Over the weekend, I attended a high school graduation for a boy who has been quite close to our family for many years. After the event everyone stayed to enjoy some refreshments and chat for a while. The room was filled with graduating teens, families and relatives who were there to support the graduates as they begin their next journey into the future. As I began to reflect on my own graduation years ago, an interesting thing happened. I had a young teenage boy who I’ve also known for years come over to me and ask for a few moments of my time. He pulled up a chair next to me and we began to talk.
He asked me “what is like to be a truck driver”? He went on to ask lots of questions about the trucking industry. I was a bit shocked as this 19 year old friend of my son always wanted to be a musician. He writes songs, sings and plays the keyboard. Therefore, you can imagine, I was a bit taken back at his interest. He took college classes last semester however feels it’s not really what he wants to do. Sitting in an office or working for a big corporation just doesn’t seem appealing to him. He shared with me that he would like to have a job that’s “hands on”. I spent some time with him discussing the trucking business, driver issues and pretty much the ups and downs of the industry. I did my best to paint a “real picture” of a driver’s life and the many career opportunities available. Here was a young man seeking knowledge about our industry and I wanted to say all the right words.
The night I had my chat with this young man it left me thinking all night long to where I never could fall asleep. It’s a good thing I was home for the week on vacation and not out on the road. My mind kept racing and the only thing I could think of was “what kind of industry have we left for our youth”. Have we as driver’s been good stewards? Is it better than when I began years ago? Most of all… what have I done to make the industry better for future generations?
Years ago when I was this young man’s age, a person had to be 23 years old and have at least 3 years’ experience before any trucking company would hire you as a driver. At least this is how it was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where I grew up. Today, you only need to be 21 and many companies will hire and train you on the spot. My first job preference was to be a railroad engineer. When I was growing up, there was a set of railroad tracks behind our house and I enjoyed watching the big locomotives role by. Unfortunately, at that time, the railroad industry was on a decline. The scrapbook my mother put together from my childhood years showed I was interested in anything that had wheels. This is probably why I liked to race cars so much. After being successful in stock car racing in Pennsylvania, I made the move to Charlotte, NC in hopes for a driving career in racing. Five years went by and included a few great years of winning and some losses as well. I quickly came to realize as a young man in my mid 20’s that it takes a lot of “MONEY” to race professionally. It doesn’t matter how good of a driver you are if you don’t have the financial backing to compete then it’s going to be an uphill battle.
I had an opportunity to become an owner operator years ago and I’m proud to be a driver in the trucking industry.
This industry has made many advances over the years but there needs to be more. I feel that improvements need to be made by each of us to create a professional image of the trucking industry. It’s easy to blame others however each one of us is responsible for our own image and how we present ourselves to the public. In the 70’s, our industry developed a stereotype as portrayed in many Hollywood movies and TV shows. These films didn’t portray a true realistic depiction of what this business is really all about. Unfortunately, for the public, perception is reality in their minds therefore; let’s not play into the stereotype that Hollywood has created for our industry.
The young eyes are on us as the next generation comes calling into this industry. Let’s set a good example and make them proud of what we do and the image we set before them so that one day they too can be proud of a career in this industry.