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south america home to true veterans of the road we join them on a voyage of discovery from the state of co us in brazil to south apollo and the state of sun to katerina and finally to the small city of miss a that's in northeastern argentina. beat down. if you can be made. to want to watch. these trucks maybe museum items back in germany but are still valiantly rolling back the years on the roads of brazil. the man in the back. part of journey begins in the brazilian state of call us at a truck stop that's packed with old timers this one looks a little worse for wear head is definitely on the rusty side was.

the behavior. of the blind woman away from the land. i want to try and load up some watermelons here and bring them to sao paulo. and see always go the same way with. the prophecy i've been taking the same route for 38 years from sao paolo to bellingham and from bell lamb just how powerful it would be one when i get back to sao paulo i'll have a 970 kilometer journey and hyde i may not want the fish in my truck is still going after 6000000 kilometers on the clock although i have had to replace the engine a few times i spend more time caring for it with them for my family. that. well might be that they've got my life is spent in the truck. i did go to school but i dropped out to fulfill my childhood dream which has now become

a nightmare. life but if you love roses you have to live with the thorns to write. not a bad. song what are those thorns for. roberto if it ever does some is no 64 years old. his truck has helped him take care of 3 wives and 10 children he says with pride. this is else outside a popular truckers diner in the area. roberto lovingly calls his truck i might allow the yellow one it's 40 years old. good looking at your money else's husband was a truck driver too. that's him here with the 1113. there are a load of them still on the roads of brazil 131315132013.

the 1st from mercedes brazil good vehicles from a group of alcoholics it's diesel not blood that runs through the veins of these men even their families get the bag. and yes cut me open and you'll find diesel. truck driving is in our blood the men think. they have the drivers can get a meal at el cells for 15 play ice the equivalent of 3 euros 50 party and affordable fair. amount of sleep and if i have the money to get a new truck it would be another mercedes you know who moved through. the diner is located by the truck stop near shoutin polish a small town about 1200 kilometers north of south palo.

from here it's just a few minutes drive to the offices of a fruit wholesaler. the company purchases entire harvests from farmers and then sells the property except markets in the cities. roberto is hoping to get a delivery to sao paulo because it's close to where he lives. have faith in the lord with all your heart reads the company sign. other drivers sitting outside. on. their own waiting to be assigned a delivery. of the little. league world of a little that way it can take hours if not longer. sometimes

it's 2 or 3 days depending on demand. at long last a company representative emerges and has deliveries to assign to come. out for $150.00 per ton of properties with that money you'd be broke by the time you got to sell palo but that's all she has to offer. but. it's all about supply and demand when there are fewer trucks available the price rises when there are a lot like now the price goes down market patience is a virtue in brazil and specially for truck drivers it's the only offer they receive all afternoon. you're working maybe it'll work out tomorrow god willing is that. going to last it isn't easy. to manage

like sunderland was a sentiment that. at elsa steiner the truckers can recharge their own batteries while also feeling ill. being homesick coming. seems to be. a battle has been on the road for 12 days and today is his beloved wife's birthday. on the town. he sends her happy return stoved the to her. sajid. nadiadwala she told me tomorrow i'll probably be able to load a delivery and be in sao paulo on sunday. it was all. love

love love. love love. love the next morning there were even more trucks lined up outside the wholesaler. the cost of the competition and speculation among buyers is paid by the drivers. log. of it to the 4 trucks drive off without a buyer for the watermelons. they load up and set off you but they don't know where they will ultimately be unloading. what the host sailor fruit talk now does is try to find a buyer. they then send a fax for the driver to print out at a gas station. that's the sales like sims which the driver needs to be allowed into

the market now you know. the beer double for my day you can just you know but i don't set out until i know where i'm headed to avoid stress on the road. please and it's us who are left with any. also is that the day it's our time that's being spent and money for food there's no point getting the union involved they might resolve your current problem but then you're blacklisted and you won't get any more jobs from anyone to go back to get paid which might explain why religious mantras are a rare source of comfort also seen on the trucks themselves thank you all deals i can't say if i'll get on the road today we'll see more about the way thanks dave roberto decides to set off despite not having a precise destination for his delivery 1st he has to have his truck wait while

empty to ensure the weight of his load can be verified when delivered at the other end. thank god then he continues to the plantations to pick up 15 tons of watermelon. the state of going ice is dominated by big landowners especially cattle breeders. they control the farming sector while also holding political posts in brasilia the connections they enjoy in the capital enable them to constantly expand their land assets they then lease their fields to local farmers. the farmers sell their produce to the wholesalers was.

going to. buy. look. lovely. this is the best part of the journey when the trucks loaded up and we can finally get going. whatever the youngins can do so can the. 15 tons of

watermelon on board headed for the state of south palm it's a 1200 kilometer journey from here which will take him 3 days. over half of all goods transported in brazil are delivered by truck often along very poor roads roberto has his own motto adorning his precious truck for the sake of life is worth living. god is a video game movie. boys that. we

should be. idiot. but actually you must. do you know if you make the most of the. young. a year after that film was shot the german car maker mercedes-benz opened a factory on farmland just 20 kilometers outside sao paulo the factory would make diesel trucks and later buses to. almost half of the trucks and buses on the roads of the country were built by mercedes benz told brazil but despite the company's high profile our film crew were not allowed inside the factory gates here in salisbury. but a privately run museum in the town does open its doors specially for this man

a nice surprise for 80 year old quality engineer the scented dungeon level who used to work at mercedes dope are still on and. it's in the mail and this one's from my time at the company borders it has the heart of mercedes. although the body was made by nicola c.d.'s whom you call. there shall i feel nostalgic. with so i really miss that time. i mentioned the workers used to call the company and i'm a mercedes. on my mind there so it's. in my time there were 15000 people working there there were 3 cooperative stores for the workforce you were you could buy everything you needed for one month even clothes and house or appliances and at the end of the month it would be taken off

of your wages. i mean but it was way cheaper than regular stores because the company bought it and then our bus that's. the part i mean you also had excellent medical care provided in-house for staff and their families that missed this and the company also. we had a football pitch for staff and a club where we would have dances to celebrate the 1st joining us if we were there all the time on friday we go home but on saturday we'll be back again and you know it's a an office i feel. mom a mercedes since now a distant memory brazil is facing a serious economic crisis demand on the truck market has slumped a mercedes benz go brazil has already seen redundancies and severance packages perhaps it's no coincidence that the management are not keen on a foreign t.v. crew taking a look around. its day

to have roberto's trip to south got a bit of a bit. of a late edition. just follow the money. love that it is bad. news to. the lovely. growth in. the news that the old trucker songs help to keep his spirits up while he's on the road place. last. lovelace. to get back to. the last. world bank it. was.

gene a. bit like that it was done. for the my god. who wouldn't fancy something new and better in life. but given the chance to swap i'm not sure my heart would be on it so when the only thing we've been partners for so many years and my trucks never made me unhappy because was it meets my expectations it's a really sound truck no bill got there it's perfectly happy when i drive slowly i want to get on but when i step on it because i have a deadline to meet also no problem of. evil see i can't help it i like it. that i feel comfortable with it even when i'm asleep easy to hit the include here.

let me. live to see. that. every cent account says roberto you have to watch your budget to end up with any money in your pocket that means only getting gas where he can get a discount. diesel here costs $77.00 euro cents. to put the moment. of free rate isolator but i get a discount rate of moving on my future you think of. it. all to me at the. top. of. the money we have to cover highway toll charges and everything else

ourselves the companies don't pay a cent to hold. on to as long as the drivers are on the road the wholesalers and distribution companies continue to play the market and the drivers. who better to go is to ask if a fair. has arrived for him. he's expecting one his delivery order from the company for talk. no of course i still don't know where i'll be taking the watermelons these are the forms of the stronger. the only information he does have is the approximate direction he's heading with his 1513 model truck and its 15 ton load of melons.

it is a vision that. says he is journey takes him through the state of maine us share rise past an end in sugarcane fields. some lights on the horizon are not a city they belong to the enormous sugar refineries. another tiring day at the wheel comes to an end. it's friday and bankers short and pages is looking forward to the weekend he's checking the weather. where in the state of in the southwest of brazil. showdown lives here on a farm belonging to his mother in law together with his wife. and his

mini mercedes and their city neo 600 make. you feel me old. you can push these abuses of meat. well it. is $23.00 jordan is $24.00 the couple are sprucing up a small framed truck for their sunday excursion. and jordan bought it secondhand and restored it himself. saying for me see. that i've always been crazy about mercedes. when i was 16 i made a paper model of this truck which i still have today. yes. it's an old

love. the top hole and it's taken from my father's 1st truck childhood memories that i saw that it was really difficult to find the original parts for the restoration. i spent 2 years searching for the white protective hubcap for example . in the 1970 s. and eighty's people thought that chrome elements would bring good luck and more jobs. this number plate holder was already made like that by mercedes to sort your feet. it's an original part that i found and restored. and the t.c. i got married in december during the summer in brazil. there were 3 of us you me and our truck. plant every little detail.

i had my dress on let's let's down the side to make it easier to get in and out. as . you made a little truck for. you to hear it. we were so happy that day. many of the people in the region are the descendants of european settlers and economic refugees families who have now been here for 5 generations. to come you know something today my forefathers come from tree or in germany they started to farm the fields here back then the brazilian government gave away land to immigrants. immigrants who settled all the way down to floaty are no police on the coast of santa catarina state they also included many italians such as the forefathers luis

. there's a little film playing in my head when i look at this vehicle my father used to drive it i learned how to drive while i sat on his lap. when i was 14 i started helping him at the wheel although i didn't have a license. polo is now a building contractor and a collector of vintage mercedes-benz models. well the areas today covered with tower blocks used to be dense forest land. back then we were given permission to cut down trees. we would load up a truck like this with timber 4 times a day and then take it to hospital as a shop some floor not. for heating fuel.

tallow has tracked down veteran mercedes models only for the country he's now restored 8. legged. to. his most recent acquisition is this 312. and it was already 10 years old when i was born i was born in 67 and the truck in 57. trucks like this helped to build the roads in brazil by transporting materials . this was the 1st mercedes model the engine brakes tires and axles are all original parts. take it for a drive 1st to see if you like it says his mechanic. the starter the

clutch they're all from 1957. you think you know there's no secret to these engines with a pair of pliers and some wire you'll never have a breakdown like this one. i'll start it up and we'll see why you should be obviously. thank all those veterans are not exhibition items they're used for their original purpose thank you. they're in good shape and because they're more than 15 years old and i don't have to pay any road tax. the maintenance costs are really low to. those of my friends

i use the flat face as we call the 321 all the time insurance for a new one will be too expensive plus there's no place a new model can get to get this baby care out of the my good. luck part of the. building sold it to by sound when i knock on the tires tells me whether they have enough air and i. think i would like to also. there might be a puncture from a nail somewhere we just saw. build a circular tire like this currently costs $800.00 re ice which is too much. like it so after

a while i swap the front tires to the rear before and then get them retreaded. it's just so musici that only costs $558.00 re ice. for me and i'd love to give it a general overhaul but arming so little and having to pay for all those things while on the road means you have to choose. either get the truck restored or feed your family so i'm constantly having to pull. and in the meantime the rust is getting worse going to my. place. it's sunday and roberto is around a 100 kilometers away from some follow up and buzzing. about the. law above you owe. me

a. lot of. mailbox and these guys were most posed to go with these melons you got to know. the sprawling metropolis that never sleeps the main wholesalers market is located in the downtown area it's late by the time roberto arrives and he still has no delivery order but he heads down to the market and on the last. lap. the woman at the gate wants to know what goods he has on board but having no delivery order means roberto will have to leave his truck by the entrance to the car park. it will be safe there she assures him.

roberto is now just 50 kilometers from home but he's worried that parking his truck unload there would put them at risk of being stolen. night and day trucks roll up here from all over brazil $12000.00 a day in total. was. many of the drivers have been waiting several days to unload their deliveries not a good sign for roberto. their patient man but sometimes the truck drivers get fed up especially when they see their fruit beginning to rot sometimes reports roberto they open their truck bed side panels and dump fruit onto

the street but unloading their anger like that will only hurt themselves he says they're basically throwing away their own pay just yet but you can often wait for $4.00 days or more at the market and no one is paying for your meals let alone all those last days so. some drivers resort to trying their luck in the lottery. and the baritone has had enough and goes looking for the representative of his customer through talk who he was supposed to meet here we don't but he. was and this is where the city supermarkets and other retailers buy their property is. against the backdrop of the economic crisis crime is a growing factor there have even been robberies at the market itself the newspapers have almost daily reports of trucks being stolen and their drivers abducted many do

not survive says roberto. was a market is a good shooting location for pain it's that outta my teeth. show that caters to truck drivers. who come you know go up the. barito is vocal in his praise of his beloved truck but silent about the conditions he has to work under. he finally tracks down his crew tax contact. to say they're getting the man and still making calls to find a buyer salvi i just want to unload a start. bring them to a company warehouse in about 2 hours of all places that are all i want is my money . and all i have left is 2 and a half 1000 reacts about 640 euros for a journey of 6000 kilometers and 13 work days in the us one of the guys.

told me live you know me great complete the divine book the shark and dino got me on his. defense he meant that i could all see somebody come over to the us every people sign us aki sally robbins i would assure you. it was the auto makers 1st factory in latin america mercedes-benz argentina was founded in 1951 specializing in trucks and buses. its management would later face accusations of having collaborated with the military dictatorship in argentina but its products are to this day idolized by many in the country.

this is northeastern argentina. in. the heartland of the country's cowboys and rangers a guy. the to lose. this small city any province with a population of $45000.00 just so happens to be called missing it is going to. be out of my. old. mind out. of. the region is the birthplace of the gauchos but also has strong associations with the national drink tonic week i'm at 81st can seem to buy indigenous peoples. mercedes the town doesn't take its name from the car which it predates by several

decades mercedes is a name given to girls in spanish. a mercedes means our lady of mercy in the months dedicated to families she comes to visit school children at home. public transportation in the city of messy it is comprises a fleet of the old buses all of them vintage mercedes benz models. that he is drunk everywhere including at this family run car workshop. with. god and his 19 year old son for condo are the owners of the buses used to ferry mess a day knows all across their city. and about everybody out here on t.v. i've got one i think it was number one i'm not boss you will never sell them. they're part of our family heritage honestly if you need it and i did something handed down through the generations my father was

a bus driver and i've carried on the tradition and hopefully my son to. see implemented what we've only ever had mercedes they're easy to repair and are super reliable and. it's a comfortable ride for the passengers. here. and they're also a very affordable ride for people from the countryside who come to work in the city you want. to. make them according to my mother when i was 4 months old she would put me in a basket to ride on the bus with my father. and i would always fall asleep it was like a swing and the noise from the box like a lullaby because you know i mean. for the youngest passengers it's their school bus. and the other me

when one of them drives past so i can tell from the sound which model it is. it's. the suckers have 3 buses which set out from the main square in 3 different directions. and his province was also among the destinations for european settlers in the 19th century such as the soccer family. the family yes if you may have swiss german roots. the solders host reunion events a few years ago we had a gathering of $600.00 solders so. i checked our family tree and i'm the 5th generation here in argentina and yes i'm looking for me that's young.

to love and to care for till god do us part say the sagas and when the seats for the passengers have reached the end of their tether here in mercedes people give the aging trucks and new lease of life. no these eggs weren't broken by the bumpy ride that happened while we were loading the trucks a 2 man up front there are the sons of the city's main vegetable trader who say be a down to. the convenience store is also

a family run enterprise. this is their boss their father and say if you don't take. the real i bought this off the solders. it was the 1st public bus in our city and i've had it for 24 years it's never had a breakdown. more than the one. but i would never sell it i would imagine such a great boss are going to. look at me. when i go back in brazil in atlanta. it's sunday and the young bankers and his wife leticia a town official are off on

a day trip to the coast and then on to the mountains. it's a region with scenic landscape that the roads are lined with pine tree forests. of the old. luigi yes. it. was it was desert home when i turned 18 i told my father that i wanted to be a truck driver you see the day my father said no way you can't make a living out of that i don't think either me or i'm grateful that he said no i could just see i really liked being a banker so that was what i would also fancy working with a truck the old cars that are coming out. right and i drive during the day and you at night i reckon we'll do that one day. whole plane.

joining the couple on their day out to expound on luis from florida. there touring the state of the sometime never eaten in the foothills of the setto. throw mountain range. would. follow is eager to prove that his 312 built in 1957 will have no problem scaling the 1500 meter high set. which it

does passing by a new truck that appears to have broken down. was a tendency to tow trucks soon comes to the rescue. the old timers on the other hand reach the top in top form where they have a fair share of admirers to the delight of the proud owner apollo on. the team. good trucks don't age they just change owners. going really really really leverage and they never let us down and like the new trucks that have to be towed and you've

seen the proof there was a few. you know every and they're not all there antiques that are and the company didn't. meet. john giannone. people love their cars and don't want to let them got. more and more trucks probably when. it's time to try something new was about self driving buses and goods distribution the public by artificial intelligence read. the 90 minutes on t.w.

. africa. south africa both. energy initiative case supports environmentally food costs that generate energy from florida hi joe. big boys energy. africa. 13. walkin immigrants. they know the police will stop. that is the solution to their flight could be fatal but going back is not an option. i'm on and they are stuck in the spanish border area they're there waiting for a chance that will probably never come shattered dreams starts generally 18th on t

w. this is d w news live from berlin 8 major defeat for donald trump in the final weeks of his presidency republican and democrat senators unite and i'm stoked to override the president's veto of a major bill on defense spending the 1st time congress has overturned a trump veto also coming up. countries around the world.