On Sunday, March 23, the first special trip of the year 2025 took place with a historic double-decker. Every year, the “ Association for Traditional Buses Berlin” organizes various trips through Berlin, because “transport history doesn't belong in a museum, but on the road”, according to the association's motto. The trip started at 10:00 a.m. at Jungfernheide subway and S-train station and then continued for two and a half hours along the former BVG line 25 to Britz. We took this special trip as an opportunity to take a look at the Berlin double-deckers of the post-war period, because even though truckinfocus.com is actually dedicated to trucks, a detour into the world of buses should be allowed.
We are venturing into unfamiliar territory with this article. Construction machinery is not really our subject, but in some respects trucks and construction equipment are closely related. The archive of Edition Diesel Queen, from which truckinfocus.com draws a large part of its content, also contains thousands of construction machinery images from many countries. We have put together a small selection of advertising material and photos showing machines that were in use on German construction sites in the 1950s and 1960s. Most of the manufacturers of the machines no longer exist, but we have been able to gather some information through painstaking research. We make no claim to completeness, especially as there were many other manufacturers, which we will perhaps present in a sequel.
Christoph Büch has made a name for himself as a truck photographer. His main profession was initially as a cab driver in West Berlin, then for decades as a bus driver for the Berlin transport company BVG. In his spare time, he began to express his passion for trucks with his camera at an early age. It is not enough for him to simply photograph a truck; he attaches great importance to the ambience and surroundings. Christoph is particularly well known on Facebook for his photos of trucks in the rain, roaring along the road in a cloud of swirling drops. This article, however, is about the beginnings, when he captured the Berlin feeling of the 80s in black and white.
Saurer commercial vehicles were built in Arbon on Lake Constance from 1903 to 1986. A number of buses and trucks from the traditional Swiss manufacturer have been preserved, including an S4C tipper built in 1953. Its history can be traced back without any gaps and all previous owners are known. Today, Holger Hahn from Munich looks after the 70-year-old veteran truck. This report is about his visit to an old lady who earned her living with the conventional truck many years ago.
30 axles, 240 wheels, a total weight of almost 500 tons, a train length of almost 100 meters with up to four tractor units and a total towing capacity of a good 2500 hp - these are record-breaking, or at least impressive, key data for a heavy submarine transport that spent more than a year travelling across Germany and most recently several weeks through the Heilbronn region. Andreas Fehsenmeier and his son Linus followed the reloading of the submarine from the Neckar to the road in Haßmersheim and the onward transportation from there. They report on the event for us.
The event “Historical Container Handling and General Freight Traffic in the Port of Hamburg” takes place twice a year after it became so popular that a one-year cycle was no longer sufficient. Apparently, organizer Jürgen Danner hit the bull's eye with his idea of a themed event where everything fits together: Vehicles, equipment, cargo and even the participants not only in action, but also in historically appropriate clothing. For truckinfocus.com, our freelancer Matthias Herrfurth photographed the vehicles at the last event in September 2024 and organizer Jürgen Danner contributed some pictures showing the lively activities that really breathe life into the event.
The IAA Transportation took place from September 17 to 22, 2024 under the motto “People and Goods on the Move”. The “leading platform for logistics, commercial vehicles and transportation” invited the world to Hanover and presented a “huge selection of innovations”, for example with regard to the transport transition. With 1,650 exhibitors from 41 countries, participation was 20 percent higher than two years ago. The internationality of 73 percent marked a record number of exhibitors from abroad. The high participation of Chinese commercial vehicle manufacturers was particularly striking.
Over the past decades, the name Wörnitz (Germany) has become synonymous with Europe's largest classic truck meeting. The event takes place every two years, in 2024 for the 18th time. On the rain-free weekend from September 6 to 8, around 400 vehicles gathered at the Wörnitz truck stop, including many rarities and new acquisitions. They came not only from all over Germany, but also from other countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria and Switzerland.
Bodies for trucks, trailers and semi-trailers are essential in the transport industry. Body construction companies are responsible for providing them, ensuring that commercial vehicles are fit for purpose. This is because vehicle manufacturers usually only supply chassis with cabs.
This article is about the body manufacturer Ackermann. Our freelancer Markus Hügle has researched the history of the Wuppertal-based company for us and described in detail what the company has had to offer in the almost 150 years of its existence. Part 1 deals with the company's beginnings and its development in the post-war period, while parts 2 and 3 describe the period up to the 1970s. Part 4 covers the final era in Ackermann's history, up to its bitter end in 1996.
Nowhere in Europe are there as many truck fans as in the Netherlands. In this relatively small country, not only is cheese held in high esteem, but trucks are also very popular with the Dutch. Hardly any commercial vehicle operator would miss the opportunity to have their vehicles painted in elaborate multi-colored designs, and hardly any freight forwarder is not proud of the individual design of their trucks. The Spaansen company from Winkel in North Holland is not only no exception, but a shining example of the Dutch truck mentality. This report by Steve St.Schmidt is about Ton Spaansen and his latest acquisition, an International Transtar 4300 Conventional, built in 1971.
Every year on the last weekend in July, the "Profile Truckstar Festival" is held in the Netherlands. In 2024, it took place for the 42nd time. More than 2,300 trucks gathered at the TT Circuit in Assen in the north-east of the country. No other truck event in the world can compete with such numbers. Friday was the arrival day and on Saturday and Sunday 55,000 spectators came to enjoy the vehicles. There were classic and vintage trucks to admire, but above all modern trucks arrived from all over Europe. They outdid each other with particularly elaborate paintwork and decorative and valuable add-on parts. Steve St.Schmidt set off from Berlin to report on this spectacular event and illustrate his coverage with many photos.
For the 17th time, a special kind of classic vehicle festival took place on the site of a southern German gravel works between Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Participants were able to let off steam with their historic vehicles and construction machinery to their heart's content and spectators were invited to marvel at the colorful goings-on without barriers and fluttering ribbons. In addition, the meeting was, as always, characterized by a variety that could hardly be surpassed. Andreas Fehsenmeier and his son Linus from Heidelberg were there for truckinfocus.com and sent us an interesting report with great photos.
For the tenth time, the "Extraordinary Therapy Weekend" took place in Pritzwalk on the company premises of truck interior designer Andy Tägder, whose luxurious cab design can be admired on his Facebook page "AT Lkwpolsterung". Around 120 highly polished tractor units, most of them with expensive tuning parts and elaborate paintwork, attended the event from July 5 to 7, 2024. Matthias Herrfurth from Berlin was on site for truckinfocus.com and photographed some of the most beautiful trucks for us. Matthias has also made a name for himself on Facebook, he has almost 30,000 followers on his very successful page "Transport - Fotografie Matthias H. / Truckspotter".
Ford Trucks wants to be the eighth wheel on the wagon, so to speak, i.e. the eighth major truck manufacturer in Europe. This wish seems to be coming true. Following the presentation of the Ford F-Max tractor unit at the IAA 2018 in Hanover, things are looking up across Europe for the Ford Trucks brand, which has been producing trucks in Turkey for 60 years and is now also aiming for international success. The next step forward was the presentation of the new F-LINE product family in Crailsheim near Stuttgart at the beginning of June 2024. Ford Trucks now also offers distribution and construction vehicles as well as medium-duty tractor units. Steve St.Schmidt accepted the invitation to southern Germany and reports on the presentation of the new trucks.
The biannual Hillhead Quarrying, Construction and Recycling Show is a must-attend event for British fans of heavy construction equipment. Held in a working quarry in the picturesque area outside Buxton, Derbyshire, the show attracts most of the large excavator and wheel loader manufacturers, along with a wide selection of crushing machines, dump trucks and construction-related commercial vehicles.
In addition to over 600 exhibitors, a major attraction is the live demonstrations which are held throughout the day at the quarry face. Richard Stanier sent us this pictorial report on a few of the vehicles on display.
Over the last three years, the Road Transport Expo at Stoneleigh Exhibition Centre in Warwickshire has become the most important fixture in the British commercial vehicle exhibition calendar, and this June’s event was no exception, with all of the major heavy truck builders in attendance with an impressive supporting cast of trailer and bodywork suppliers. Our freelancer Richard Stanier from Stoke-on-Trent took a look around and sent us his report with interesting photos.
