SUPER TORQUE
~~~ Authors Note ~~~
The characters depicted in this story are Brazilian and speak in the language of Brazilian Portuguese. The dialog is presented in English simply for the convenience of the reader.
~~~ ~~~
At the dawn of the mid-twentieth century, The Federative Republic of Brazil experienced many new political changes and modernization programs. As the new capital city of Brasília was proudly established by President Juscelino Kubitschek, his five year term was the start of his self-proclaimed "Goals Plan for Fifty Years of Progress".
As the single largest country in the entirety of South America, President Kubitschek was very passionate about the revitalization and renewal of the Brazilian road network. There had previously been no way to reach Belém from Rio without taking a ship, and almost all of the territory in the Amazon was practically cut off from the rest of the country by land travel.
Since Kubitschek left office in 1961, Brazil has built 2,000,000 kilometers of road, only 12% of which is paved. Though Brazil's roads are infamous for being poorly maintained, poorly paved, and poorly planned, they are the veins of Brazil that all lead back to the country's heart, Brasília.
And if Brasília was the country's heart and the road system its veins, then trucks were undoubtedly the blood of Brazil.
A combined fleet of over 1,700,000 trucks operate in Brazil. The agriculture based economy is dependent on trucking to both transport food products for export, and to
keep the population fed.
"Mato Grosso satisfies Brazil's hunger, and provides for the world." said Marcella Mendonca. This was a common phrase shared among truckers that hauled agriculture products from the state.
And indeed it was true. Mato Grosso was a farming powerhouse that was the national leader in the production of grain, soy, corn, cotton, and sunflowers. Because of this, Marcella was no stranger to the Central-West state.
"Why do you have to say that every time we come here? The only ones who still say that are the old guys." said Miriam da Silva.
"It's like my version of an elephant ornament, you know?"
"Hey, we should get one for the Super Torque! We can even make the ass face the driver door!"
They both laughed together. Marcella and Miriam were long haul trucking partners, a two women privateer team that had been living out of their sleeper cab for nearly five and a half years.
"After this year, we might have to start pulling a separate trailer of just elephant ornaments." said Marcella.
She was the older of the two, in her early forties. A native of Pará, Marcella was a trucker by trade, not choice.
Miriam playfully punched Marcella on her arm.
"Caramba, cara! Don't say that! It's been a great year, we're up at least R$37,000 from last year."
Miriam was a pretty and high-spirited woman in her late twenties, a product of the modern industrial world of São Paulo and the internet age. She got into trucking from a genuine curiosity and fascination.
"Minus the two loads that got robbed." said Marcella.
"Those were insured with big Maersk money." said Miriam.
"Yeah, for Maersk! We barely got paid half of what we should have for those loads."
"It's not supposed to be like that for us, not any more."
