What do you call a truck driver in German? It is a man who drives a truck.
What does LKW-Fahrer, the term I've been taught, mean in this context?
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1it ma ydepend on where you need the word. if it is a jobdescription or translation of a novel... what do you need?– sweOct 11, 2016 at 14:17
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Yiddish had a nice term for this occupation in the old country: "balagulah" (= ba'al ha-agulah, Heb. "master of the wheels"). Generally a horse-and-wagon driver but i think it would have carried over to a motorized freight driver.– Marty GreenOct 11, 2016 at 15:29
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3 Answers
This is to long for a comment. Ad Infinitums answer is already very good.
But actually the most common word in colloquial language is LKW- Fahrer as mentioned in the question itself.
LKW- Fahrer is simply a short form for Lastkraftwagen- Fahrer, who is -you guess- the Fahrer of a Lastkraftwagen. A short -and still valid- form ist Lastwagenfahrer as mentioned by Martin.
A Fernfahrer is mostly the same but with the connotation of driving long distances, whereas an LKW- Fahrer could also drive the refuse lorry.
The third suggestion Berufskraftfahrer is an umbrella term for everybody driving a Kraftfahrzeug in his job, that can be a taxi, bus, truck or even a car of a pizza delivery service.
As Perl Dog mentions in his comment, there is an even more colloquial term: Brummifahrer is used in colloquial speech. It is an onomatopoeia and describes the sound of a truck or more general a car: "Brumm" or even "Brumm-Brumm" is, what already very small children will say, if you point to a truck (or any other car) and ask, what it is.
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1For persons who don't come home in the evening. Instead doing long travels and sleep in their vehicles is "Fernfahrer" the most common expression in everyday German.– mizechOct 12, 2016 at 6:43
You can just say Lastwagenfahrer.
Remark: It does not necessarily have to be long-distance which Fernfahrer would imply.
answered Oct 11, 2016 at 13:53
The Wikipedia suggests Fernfahrer.
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fernfahrer
P.S
I would like to mention my method to find the best suggestion(s). It works most of the time for me.
For example, if I am looking for a specific word but the dictionary suggests me lots of words (sometimes very irrelevant words) and when I am not sure, which one to pick. In these cases, I follow the following steps;
1.Search the target word in Wikipedia (English)
2.Scroll down a little
3.Click on the Deutsch on the left side under languages section
4.You have the word in German(This works naturally for other languages as well)
I am also not native speaker of German and for your question, I found the word in this way. Lets see what the native speakers will say.
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@äüö I am happy to see my method works good:) With this method, I can find very specific words. E.g the name of flowers, animals etc.. Oct 11, 2016 at 13:40
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Note that "Fernfahrer" has a connotation that "LKW-Fahrer" doesn't have. Both drive a truck, but the former term indicates that you drive over a long distance, the latter one just states that you drive a truck.– Em1Oct 11, 2016 at 13:42
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1@Em1 could a driver, who drives a "PKW", over a long distance be called as well Fernfahrer? Oct 11, 2016 at 13:45
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1Berufskraftfahrer is anyone who drives a "Kraftfahrzeug" in his job. This can be taxi drivers, bus drivers, truck drivers as "Kraftfahrzeug" is not restricted to trucks, but means (almost) everything that uses fuel to drive...– TodeOct 11, 2016 at 14:13