A tough job on the Alpine pasture: a day with milk collector Bernhard Niedermair

Progress is made only at a walking pace. The gradient is phenomenal, and gravel crunches beneath the tyres. Bernhard Niedermair turns the steering wheel, and the Actros manages the bend in one go. Branches brush against the cab. Then Bernhard has reached his destination: a wooden crate at the wayside, in it four milk churns, filled with fresh milk. There is a steel rope stretching up the slope, practically perpendicular to the track. If you really crane your neck you can see a mountain hut right at the top. The crate with the churns had been let down from there like a little cable car.

“All the farmers here used to use ropeways like this to transport their milk down from remote huts,” Bernhard explains after he has drawn the contents of the churns into the tank body of his Actros 2544 through a hose. “Here” is the Seiser Alm in South Tyrol: a plateau rising up over 2300 metres, the highest Alpine pasture in Europe. In summer lots of farmers from farms lower down let their cattle graze on huge meadows there, shielded by the crags of the Schlern mountain and the Langkofel Group massif. If it is possible for cows to be happy, then they certainly are on the Seiser Alm.

Fresh milk 365 days a year.

Bernhard drives for the Brixner Milchhof farm, for short: Brimi. The company from the Eisack Valley produces fresh milk, fresh cream, ricotta and, above all, mozzarella. The “raw material” is supplied by the cows from 1100 South Tyrolean farmers, who belong to the cooperatively organised business. Bernhard and his colleagues ensure that stocks are constantly replenished. With a fleet of twelve trucks – including two Actros – they drive to the farms and huts and take the milk to the production site in a hygienically perfect condition. “We’re out on the road 365 days a year,” says the 37-year-old. “In high summer, in the depths of winter, at Easter and Christmas.”

Their “territory” may not be all that big. But on this day on the Alpine pasture it is clear just how challenging the work is for the milk collectors and their trucks. Such as when it comes to driving to the highest collection point at 2050 metres. Whilst the sky constantly changes from sunny to cloudy, Bernhard manoeuvres his Actros up the mountain over the roughest of terrain. “You need a totally reliable truck with plenty of performance. And a good retarder for the way back,” says the South Tyrolean driver, who, like most people here, grew up speaking German but can also speak fluent Italian. But all this grind is worth it: the two tanks on the yard in front of the hut contain a total of around 1500 litres of milk.

Talking to the driver permitted.

After a brief chat with the two farmers – one has driven his milk tank by car from a neighbouring hut to the collection point – the bumpy journey continues. “For some people I’m the only soul they get to talk to up here on an average day,” Bernhard explains. He has been working for Brimi for five years. He doesn’t drive up to the Seiser Alm throughout the summer, but takes on alternating trips in different trucks. “I’m the deputy coordinator of the milk collection fleet and have to know all our tours and trucks.” The Brimi men are out and about in all weathers. In winter they only drive up as far as 1400 metres at most. But that's no walk in the park either. “Even with just a few centimetres of snow things can get really gruelling.” 

A feature of the Actros 2544 that Bernhard very much appreciates is the MirrorCam, which gives him a better all-round view. “In the mornings I sometimes want to look in the classic outside mirrors that our other trucks still have. But that doesn’t last for long,” he explains with a laugh. He also finds the Sideguard Assist, that can point out pedestrians or cyclists to him, helpful. Especially on the Seiser Alm, where hikers and e-bikers are out in their droves today, even though summer is coming to an end.

A few minutes later a glimpse at a display results in laughter: Bernhard has delivered precisely 11,000 litres today. “If ever I tried to achieve a round figure like that, it would never happen,” he says – and clocks off work for some well-deserved time off.

Photos and video: Alexander Tempel