European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse American a1 Marrone likes the life of a Driver for a German trucking firm. A1 Marrone plods along in the right Lane of the autobahn at 90 Kilometres per hour. A full Moon Burns. The View from the dimly lit truck cab dwarfs everything. Cars in the far left Lane Streak past like bullets. Motorcycles Buzz around him like mosquitoes. From the radios stereo speakers a Blueberry Hill fills the night. Suddenly the big steering wheel is a piano. Marrone plays it lightly. A a found my thrill. A Marrone has found his thrill. It is driving a truck in Germany. Marrone 31, of wolfs Ehlen a Small town in Central West Germany is no Ordinary truck Driver. He san american. He hesitates to say he is the Only . Citizen pushing a Rig for a German trucking firm but if there Are others he Hasni to met them. He a spent 14 years on the Road in Germany first As a i and now As an employee of Ganser sedition. On this night he and 15.3 tons of cargo a a it could be anything but foodstuff pm a Are in route from of Ungstad to company a Headquarters in Aachen near the belgian Border. A Sunroof sucks in the Nippy night air while a Bug collection starts to form on the Windshield. Marrone is into his third pot of Coffee of the Day. A a it a a Good life a says the Southside Chicago native whose truck driving father let him get behind the wheel of a Semi at age 15. A a in a my own Boss i meet people every Day i get fresh air and i get paid Damn Good Money. There a no Way you could get me Back in the .�?� trucking in Germany Isnit like the states Marrone says. A in California if you be got a Load due in new York you might drive non Stop a he says. A in Germany you re allowed to drive Only nine hours and you must take a half hour break every four truck Drivers can work a maximum of 12 hours daily which includes nine hours of driving and three hours for loading and unloading. Then they must Park and and sleep for eight hours. German Law allows Drivers to put in one 15-hour Day a week. Saturday driving is restricted in summer months unless perishable items Are aboard. Sunday driving is forbidden until 10 . A some germans truckers Are under a lot of pressure to meet deadlines a Marrone says. Trucking firms and the police can Monitor a Drivers journey through a a paper disk that fils behind the speedometer. The device records speeds and times with seismographic precision. Violators Are assessed Points against their licenses. Marrone says he a been stopped twice in 14 years by police who conduct random checks off the autobahn. He a never been cited. He a also logged hundreds of thousands of Kilometres with no accidents. A a you re in Good hands with Al a he says adjusting his air suspension seat. Unlike Many of his German colleagues Marrone who is single Isnit caught up in the Macho american trucker image that a been glamorized romanticized and commercialized. No . Or Confederate flags Are draped behind the seat. No pictures of scantily Clad women hang in the Windshield. No a a Al nameplate is propped up on the dash for All to see. A i hate that. I can to stand having things in my Way a he says. A Cowboy of the open Road he a not. Marrone confesses that he does no to even like country music. The wiry american is the flip Side to the tear in the Beer crowd parked outside an interstate truck Stop. The closest he comes to being a a Western Are the Marlboro cigarettes resting on the table High console. Instead Marrone is a Concrete solid Road Warrior whose own Agenda is simply getting him and his Load to its destination. Sometimes that a not without its problems. From out of nowhere a Van swoosh is past Marrone a from the right shoulder. Marrone does no to even look surprised. A you name it in be seen it a he says. A i guess in a kind of immune to most of it however he admits he Wasny to too Hocka ble one foggy morning when he braked to avoid rear ending a Frenchman. A the was just stopped in the Middle Lane of the autobahn Reading a map a Marrone says. The French he adds Are Europe a most unpredictable Drivers. Other Auto Drivers choose to toy with the big Turbo diesels. A a they la be in front of me in a no truck passing zone and drive 70 Kilometres an hour. After they re out of the zone Speed up a he says. A sometimes some Jerk will Cut me off. They done to realize that nothing is going to happen to me in a collision a Public perception of truckers needs to change Marrone contends. A people say truck Drivers done to have to have any brains but it takes a High amount of concentration. You must be constantly looking at what goes on around you. You done to have time to daydream. Every person who gets a License should have to drive a truck 20 staus German traffic jams Are legendary. Working Days Marrone says he a been tied up for As Long As five hours. A the germans love to look. In be seen one Side of the autobahn clog up because germans slowed Down to look at an Accident on the other three and one half hours after leaving of Ungstad he a in Aachen. He drops off one Load and picks up another for the trip Back. Before leaving he runs the truck through a giant carwash. Speaking English he pauses a minute to think of the word a a carwash and smiles. A a in a starting to forget English a he jokes. Marrone fishes a tin of smoked herring from the cooler he keeps up front with him and begins to eat. A the life of a truck Driver a he says laughing. A a it a glamorized but when you get Down to it its a nitty Gritty the ride Back is uneventful. The cd hardly crackles. One fellow trucker on the opposite Side of the autobahn slices through the blackness with flair. His cab glitters resembling a Wiir Litzer Jukebox. The procession of trucks moves like phantoms in the night. Its 4 15 . When he drops the truck off. In less than an hour another Driver will bring the 285-horsepower Turbo Back to life. Unlike humans trucks never sleep. Marrone does. His next Stop Home. Randy Pruitt and Mike Abrams Are stars and stripes staff members. Marrone keeps his cab neat his record clean and 1page 6 c sunday Septemio
