The World's Largest Taxi: How "Trucker Babe" Cindy Chauffeurs Tourists Across the Erzberg

When you think of a taxi, you usually picture a Mercedes limousine or a minibus. Hardly anyone imagines a vehicle weighing several tens of tons, originally used to transport iron ore, and today carries visitors across the vast terraces of a mine.

But exactly such a vehicle is piloted by Cindy, known from the ATV series “Trucker Babes Austria”. In an episode of the show, the camera accompanies the Styrian woman at her work on the Erzberg in Eisenerz. There she chauffeurs visitors with a so-called “Hauly” through the largest open-pit mine in Central Europe – a task that earned her the title of the “driver of the world's largest taxi.”

From ore transporter to tourist magnet

The Erzberg in the Austrian state of Styria has been used for centuries and continues to shape the region to this day. The terraced mountain is regarded as one of the most important iron ore locations in Europe. To bring visitors closer to the dimensions of mining, the idea was conceived years ago to convert retired heavy-duty vehicles for tourist rides.

One of these giants is the Hauly.

The vehicle was originally intended for ore transport in open-pit mining. Later, the massive dump body was converted into a visitor platform. Today the truck seats dozens of passengers and regularly drives over the distinctive terraces of the Erzberg. As early as the 1990s, a former Haulpak dump truck with 62 seats was converted for sightseeing tours. Nowadays, “Abenteuer Erzberg” operates a modernized Hauly with 1,217 HP. The operators themselves promote the term “world's largest taxi.” During the roughly one-hour tour, visitors experience active mining up close and observe dump trucks and wheel loaders at work.

A Woman in a Male-Dominated Field

That Cindy is the one driving this vehicle fits well with the concept of 'Trucker Babes Austria'. The TV series follows women who work in traditional male-dominated professions and move heavy trucks across Austria and Europe.

At Erzberg, Cindy is no longer a rarity. Nevertheless, her workplace remains unusual. While other professional drivers are familiar with highways, construction sites, or logistics centers, she moves a giant through an industrial landscape that more closely resembles a quarry from a science-fiction film.

Of course, a 'normal' taxi and an Erzberg Hauly have little in common. Nevertheless, there are parallels. Both professions rely on the safe transport of people. Both require technical understanding, a sense of responsibility, and a professional handling of passengers. And in both cases it is not about merely covering a route, but giving the passengers a good experience. And while taxi drivers often explain the sights of a city to their passengers, Cindy tells her passengers about mining, blasting, and daily life at Erzberg. The ride thus becomes a mix of transport and an experiential program.