Unforgettable: collecting a new truck from Wörth Customer Centre

Report

A different league.

No other truck is creating such a stir on the scene at the moment as the Actros Edition 2. Driver Tobias Wöllmer has just collected his truck from Wörth.

Tobias (centre) together with Pascal Ertel from the Mercedes-Benz Nuremberg dealership (left) and customer consultant Dominik Rupprecht.
Tobias (centre) together with Pascal Ertel from the Mercedes-Benz Nuremberg dealership (left) and customer consultant Dominik Rupprecht.

If it been Tobias Wöllmer's decision, he would have gone to fetch the truck a few weeks ago. However, the production of the factory-tuned special model from Wörth took a little time. “It's not an off-the-peg truck,” says the 40-year-old driver from Franconia. He grins and keeps looking impatiently towards the south wing of the Customer Center at the Mercedes‑Benz Wörth factory. He spied his own truck in the vehicle handover building from afar and he can't wait to climb aboard.

“Right, let's go,” says Dominik Rupprecht the vehicle delivery manager whose task it is to hand over the Edition 2 to Tobias. While they are walking to the Actros with the NEA registration plate – Neustadt an der Aisch is the home of the headquarters of Gressel, the haulage company Tobias drives for – music starts to play and at the same time there is a light show with Mercedes stars lighting up the truck and the floor around it.



First phone calls at 6 in the morning.

From 6 this morning Tobias's workmates started phoning him, he says. He set off very early, together with Pascal Ertel, a truck salesperson from the Mercedes‑Benz Nuremberg dealership. “They wanted to know if I was sitting at the wheel yet. That vehicle's something special.”

Actually Tobias knows what's coming. He chose the truck himself and he configured it together with Pascal Ertel. Which details is he looking forward to the most? “The dashboard covered in nappa leather and the steering wheel are definitely highlights.” Months ago, when his boss told him it was time he had a new truck, he researched online what was currently on the market. At RoadStars he found an article about the Edition 2. “I knew almost straight away what I wanted to have.” His boss, who Tobias has now been driving for for the last 16 years, gave the green light.



12.8 litres, 390 kW.

He chose the Edition 2 entirely in moonstone grey. The cab is the huge GigaSpace version – because he is generally away the whole week. The SoloStar Concept in the truck is also equipment that Tobias is particularly looking forward to. Another brilliant feature, of course, is the powerful 12.8-litre 6-cylinder inline engine with 390 kW.

Tobias is now standing in front of the truck. He spent a good hour with Dominik Rupprecht in the cab and around the truck, and he has had all the functions explained to him. In recent weeks he already drove an Actros, so he got used to it. He knows most of the aspects well. “But when it's someone else's truck it feels different. Plus it wasn't an Edition 2.” Dominik Rupprecht recommends that he should download the Mercedes‑Benz TruckTraining app on to his smartphone.



A different league.

After the souvenir photo in the handover building, it's time to drive the first kilometres. Tobias has about three hours' drive back to the region of Franconia. “My two sons can't wait to see the truck today. The older one would have loved to come with me to fetch it. But it's not the school holidays.”

Can he compare the Edition 2 with other trucks he has driven? “No, it's in a different league,” he says, stroking the leather steering wheel with his hands. “Everything is just as it should be here.”



Photos & Video: Henrik Morlock

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