Community Stories: Trucker Cassie
In today's blog, we bring you another one of our Community Stories. This time with Trucker Cassie, one of the content creators playing our games, who will tell you all about her job as a real-life truck driver, as well as her passion for Euro Truck Simulator 2!
You might know Trucker Cassie from her YouTube or Twitch channels, where she regularly posts videos from her life as a truck driver in Scandinavia, and also gameplay live streams, mostly from ETS2. And today, she will tell you all about her love for trucks!
"It's quite random that I started working as a truck driver. I never had any drivers in my family. It was a friend who showed me the world of trucks. He had just gotten his heavy license, and one morning he gave me a ride to school in the oldest Scania I had ever seen. But from that moment, a spark was lit. Maybe I could drive a truck too? It felt so cool and free! So I applied to a trucking school, and the rest is history," Cassie told us.
Cassie discovered her passion for truck driving, and now, it's been 13 years since she started this way of life, as she now works part-time as a truck driver and shares her stories on social media. "At the start of my career, I never wanted to stop working. I wanted to beat my earlier record on how many deliveries I could make in a day. I had really found my place in life! But a few years with this lifestyle caused me to burn out, and it forced me to rethink my situation. Today, I work part-time, and I've learnt how important it is to wind down and relax when I can," she says.
If you wonder what kind of work Cassie usually does and what her days on the long and beautiful Scandinavian roads look like, she also shares this with us: "I have tried various delivery types, such as gravel, wood chips, and powder tanker. Now I'm delivering various goods from Sweden to Norway. And when I'm done with that delivery, I normally load fish in Norway. The fishing industries can be located in tricky places! Through small towns and up and down steep and curvy hills. It can really be a challenge during wintertime. After the fish is loaded, I drive to Denmark, where another driver picks up my trailer and drives it somewhere in Europe! Then I pick up a load from Denmark and drive home to Sweden again."
What Cassie loves the most about her job are the amazing views she sees along the way as well as the solitude this life can bring. "I get to listen to music and podcasts, and I rarely talk to customers. I also get to bring my Chihuahua, Happy," she told us.
This interesting merge of the two worlds is something we really love, as we have heard similar stories where either members of our community started driving trucks for a living because of our games, or long-term truck drivers that found their passion in Euro Truck Simulator 2 or American Truck Simulator.
"I have been a truck driver for a while before I discovered Euro Truck Simulator 2. A colleague of mine showed me the game, and I thought it was a silly idea to drive a truck for work, then get home, and play a truck simulator after work. And now look at me," Cassie shared.
So what is actually so satisfying about playing a truck simulator when you are a real-life truck driver?
"I am having the time of my life when I play ETS2 on my livestreams! Because in a real truck, you have a lot of responsibility; to deliver the cargo, the truck, and yourself to the delivery place safely. Always being alert. But when I'm playing the game, I can be social with the chat, drive together with the viewers, answer questions, and just have a good time. And the consequences won't be too big when my digital truck makes a kickflip off a mountain because I was focusing on what the chat is saying. I also like to compare the real-life roads to the simulator! And point out the landmarks and differences from the real places," Cassie explained.
What actually inspired Cassie to start creating content on social media was kind of a coincidence, but from there, it helped her to grow a big community of over 160 thousand followers on YouTube alone.
"I started my main YouTube channel after I got the offer of being in a reality TV show years ago. I had to film my workday as a truck driver myself, and then send the footage to the TV production. The TV show was canceled before it had even started, though, and there I was with a vlog. I realized I could put it together myself and post it on YouTube! So that's what I did. A few videos in, and I suddenly gained thousands of subscribers in a few weeks' time. It was crazy! I also have a smaller YouTube channel, where I post gaming content and previous livestreams. I decided to have two separate channels since the content is quite different. And of course, my Twitch channel, where I do livestreams when I have the energy for it," Cassie told us.
This gave us a great opportunity to ask Cassie, a real truck driver, how Euro Truck Simulator 2 compares with the real world, and she was happy to answer that:
"I think Euro Truck Simulator 2 is very accurate to real life trucking! Especially when you have a steering wheel and pedals. I know a few people who have practiced reversing trailers in the game, then tried it out in real life. And they nailed it! All because they have practiced in the game."
We were also curious how Cassie's driving differs from the real world to how she drives in Euro Truck Simulator 2. "I definitely test the limits and do more daring stuff in the game! Somehow, people get surprised when they see my real-life work videos, and notice I actually know how to drive a truck. But I don't blame them, after seeing my stunts in ETS2. It would be nice to have a pink MAN truck in real life as well! But until now, I'll get to be pretty in pink in the simulator," she answered.
If you think this life would be for you and you are also thinking about taking on a truck driver career, Cassie has a message for you! "I really recommend people try out Euro Truck Simulator 2 if they are curious about becoming truck drivers in real life. It is a pretty big decision, with lots of money needed to get a heavy license with all the needed certificates. And I think ETS2 gives a great hint of what trucking can feel like! Also, it's a really fun activity to bring home your non-trucking friends and let them reverse a trailer in the game! Better than any board game I have played :)," she concluded.
We hope you have enjoyed Cassie's story! If you did, remember to give our X/Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, and TikTok a follow so you won't miss similar blogs and also updates from our games straight to your feed. Or subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed. Keep on trucking!