“I love being on the open road!”
There are more than enough challenges driving trucks day in, day out. For professional truck driver Toni Herzog, these challenges are the magic bullet that really brings out the love of his profession. He dreamed of it as a child, and even after 16 years behind the wheel, driving is part of his life.
Like many other professional drivers, Toni Herzog has dreamed of driving a truck since childhood. Back then, he was allowed to accompany his father, on occasion, in the MAN co-driver’s seat. Today, Toni drives his own dream MAN. His MAN TGX 26.510 or “White Pearl”, as Toni has christened his white truck, makes no secret of its driver’s passion. Nothing has been left to chance inside and out, paying meticulous attention to detail. “I love being on the open road,” says Toni as he spills the secrets on his day-to-day life. “I love the variety and I like mastering new challenges every day.”
Toni has been driving for Weinlandmühle Trüllikon Glanzmann AG for 16 years. Part of his job involves a loading list encompassing a huge range of feed materials, which he loads onto his MAN by himself and unloads again at customer premises. The 37-year-old never knows exactly what awaits him on the road or at the unloading sites. He may need to put on snow chains unexpectedly due to snow and ice, or he is expecting a tricky drive to the yard or only finds out if customer has ordered the right quantity when filling the silos. “Every day comes its own, new challenges,” says Toni, summing up.
Loading his semitrailer, transporting the load and unloading the cargo at customer premises are not the only tasks that fall under Toni’s remit: He also cleans the interior and exterior of his semitrailer tractor, something that is subject to strict hygiene regulations.
“Once MAN and always MAN.”
Why does he enjoy driving MAN trucks so much? “I am just so impressed that MAN gives me what I need for our tasks,” says Toni. He discovered the brand back in the day through his father, who also drove an MAN. Toni actually started his trucking career driving another brand before switching to an MAN thanks to his boss at the time. “Once MAN and always MAN,” has been a firm motto for Toni since he switched over.
As far as the vehicle is concerned, the Swiss is over the moon with his white MAN TGX. If he still had one wish, he would perhaps want road users to have a little more consideration for one another in traffic. Still, let’s keep our fingers crossed that Toni and his “White Pearl” enjoy being on the road most days.