There is something about the road that enchants drivers. Perhaps it is the freedom, the feeling that you are in command of your own path. Or maybe it is the tranquility. In the silence of the roads, especially at night, the driver's only company is his own thoughts. 

No one knows exactly what enchanted Guilherme Antônio Schneider about the profession of truck driver. But it is known that he loved to drive. And he loved the road. 

Getting to his dream job, however, was a long road. Guilherme was born in Nova Prata, into a family of six siblings. As he was the youngest, he earned the nickname Guilherminho. 

Guilherminho never shied away from work. On the contrary, he always offered to make himself useful. While still small, he worked at the family quarry, located in the countryside, loading trucks with stones that would be transported to the city. He also worked in the fields, helping his parents with the planting and milking cows. 

As a teenager, he was already driving the truck that carried the stones, while dreaming of having his own vehicle. He worked as a driver for some companies and, at the age of 35, managed to buy his own truck, a beige and green Mercedes-Benz 1516. With it, he started Trans Schneider and made countless trips across Brazil, especially to São Paulo.

Some people have a natural talent for finding their way, and Guilherme was one of them. In a time without cell phones, it was as if he had his own GPS. He never had any difficulty finding addresses, in whatever city it might be, a quality that came in very handy for the profession he had chosen. Guilherme would set off in his truck with his printed maps and follow the planned routes, without any problem. 

Like many truck drivers, Guilherme had no holidays or weekends, but he did not mind. “No one can say that I don't work,” he used to say. 

More than that, he was a person available to anyone in need. That was perhaps his trademark. On his trips, he would fill the truck with bunches of bananas and hand them out to the whole family when he arrived. He picked oranges and apples, during the family's harvest season, and gave them to those in need in the city. If someone needed electrical work, he did it. A ride to Porto Alegre for a medical appointment, he gave it. A truck driver with a broken-down vehicle on the road, he helped. 

Once, a niece got hurt playing in Nova Prata, and her mother wanted to take her daughter back home, in Curitiba, to be treated at the hospital there. Guilherme did not even think twice: he put the girl in the back seat of his father's Caravan and drove his niece and the rest of the family to Paraná. For him, doing something for others was not a difficulty, not even an effort. It was something that flowed naturally. He simply did it, without finding obstacles to the situations, however tense they might be. 

The life of a truck driver was hard, demanding a lot of physical effort. But he had a passion for that profession. When he was not driving, he liked to play soccer, another passion he had had since childhood. A supporter of Internacional, he was a goalkeeper, and to this day he is remembered in Nova Prata as one of the best goalkeepers in the city. 

When the first sports gymnasium in NP was being planned, he called on his group of friends to help with the construction. Guilherme was like that: when he set his mind to something, he was determined. Stubborn, he tended not to listen to opposing opinions and stood firm in his decisions, even when they went wrong. 

Besides soccer, he also liked music. Especially Kiss, his favorite band. In his youth, together with friends, in the days of the garage discos, Guilherme put together a cover band. His role was to operate the light show that illuminated the performance according to the beat of the music.

Guilherme met Sonia at a chapel party and, to win her over, sent notes and flowers (stolen from the rose bushes). With her, he had two daughters, Natalia and Camila. As a father, he had all the patience in the world, including for playing. He would let the girls jump and roll on top of him while he lay on the floor.

Once, the whole family took a trip in the truck to the coast of São Paulo. It rained the whole time and the beach was barely enjoyed. But the memory of the family adventure was never forgotten. Just like Guilherme's life.

Today, the daughters, now grown, have followed their own careers: one a biologist and the other a business owner. Quite distinct careers, but governed by the same determination as their father. Natalia and Camila put effort into everything they do. How proud he would be of them and of everything they learned. Guilherme's passage may have been brief. But how long was his list of teachings.

Text: Valquíria Vita, Legado Histórias de Vida 

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