It’s a smooth life for Planters NUTMobile workers (+video)

At first, it seems like a nutty proposal.

Spend an entire year of your life driving a 26-foot-long peanut-shaped van across the United States?

That’s what three 22-year-olds just out of college are doing this year.

The Planters NUTMobile visited Wal-Mart locations in north and northwest Wichita on Saturday afternoon, to the amusement of shoppers.

Kayla Schmidt, Gil Maher and Rachel Koestner, who refer to themselves as “peanutters,” drove the vehicle into town and gave out peanuts and coupons at the Wal-Mart locations. Koestner was in a Mr. Peanut costume.

There are three separate NUTMobiles that drive across the United States doing similar events.

Each one weighs about 13,000 pounds, “which is the equivalent of about 3 million peanuts — just as a reference, if you measure your things in peanuts,” Schmidt said.

The Oscar Mayer Wienermobile is owned by the same company — “same thing, just a different food-shaped vehicle,” she said.

The “peanutters,” mostly all recent college graduates, train for two weeks at “Peanut Prep,” in Madison, Wis., before hitting the road.

On the road, the “peanutters” don’t sleep in the NUTMobile — but it’s often driven for things like grocery store runs and trips to the movie theater, Schmidt said.

“It’s our only mode of transportation,” she said. “If we just want to go to the movies, we’ve got to make sure we leave early because we know we’re going to get stopped.”

Schmidt said it’s going to be “weird” when she has to look for a “real job” when the program is over in June.

“Not that this isn’t a real job — it’s a surreal job,” she said. “It’s kind of like an extended version of college.”

Until then, though, the three NUTMobile operators said they enjoy their jobs.

They even have nut-themed nicknames: Kayla Krunch, BraGil Nut and Ra-Shell.

“Nothing’s too rough in the peanut,” Schmidt said. “(It’s) smooth as peanut butter. You have your crunchy days, but that’s when you have your partners to back you up.”

This story was originally published January 16, 2016 at 11:10 PM with the headline "It’s a smooth life for Planters NUTMobile workers (+video)."