One who has to go the distance

Behind the wheel of a truck since 1999 and not a bit tired of continuing to spend day after day, week after week in the cab. For Henry Busch, it is the freedom and the variety that drive him to go on tour with his MAN again and again.

The long routes on which Henry travels for the company S & B Schwertrans from Isenbüttel are his favourite. If he can cover 800 kilometres a day in his MAN TGX, that’s just the way he likes it.

He literally grew into his job as a driver. Together with his father, who drove trucks for over 40 years. First in East Germany, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, and afterwards also in the West of Germany and many other European countries. No matter where he went, Henry tried to spend as much time as possible in the co-driver’s seat, already dreaming of a career behind the wheel himself: “That was my life. I went everywhere with him. It has always been my ultimate dream that I would become a truck driver one day.”

He was particularly fond of American trucks, but since they are rarely used in this country, he had to choose another brand: He started driving a MAN and never stopped. A few visual details on his white lion, however, are reminiscent of the American super trucks. His “daddy”, as he affectionately calls his father, is still with him on every trip. He looks over his shoulder, if you will, because Henry has a tattoo there that says “Daddy” – a work of art that continues down his arm: “Wenn ich groß bin, fahre ich Diesel” (When I grow up, I’ll drive diesel). A song lyric by German singer Tom Astor that Henry has put into practice and, by enshrining it on his skin, with which he wants to pay homage to his father, who himself sat in the cab for so long.

Henry also has a lot of love for his MAN. It starts with the fact that he is, of course, behind the wheel of a lion-branded truck, continues with the fact that he wears clothes that he has, with the permission of his employer, independently decorated with MAN lettering and a MAN lion, and will soon end on his calf. He would like to have the lion tattooed there. Just like his son: “Then when we stand next to each other, the lions will run towards each other,” says Henry.

He describes himself as a “lone warrior” – and those words can be found both on his MAN and as a tattoo on his other arm. “I’m the one who has to go out on tour,” he says, explaining. The further the tour goes, the better. He did once switch to local transport for a few years for the sake of his wife, but that resulted in them arguing every other day. “Now I’m here in long-haul transport and it’s working out for us again,” laughs the 48-year-old.

“I’m a driver with body and soul and heart and mind.”

This slogan hangs on a large banner in Henry’s garage. A reminder of the professional driver demonstrations he has participated in so far. Henry doesn’t mince words when it comes to standing up for his job, fellow drivers and the industry. Driving is his life and his hobby. “More in the cab than at home” is exactly the right way to put Henry’s passion for driving into words. And if Henry has his way, this line of lyrics from a song should also one day be immortalised on his “trucker music arm”, as he calls it. Keep on truckin’, Henry.