business that Jens has enjoyed working at for such a long time. He describes this company, which he has known since a young boy, as a family-run business of the highest calibre. The head of Kipping always spoke of the Three Musketeers and the company’s staff truly embody the famous motto “All for one and one for all.” “Here you can speak your mind about things without anyone bearing a grudge,” explains Jens. Jens’ boss, Karl Kipping, obviously also knows what to expect from his long-standing employee. He actively supported his driver’s latest plan to switch from his previous truck from a different manufacturer to a MAN truck. In a nutshell, the director explains the reasoning behind his decision: “If a driver wants a MAN vehicle, they’ll get one.” But it goes without saying that the reliability and the quality of MAN’s latest vehicle also impressed him personally. “We found that the vehicle was really popular with management and the drivers,” confirms Gerald Henschel, MAN salesman from MAN’s Leipzig sales office, who has been supporting Kurt Kipping GmbH for 30 years.
Forever 46
The new MAN TGX 18.580 LLS, which will be on the road at Kipping immediately, is a truly unique vehicle – Jens himself personally ensured this. At the end of the day, he didn’t want to appear on Asphalt Cowboys with just any old truck. His new truck combines the power of a lion with MotoGP. As a huge fan of Italian motorcycle racer Valentino Rossi, Jens devoted the design of his MAN to the nine-time World Champion. Photos of the driver decorate the rear of the cab, while his start number – 46 – appears in various places on the racing red truck. “Jens developed the design together with a text expert, who worked wonders transferring it to the vehicle in the very highest quality,” explains Gerald Henschel. On the day of the handover, everyone was suffering from nerves before the new MAN finally appeared. “Dad was as excited about the day as a little kid,” recalls Nick, Jens’ 23-year-old son, and he still hasn’t lost his sense of amazement about the whole endeavour. “I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life.” “I’m so pleased with everything that the new MAN offers,” reports Jens, who can hardly believe his luck:
“A brand-new truck based on my own ideas: This is completely new to me!”
Alongside the luxurious and stylish exterior, the MAN TGX also boasts various inner values that will make Jens’ everyday work as effortless as possible – starting from the generous size of the cab, car management and the safety systems, right up to the seat position, which can be individually adapted using the adjustable steering wheel. “We are pleased to get the truck on the road with Jens,” states MAN salesman Henschel on the big handover day. And it goes without saying that he and the Leipzig sales office are proud to see the extravagant lion feature in Asphalt Cowboys.
Saturday afternoon coffee
How did Jens come to be an Asphalt Cowboy trucker? It all began one Saturday six years ago, when Jens was having coffee with a colleague from the company. “My colleague thought I would be a good fit for the series and then applied in my name,” recalls Jens. Everything was set in motion shortly afterwards. Jens describes his initial experiences on the set as “completely uncharted territory for me at first”. “I was awfully nervous,” he laughs. Jens is now considered one of the professionals. A wonderful relationship has blossomed out of the collaboration with the director of the programme and the entire team. A regular routine means that Jens hasn’t suffered from stage fright for a long time now – like in his actual job as a driver. Jens was expecting his appearance with the new MAN to generate a lot of interest and attract attention. The last truck impressed a lot of people in the community. By switching to the MAN with its striking design, Jens wanted to do something new, something that no one had ever done before. For the sake of his profession, he hopes to see more young people choose a career behind the wheel of a truck again. For this career, he thinks you need perseverance more than anything else. He points out that he has “been doing it for 33 years”. “If you perform well, you will be respected and your company will know that it can rely on you.”
Jens believes that letting the drivers design their trucks is another contributing factor in the excellent relationship between the drivers and the company. Jens is certain that “vehicle design should be left to the drivers”. With his new lion, on behalf of his employer Kurt Kipping GmbH he is attracting attention and setting a good example anywhere he goes on behalf of his employer Kurt Kipping GmbH.
