I got my start fresh out of CDL-school without much trucking experience under my belt. I had driven ever so briefly for the owner of the school I graduated from, just hauling some auction trailers he had purchased back to his yard for refurbishing. I did as most folks do and signed up with a “mega carrier” to get my feet wet and get some OTR experience in. Running 48-state reefers and being out for months at a time was pretty much something I did just long enough to know that it wasn’t the way I wanted to spend my entire career as a driver. Although it is right for some people, it definitely was not my cup of tea! This was the beginning of my “hate” for the job path I had chosen to take, since this type of work was not inline with my social nature.
After coming off of the road, I decided to focus on hauling regionally. This would allow me to have a social life again, but also keep feeding my love for driving. In this role I was able to work hauling custom-designed flatbeds for hauling bath and shower fixtures, pneumatic tankers that hauled cement, sand and flyash, as well as dry vans. It was while pulling pneumatic tankers for one of the largest cement and aggregate companies in the world, when the operations manager saw a little something more in me and offered to further my knowledge in what it took to keep a fleet of trucks running, by allowing me to both drive and work in office operations daily. Eventually this led to my pursuing a degree in Business Operations Management and me wanting to go into trucking for myself as an owner-operator. Driving a truck had up to this point in my carrier let me continue my education, get married and start a family, as well given me the opportunity to be my own boss. I think this leads me to the point at where I finally started to “like” trucking.
Love is a very strong emotion and a word I do not take very lightly. Deep in my bones there will always be a love for family, friends and of course the love of most drivers…chrome! The thing I love about trucking the most is the opportunity I get every day to help others become successful by being a Freightliner Team Run Smart Pro. I have a unique opportunity through this web community and other public events I attend, to share ways become more successful in trucking. I share things that I have both learned to “hate” and “like” in this industry, which in turn became over time something that I really “love” to do. So in a full-circle way of coming to an answer, I have decided that the only proper conclusion would be for me to say that I love trucking, even after all this time! It may not be the most glamorous of jobs at times, but it is who I truly am to the core and I am proud to work amongst some of the hardest working men and women in this great country!