Backing up several hundred metres with a full load: Not a problem for Robin

Robin Hils knew at the tender age of three that he would one day drive a truck. After working in long-haul transport for a while, the 28-year-old now works in the forestry sector – in a rather special place with its own unique challenges: the Black Forest National Park.

Sweden, Italy, BeNeLux – all in the past. Today, Robin's routes are driving to Baiersbronn, Ruhestein or Obertal, all of which are areas in and around the Black Forest. Robin drives for Spinner, a forestry company that chips and transports diseased timber infested with beetles. He drives his container truck – full of the chipped and waste timber – out of the forest for it then to be sold and burned in bioheating plants.

Robin can identify where he needs to drive by the pole numbers of the sections of forest added to his map. However, the forest paths are sometimes so narrow that they are impassable, meaning that Robin needs to back up with a trailer hitched – sometimes by several hundred metres. When visibility is also extremely restricted due to metre-high ferns, the situation really does pose a challenge. “It’s a funny situation, but: no risk, no reward!” says Robin.

Driving an MAN runs in the family

Robin drives a manual MAN truck. “MAN has the best all-wheel-drive vehicles,” he says, adding that he loves gearshifting. Something that puts him as a little old-school. “I wish I had been born 20 years earlier, then I might have had the pleasure of driving an F2000. This is the ultimate car for me. My father also drove one in long-haul transport.”

However, driving his TGS 510 also brings Robin a lot of joy: “Visually, it looks a fantastic car.” He would not want to drive any other truck. Robin particularly appreciates the small cab with flat roof and the short wheelbase, which is useful in winter when the forest paths are snowy.

Robin’s passion for trucks started when he was still a nipper in his cot. His grandfather was a professional driver, and Robin remembers being just three years old and dreaming of driving a truck one day.

He describes his route to into forestry work as meandering, but more importantly as a stroke of luck. The Black Forest is his home. “So much in the forest reminds me of work,” laughs Robin. “Yet I still enjoy the nature here: The tranquillity and landscape are amazingly beautiful.”