A Trucker Forever

What does it mean to be a trucker forever. To me I think it means that when you love something as much as trucking you hope that it lasts forever. So far in my life I have been a trucker for over 40 years. Why might you ask? Because I love it. It is not all good times out there on the roads. The people that you deal with in the process of moving down the roads and delivering goods sometimes get in the way of your journey. All in all, it is what I love because I love the traveling across the country in various weather conditions and road conditions. It is challenging for me, and I love the freedom that it provides me in making these deliveries happen. The freedom of moving fast down a road and taking in all the sights. The joys of meeting new people as well inspire me to be friendly.

This trucking occupation started with a desire that would not give up on me and that desire was to drive. It did not matter to where I drove, I just love the process of getting there and all that is involved in it. I started driving at fifteen and a half and bought me first car at sixteen and drove the wheels off it. I even had to upgrade the engine of that little 65 VW bug to fifty horsepower before I finally sold it.

When I finally got into a semi-truck, I was eighteen and working for a truck dealership. I went with the wrecker operators to the scenes they were responding to and helped in the cleanup process. I rode in the cab or R-190’s and watched them drive. One day I asked one of them to teach me and he did on a three-stick transmission. I then graduated to the knob shifter and learned to use the clutch as I needed it. I also got to drive new trucks to LA and back.

The next time I got to get into a truck was in the Army as I learned to work on them. It was good to learn more about them from the mechanical aspect on how they went down the road. After the Army I received more education on diesel and gasoline engines and their systems of operation. When the education ended by divine providence, I would up be working on a fleet of eight trucks and eleven trailers. I took care of all of the drivers’ write ups and did my part in servicing all of the vehicles. After a time of looking for other work because of the economy at the time again divine providence led me into a driving position. Something I had always wanted to do. As I worked for a truck rental company it turned into the forty years of trucking that I mentioned earlier. I had a few breaks in it because of health reasons but always desired to get back into a truck and deliver freight, many food items.

Driving and especially trucking is one of the few occupations that requires everyone to work together. If they do not work together and watch out for each other that is when accidents happen. This occupation can get dangerous but if you are careful and I have learned to pray a lot you can remain safe. I have been in four major accidents while driving, three in a car and one in a truck. It is no fun either and it all happens so fast that you don’t realize it until it is over and sometimes not even then. God is good and that is why I always pray for others when I drive, and God has taken care of me because I am still alive to tell my story.

There is nothing like being in what is known as a big truck and seeing how small you are. By saying that I mean when you are out there alone on a stretch of road that goes on for many miles and you are near mountains that stand tall around you or drive through them. Or an open stretch of road across a prairie and see nothing but grass and shrubs for miles. When you go over a large river like the Mississippi and watch the waters and the boat traffic beneath you. How about when you stare at the white puffy clouds above you as they make their way to wherever they are going. In a storm of thunder and beating down rain or near a hurricane or tornado. Things in this world are just larger than life and our little semi-trucks are so small in this big world around us.

I love driving because it keeps you on the ground while you are moving, and you can get as close to flying without doing it. I have flown in an airplane before, but I would rather be on the ground looking up than in the air looking down. I love to stay moving and have stayed moving most of my life. I think I know why God keeps moving because it is enjoyable, I don’t know what eternity will bring me as far as what I will be doing; but I hope it fits with all the training I have had in this life. I think it will, otherwise why all the training? It is not work for me to be a truck driver it is a pleasure and I want to be a trucker forever!