Long Haul

Long Haul: A Stint in the Interstate Trucking Industry, 2013-2014

The following is a compiling of various texts I had written over the course of several years on the subject of long-haul truck driving, as well as my story and experiences around being a driver.  

My gratitude to Ruben, American patriot, all-around badass and the best truck driving trainer anyone could ask for.

November 1, 2020

"Nearly every item you come in contact with throughout the day was transported by a commercial truck driver at some point in its existence, often multiple times; the socks on your feet, the cement that made the concrete sidewalks you walk on, the banana you had with breakfast, the wire that brings you electricity, the resins in your dental fillings, the gasoline in your car, the candles on your birthday cake and your dog's food.  For our economy to function, it relies on around 3.5 million truck drivers to transport goods across America, with long-haul drivers accounting for nearly two thirds of that number." (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

Like many who enter the field, my tenure would not be long.  Between my first days of truck driving school and giving the company my two week notice, less than six months had passed and I had driven only about 25,000 miles.  For perspective, in the driver's lounge at the company's headquarters I worked for, there is a wall plastered with portraits of drivers who had reached 1,000,000 miles behind the wheel.  I remember standing there staring at the wall in disbelief at one particular portrait of an elderly man, which had 3,000,000 miles engraved underneath his face.  This truck driving milestone is the same distance as if one drove to the moon and back six times and then decided to keep driving for another 130,000 miles.  The drastic changes that have taken place in the industry from when many of these accomplished drivers began their careers may make these remarkable driving milestones increasingly rare, with many large employers today having an average length of employment for new drivers floating around six months and an astonishing turnover rate of nearly 100%.  

The motivations that led me into the field of long-haul truck driving were also similar to many, especially in the years following the Great Recession of 2008.  The prospective hires that I would go through orientation with were from all around the country, with all different backgrounds: professionals in the midst of a late life career change, working class people taking a leap of faith to try and support their families, middle aged couples scheming to buy their dream house and some, like my friend George and I, “millennials” with college under their belt and an underwhelming job market, willing to give truck driving a shot.    

"[A] factor that compels many to the occupation of long-haul truck driving is that the barrier for entry is relatively low compared to many fields, mainly requiring a "Class A" commercial driver's license and a relatively clean driving record.  With demand for drivers being very high at large companies, employers will often pay for a large portion of CDL schooling upon a prospective employee's successful completion of the program.   Another attraction of “over the road” (OTR) driving is that the field has a starting salary of around $40,000, which is lower than the real median income in the United States, at around $57,000, but higher than most entry level blue-collar jobs and higher than most jobs that require no college education.  Long-haul employee salaries also see modest increases as one accumulates driven miles."(From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

"The game plan that led to this came from long-haul companies paying a premium for "team drivers," since the truck could potentially be moving twice as much in the course of a day. [George and I] driving together made for much higher potential earnings with the added benefit of not having to take on this daunting occupation solo. With no rent and little expenses, I theoretically could save enough to pay off my student loans almost entirely in a year to a year and a half.  Maybe also have enough money to travel a little afterwards, finance a photo project and have the luxury of time to figure out what was next, as well as have a serious adventure and theoretically get to photograph the country all along the way. "(From 'CDL School Graduation Day' photo series text)

We had successfully made it through the truck driving academy and received our Class-A CDL, which was a demanding experience in itself. 

"Next we went on to headquarters in Joplin for company testing before being formally given our job offer.  They only paid for half of the trucking courses, if you passed their road test.  If not, we were out $3G'S and had no job, just a bus ticket back to Jersey.  So this was even more intense.  It was actually a real gamble looking back on it." (From 2015 email to a friend)

"10.29.13- We both shakily passed the company road test.  A guy in my group was not as lucky.  He pulled out from an intersection, over shot his first turn and slid off the road.  The company employee testing us had to pull the truck back out of the ditch.  Harry got sent back home to South Carolina.  It sucked, I felt really bad for him." (From notebook)

"Despite a slew of discouraging factors, the industry is still an occupational draw for many in our country looking for a decent salary.  One of the main benefits of truck driving is that your job does not depend on where you live.  The geographic labor supply mismatch that is a real issue for many industries with worker shortages, as well as for regions with underemployed populations in the country, does not apply to long-haul drivers.  For this reason, it has historically been a ticket for many rural workers with limited economic opportunity in their area to achieve a middle class salary.  Though in recent years, the industry has become increasingly served by those from urban areas, who in many circumstances have similarly limited economic opportunity.  And though the industry is still dominated by white men with no higher education, the percentage of women, people of color and those with college experience entering the field has been on the rise."(From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

"10.30.13-We were given a very strange lecture during orientation today.  We were told certain 'handles' couldn't be decaled on the doors of the truck, like "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves." because Dopey, Sleepy and Grumpy would be a poor presentation of the company.  The guy then proceeded to tell us he had the name of a gun on the side of his truck.  This apparently raised no eyebrows with the company.  This segued into a long speech on how the company had no-stance on keeping firearms in trucks.  They just gave the advice to "be careful in those darn strict states like New Jersey," that were unfriendly toward out-of-state firearms.  But no questionable Disney characters.  We then went out with Straight-Edge Ian, our buddy from truck driving academy, to Instant Karma Hot Dogs on Main Street." (From notebook)

Now that we had passed the company's silly agility test, their road test, their drug test and sat through their bizarre orientation, we were now allowed to move on to our 10,000 mile provisionary training with a seasoned driver.  This meant living in tight quarters with total strangers for about a month, while attempting to learn the 'nuts and bolts 'of being a long-haul driver.

 "So, George and I went our separate ways for a month on the road with our respective trainers.  I was lucky; my trainer was a friendly, laid back guy from El Paso.  He loved truck driving and was kind of crazy, in a good way." (From a 2015 email)    

"11.1.13- I met Ruben, my finisher from El Paso.  We went on the board and waited around all day to see where we were going to be sent. Eventually, I got my first dispatch to Patterson, NY, 1322 miles, and I slept in the truck for the first time." (From notebook)

"Inter-state long-haul or "over the road" (OTR) commercial truck drivers are one of the occupations exempted from the Fair Labor Standards Act, making the parameters of employment and method for pay different than most, with no set minimum wage nor a standard 40-hour work week with overtime pay past those hours.  Instead, most long-haul drivers are paid "by the mile" (on average 28-40 cents a mile for non-owner operated employees) and in a work day one is allowed 11 hours of driving within a cumulative 14 hour period after clocking in, with one 30 minute break required after 8 cumulative driving hours, which then requires 10 consecutive non-work hours before clocking in again."  (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

11/1/13-Joplin, MO to Patterson, NY-1322mi

"11.2.13- Drove passed the arch in St. Louis, over the Mississippi River, through Indianapolis." 

"11.3.13- Drove through Ohio and the larger mountains in western Pennsylvania.  I learned quickly how hard it is to drive a fully loaded truck up a big ass hill.  The drive was beautiful.  Bridges in western PA were under construction, elevated and narrow.  I want to revisit those towns off of western Rte 80.  From the road they looked like those ceramic Christmas villages."

"11.4.13- Picked up at a plant where they were spooling copper line.  Drove back through Pennsylvania as the sun was setting over the mountains.  Some guy gave a sermon about Jesus to everyone waiting in line at the counter of a truck stop we hit before we left New York.  He was very theatrical.  After he left, everyone was quiet.  Then a guy said, "Someone had too much coffee this morning!" (From notebook)

11/4/13-Patterson, NY to Newburgh, NY-45mi

11/4/13-Newburgh, NY to Columbus, NB-1322mi

"I kept hoping we would eventually be given a load to Montana or New Mexico, but for the next month I saw the Midwest more than I ever needed to.  I did make it to Iowa, Kansas and eventually Laredo, TX, which I would get to know well over the next few months."  (From 2015 email)

"11.5.13- Drove across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. Saw these cool, looking apple trees on the side of 80 around mile marker 56 in Ohio.  Was stuck in traffic in Ohio and witnessed two trucks sort it out by creating distance, sweeping cars in unison, while communicating over the CB.  The traffic was caused by a jack-knifed tractor trailer.  That was not great to see." (From notebook)

"Though most people come into proximity with tractor trailers on a regular basis while driving, much thought isn't likely given to the lives and day-to-day work of those people driving.  This is largely the case for most workers I suppose, but being drivers are responsible for transporting nearly everything in our economy, they receive little reverence for the hard work they do.  Those basic store shelf items that we consume or hospital supplies we rely on were commonly transported by someone who hadn't seen their family for weeks.  The socks you are wearing could have been delivered at the expense of a driver missing an important family life event or your dog's food the result of someone driving perilously through the night in a blizzard.  The tractor-trailers one sees parked overnight on the side of the highway or on-ramps are usually not there because that's where they felt like sleeping that night, but due to "hours-of -service" restraints, dispatch expectations that don't coincide with logistical realities and the massive shortage of parking at rest and truck stops every evening, they are left in a position to have to accept anywhere they can get off the road to sleep, even dangerous and sometimes illegal spaces. "   (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving) 

"11.6.13- Drove over the Mississippi into Iowa.  We stopped at Iowa 80, the largest truck stop in the world.  It was pretty awesome.  We checked out the display trucks for a while.  Ruben loves those old extended front Peterbilts, they are beasts.  Driving through Iowa, into Nebraska was beautiful.  The lighting was perfect and Springsteen came on the radio.  All was right with the world at that moment in time.  At a restaurant where we ate dinner, there was this older lady showing her husband photos on her computer that she had taken.  She commented on every one and he just stared and said nothing.  She would say, "That's a nice picture.  I named this one 'The Weeds Won'."

"11.7.13- Dropped off copper down the street from where we stayed in town.  While unloading I took some photos of what I found out was an ethanol plant, which looks like an oil refinery, but corn enters on one side instead.  There was a huge line of corn hopper trucks going into the plant.  I walked up to one of the guys waiting in line.  His name was Roger. [Second photo in series, portrait of man in truck window] He told me that sometimes production slows down and the drivers wait for hours.  He had waited from 7pm to 5am and then came back and got in line again by the time I talked to him at 7:30 am that morning.  He got paid hourly, so he didn't really mind, but some get paid by the load.  We deadheaded to Waverly from Columbus, NB.  Picked up at a tractor supply and went to Lincoln, NB.  We stayed at Sapp Bros outside of town.  I got chatted up by a middle aged waitress.  She told me about taking care of her schizophrenic brother.  She just had to call the police because a kid, who I noticed because he stared me down on my way in, was having an episode.  I asked her what kind of pie I should eat.  She recommended 'Sour Cream and Raisin.'  She said, "Old people come from all over to eat it, because nobody really makes it anymore."  It sounded gross, but in the spirit of trying new things, I went for it.  It was delicious." (From notebook)

"Truck driving has always been a difficult job, but the quality of pay and working conditions have been on the decline for several decades.   The strong union contracts that once made truck driving one of the best paying blue-collar professions in the country, were undermined by the Motor Carrier Act of 1980.  The deregulation of the industry that came with this law led to a "race to the bottom" for trucking companies.  Large, unionized trucking companies that once dominated the field were no longer able to compete, with over 600 union trucking companies declaring bankruptcy after the act and, with that, a loss of over half a million union jobs.  This decline gave rise to an industry dominated by more exploitative, non-unionized trucking operations, which aggressively fight unionization of their workforce.  Today there has not yet been any form of protection for the modern truck driver to fill the void once played by union contracts, and the corresponding reductions in shipping cost in our country has very much come at the expense of these workers.   The modern day consumer expectation of fast and affordable delivery that this deregulation has given rise to, now only reinforces that status quo, with little regard for the human cost."  (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

11/7/13-Columbus, NB to Waverly, NB-83mi DH

11/7/13-Waverly, NB to Lincoln, NE-15mi

"11.8.13- Delivered tractor supply and picked up feed headed for Canada at a huge ethanol plant in Blair.  The load, originally bound for Mexico via El Paso, was changed to Taylor, MI.    It was pretty intimidating to drive into, the truck felt like a matchbox toy in its surroundings." (From notebook) 

11/8/13-Lincoln, NB to Blair, NB-72mi

11/8/13-Blair, NB to Taylor, MI-725mi

"11.9.13- We drove up through Gary, IN into "Pure Michigan," as the signs say.  We were told there were no good loads out of Taylor, so we took our 34-hour restart at the company hub there.  20 miles out of Detroit, stuck in Taylor, for two days.  I used the weight room, which looked like it hadn't been used in some time." (From notebook)

"The perplexing workweek requires that one does not drive more than 60 hours in seven days or 70 hours in 8 days, with a counterintuitive recouping of those hours upon those 7th and 8th day that allows one to continue working, especially if one had been working to the near maximum hours on the days that previous week, otherwise a 34-hour reset is required to gain full hours back." (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

"11.10.13- Worked out more.  The drivers there were not interested in football, I found out.  It was Sunday and they watched 'Pawn Stars' all day.  It sucked.  I ate some mediocre pizza that was rated as the "Best in Downwater". (From notebook)  

"Not surprisingly, truck driving is the second highest industry for on the job accidents; the basic tasks of working with a large truck and trailer hold a huge potential for serious bodily injury, as well as working in busy warehouses and truck yards,; though one of the most common injuries comes from slips and falls getting in and out of a truck cab, where the seat is nearly six feet off the ground.  The physical and logistical parameters of the job itself make just staying healthy a challenge, with irregular sleep, 11-hour plus days of sitting, repetitive motion injuries and a real lack of healthy food options available at the truck stops that supply these millions of drivers." (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

"11.11.13- Dispatched to Connecticut. We drove through Toledo and Pennsylvania, again." (From notebook)

11/11/13-Taylor, MI to Norwich, CT-728mi

"11.12.13- The temperature dropped.  It was kind of frightening driving through the mountains with snow on the ground in the dark before the sun came up.  I drove past my sister's exit on 80.  I drove through Jersey to 287, miles from my parent's house.  It really bummed me out.  I haven't been home in months and I had to drive right by.  No one even knew I was there.  Drove over the Tappan Zee and dropped off copper cathodes in CT.  They weighed around 44,000lbs, but when they opened the doors, they were so small the trailer looked almost empty.  We had to tear up the boards holding them in place, which we don't get paid for, but was actual work.  We met another driver from our company there, ends up he was a former music teacher from Tennessee.  We were then dispatched to Delaware.  When we got to the distribution warehouse for the pick-up, which was plastered in pictures of naked women, we were told someone had already rode off with the load at noon.  So we spent the night there.  I had an awesome eggplant-parm sub, which was a food Ruben had never heard of before." (From notebook)

 "With few exceptions, these drivers are not paid for the hours they are on the clock, if the truck is not in progressive motion.  Time waiting for dispatch, loading and unloading, required truck inspections, maintenance and fueling, truck yard wait times and standstill traffic, are regular unpaid parts of the job.  But the largest distinction of long-haul driving to most other professions may be the extended periods away from home, sleeping in the truck night after night is a standard part of the occupation; there is also no additional compensation for this.  Not only does the solitude of the occupation often lead to extreme loneliness and, commonly, depression, but it also very much stresses family and other personal relationships in driver's lives, even if the money they make from it goes to help support those very same people." (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

"11.13.13- We got dispatched to Indiana, with a pickup in northwest Connecticut.  We drove over the Appalachian Trail.  We drove through all these tiny New England village towns.  It was tight and the town's people looked angry at our presence.  Ruben kept yelling, "Now we're training!", as I was making hairpin turns through the picturesque town trying not to demolish it.  Drove through Poughkeepsie over the Hudson, then drove through Pennsylvania, again." (From notebook)

11/13/13-Norwich, CT to Middletown, CT-48mi DH

11/13/13-Canaan, CT to Plainfield, IN-853mi

"11.14.13- Drove through Ohio, again, and then dropped off in Indiana outside of Indianapolis.  I was way grumpy and felt like shit.  I think Ruben thought I hated him for a couple of days, but I just needed a break."

"11.15.13- Dispatched to Coshocton, OH to deliver to Sioux City, IA.  Southern Ohio is beautiful.  In Newark, OH there is a seven story building that was built to look like a fruit basket.  We picked up at a paper mill.  Everyone seemed pretty surly in this neck of the woods, especially the ornery old man at the plant. We angered him a few times by not following his directions.  The place had a railway inside with freight cars that backed right up to the truck docks.  We stayed in Ohio that night.  I went to eat at a Waffle House that was home to two of the angriest waitresses I've ever met.  They slammed everything, were yelling constantly, broke dishes and left them there and announced that they wanted to shoot themselves in the head.  One of the waitresses while sweeping, stopped and attempted to lean the broom on the counter, but it kept sliding off.  I was watching her do this when she looked up and saw me watching.  She stared right at me, slammed the broom on the ground and walked away.  The other waitress walked out of the building after again breaking dishes, but eventually came back.  It seemed just about everyone in this part of Ohio was not particularly into their job." (From Notebook)

11/15/13-Plainfield, IN to Coshocton, OH-27mi DH

11/15/13 Coshocton, OH to Sioux City, IA-900mi

"11.16.13- Drove through Indiana, Illinois through Peoria, the hometown of Richard Pryor, and Iowa again.  We stayed at the World's Largest Truck Stop, which is becoming one of my favorite places in America.  Amongst its plethora of trucking gadgets, the grounds have a dentist, chiropractor, barber and, of course, a chapel." (From Notebook)

Our truck driving instructor at CDL academy gave us a warning on the tactics of truck stops playing into the loneliness and despair often experienced in the field, describing their operation similar to a casino.   Truck stops are lit up with all kinds of blinking contraptions to get your attention, slick gear you don't need, machines to take your dollars, in hopes of getting drivers to exchange momentary pleasure for their hard earned money.  He also noted that the effort to ward off this forlorn isolation is also shown in the décor of peoples' trucks themselves.  The common practice of middle aged men decking out their heavy duty work truck with delicate household items, like drapes and stuffed animals is very often an attempt to bring a sense of the home they regularly miss while on the road.  There are many negative stereotypes that often have to do with truck drivers taking drugs and driving like maniacs.  Of all the drivers I came in contact with, I cannot say I met many that fit that description.  They are mostly people who are far from home, exhausted and hustling through the dangerous grind of long-haul driving to try to make ends meet.  

"11.17.13- Not so long after getting on the road that morning, I spotted what looked like a forming cloud funnel straight ahead.  I pointed it out to Ruben and he assured me it probably wasn't a tornado.  Then, as we got closer, we saw some extremely dark clouds spinning in a circle.  We were about to drive right under a forming tornado.  It was crazy: the truck was being blown back and forth and underneath we were able to look up and see clouds rotating with debris flying around. With Ruben yelling the whole time, "Now we're training! Now we're truck driving!” Within moments we drove out to the other side. The weather ahead was sunny and clear.  We passed these little country Iowa girls lined up along the inside of their farm's fence that ran along the highway, all making the universal 'blow your truck horn' signal.  I happily obliged.  I used to love doing the same thing as a kid, except it seemed that this was about all these little girls had to do in rural Iowa.  We ate at this rest stop later that day where "Kids News", some kind of child news programming, was on the television, but everyone watched it intently like there was nothing funny or unusual about this.  We drove past John Wayne's hometown.  We also drove passed a sign in a town that claimed to be "the Ice Cream Capital of the World."  Ruben said, "I don't know about those signs, man.  They exaggerate."  He was very serious.  I have been hearing all kinds of awesome stories from Ruben over the weeks.  Like when he served in Desert Storm, they had confiscated a bunch of AK-47's from Iraqis and attempted to keep a bunch as souvenirs, so they hid them in the floorboards of the army trucks and, when tour was over, went back home to wait for the trucks to arrive.  Three months later, when the trucks arrived, the AK's were gone.  He told stories about his friends and him back in El Paso jacking hub caps as kids and selling them at the flea market.  He once met Andre the Giant, owned a car wash and proudly lived with strippers at a point in his life.  He was also an extra in the movie "Courage Under Fire", while serving as a paratrooper." (From Notebook)

There is a certain mystique about truck drivers that is almost cowboy-like in our culture and I have definitely met some who fill that description; Ruben was often a walking embodiment of this "live free or die" ethos.

"11.18.19- Did a lot of hanging out today."

"11.19.13- Picked up at an ethanol plant in Blair, NB after sleeping terribly for no particular reason.  Drove through Nebraska into Kansas.  Concordia, KS looked like it would be an interesting place to photograph... next time.  I saw a totally flattened road-kill fox today, all except its tail, which stuck straight up in the air.  It was both terrible and really funny." (From Notebook)

"What I was able to photograph ended up just barely scratching the surface.  Despite being in different places every day, truck driving didn’t really lend itself to photographing as much as I had hoped." (From 2015 email to a friend)     

Unlike a car, it is not as simple to just pull over a tractor-trailer and find a parking space to wander off and explore.  Even when there is, often there isn't time in one's schedule to do it anyway, leaving me with many mental notes to go back and visit places I saw fleeting moments of.  While long-haul driving, most of what one does get to see on the road, when not in motion, is Pilot and Flying-J parking lots.

11/19/13-Blair, NB to Laredo, TX-1128mi

"11.20.13- Drove straight south for over 500 miles.  Went through Oklahoma City, got stuck in traffic in Ft. Worth for a while and called it for the day in Waco, TX." (From Notebook)

11/23/13-Laredo, TX to Memphis, TN-888mi

11/25/13-Memphis, TN to Joplin, MO-352mi

I completed my 10,000 miles about a week ahead of George, which allowed me to dash down to New Orleans to see my special lady friend of many years, Celeste, and catch a delayed Thanksgiving.  Not only did I genuinely have a good time training, despite its challenges, but I got along with Ruben well and by the end of training I felt confident in being a truck driver.  George was simultaneously having a different experience.  He liked his trainer, but maybe they didn't click as well, which can make time drag on over a month.  But it seemed their training period was marred with set-backs, breakdowns, delays and other uninspiring events.  One of the times we talked on the phone during training he told me a story of when he was stuck driving in bumper-to-bumper traffic in Dallas.  His trainer developed some severe stomach issues that lead to impending diarrhea.  With nowhere else to go, he took a Styrofoam cooler into the back of the cab and exploded into it.  George said he almost threw up on himself while driving, the smell was so bad.  His trainer, when finished, discarded the cooler on the side of the highway while still stuck in traffic.  Those are the gritty realities of truck driving.  Needless to say, after my week of R&R and George's last week training, we were in two different places, psychologically and in driving confidence.

"George and I would both get through training, pass the final round of testing and were given our team truck to start working [which was a truck model everyone told us to avoid due to mechanical issues, but no such luck].  We left in an ice storm, which finally eased up after delaying us from starting for two days.  In the very first yard we were dispatched to, we got stuck on ice while backing up to a loading dock, which held up an angry line of drivers.  That would foreshadow the rest of the winter for me (polar vortexes?).  Heading out into the middle of one of the worst winters on record was not an easy start, nor was trying to get a full-night's sleep with a beginner truck driver at the wheel.  You get air going over bumps while you sleep or, more often, don’t sleep." (From 2015 email)

"The occupation also comes with its share of employment vulnerabilities.  Even as employees, any normal responsibility that one has while driving still falls on the individual, such as traffic tickets, which are significantly more substantial for commercial drivers.  In the case of accidents, if an employee driver was found in any way negligent in driving, not keeping the truck in safe working order or their "hours-of-service" seemingly inaccurate, the liability of an accident can completely fall on the driver.  Depending on the seriousness of traffic violations or accidents, the consequences can have an immediate effect on one's livelihood and continued employment.  It is also the driver's responsibility to ensure that the truck's weight is properly distributed and that it matches the specified weight on the bill of lading, even though the trailer is commonly sealed before drivers even pick it up.  Drivers must pull over when directed for intense border patrol inspections, as well as weigh stations, whose signaling changes from state to state, seemingly for no reason but to confuse drivers.  If a driver unknowingly transports something illegal and it is discovered, they will face severe criminal penalties.  It is not uncommon for companies to falsely classify would  be employee drivers as "independent contractors", in order to place even more legal liability on these commonly overworked and underpaid drivers. "   (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

12/9/13-Joplin, MO to Springdale, AR-77mi DH

12/9/13-Springdale, AR to Laredo, TX-770mi

12/10/13-Laredo, TX to Madison, IN-1326mi

12/12/13-Madison, IN to Kendallville, IN-219mi

12/13/13-Kendallville, IN to Joplin, MO-690mi

"After a week into our team driving we were routed back to the terminal in Missouri.  During the break, George used his van to go to the store while I worked on our truck.  When he returned, he reluctantly told me he couldn't keep driving.  The whole thing was becoming too much for him and felt he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, which is obviously not a safe way to operate a tractor-trailer. So, with not too much more said, we parted ways.  He took with him my only ride back to Jersey or anywhere, and with that also came a cut of more than a third of my salary." (From 2015 email)

“The staggeringly high turnover of new drivers, even when factoring in the company costs of schooling, training and the higher risk of accidents, is still commonly more cost effective than having a fleet of experienced, higher paid drivers.  Today, the largest costs for shipping companies are usually fuel, not its workforce.  This factor is stressed to their drivers with stringent company stipulations that track and target fuel consumption, like administering operating speeds below highway speed limits to conserve fuel, though this obviously works against workers who make their money by the mile; though fuel efficiency bonuses are sometimes given to offset this, which are more economical for companies then the corresponding increased fuel consumption." (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

In efforts to reduce fuel consumption, our truck was equipped with "super single" tires on the drive tires, instead of the traditional double tires, which makes the truck a few percentage points more fuel efficient.  Though these tires are supposed to also lead to better handling, the much wider tread certainly did not make them superior snow tires.

"I then left to make my first solo run to St. Paul, MN in a snow storm.  I learned how to put chains on truck tires pretty well over the next couple of months.  It was a lonelier situation with less money, but I decided I would stick it out.  It still wasn't a bad plan, especially after making it this far, but it would now just take longer than I had hoped to achieve the financial goals I was aiming for." (From 2015 email)  

As an obviously green driver, I occasionally would have seasoned drivers strike up conversations or give advice.  Commonly, the conversations would lead to how much I was making per mile and if I was happy with the company I was working with, sometimes followed by a short pitch on the company they worked for and a business card.  Larger trucking companies, with extremely high turnover rates and a reliance on new drivers, often incentivize their employees with referral bonuses, if they help recruit drivers.  This becomes a decent side hustle for many drivers out on the road, especially when approaching unknowing new drivers who have signed on with notoriously disreputable companies.  I remember Ruben once approaching a driver who was parked next to us, who was working for one of these companies and asked him the details of the arrangement with his employer, somewhat to demonstrate to me some of the predatory tactics he had been telling me about.  After hearing the horrible arrangement, Ruben took some time to tell the guy how he may better go about purchasing his own truck and get out from under the thumb of this company; you can tell it bothered him when companies took advantage of unsuspecting drivers.

"New drivers also become easy targets for further exploitation.  Some of the most abhorrent practices are companies who offer programs where they solicit new drivers in the chance of “being their own boss" by leasing-to-own a company truck.  In doing so, these not fully informed prospective drivers are required to become independent contractors, often by forming an LLC through company facilitation.  But since the truck is financed through that trucking carrier, they become contractually restricted to that company as their one and only client for work.  The amount of money owed to these drivers for their driving ends up being deducted for large truck payments, sometimes leaving next to nothing remaining in payment or even a bill given instead to these drivers at the end of their pay periods."  

"The enormous costs of a new semi truck, compared to the pay signed on for, creates a situation where drivers cannot survive or can even go into debt while continuously working towards "being their own boss."  Companies have been known to reduce dispatched miles to these drivers to ensure the lease-to-own never becomes a real possibility.  This system is of intentional design. When drivers understandably quit, being no-one can survive working for no money, they contractually lose any equity they put into that vehicle and the company can use this truck to do the same to the next unwitting driver.  With an extremely high turnover rate, this unpaid labor essentially finances a portion of these companies' fleet.  Large trucking carriers have been successfully sued in various class-action lawsuits related to these practices and the wrongful categorizing of employees as independent contractors, though the settlements often allow companies to declare no-wrongdoing and fall far short of making these drivers whole.  One company recently even sent notice to prospective class-action lawsuit awardees that the settlement notice email they received was a "phishing scam" and should not click the link, in hopes drivers would not pursue their settlement." (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

During this time, I regularly had days where I would wake up parked somewhere like the mountains of Tennessee, feeling a certain sovereignty from the rest of the world and would think to myself that truck driving was the greatest job I ever had, and by the end of that same day, wanted to abandon my truck on the side of the road and walk back to New Jersey.   For some reason, which I really can't remember, I also entirely stopped logging daily occurrences in a notebook I had been keeping in this time period; despite the grind and stress, I had plenty of time to do so.  I do remember listening to the comedy station on the satellite radio that came standard in the trucks a lot in this time and laughing like a maniac alone out on the road.

 12/14/13-Joplin, MO to Minneapolis, MN-591mi

12/16/13-Minneapolis, MN to St. Paul, MN-9mi

12/16/13-St. Paul, MN to Joplin, MO-597mi

12/19/13-Joplin, Mo to Carthage, MO-16mi

12/19/13-Carthage, Mo to Wilkes-Barre, PA-1156mi

1/2/14-Towaco, NJ to Topton, PA-97mi DH

1/2/14-Topton, PA to Winston-Salem, NC-501mi

1/4/14-Winston-Salem, NC to Kernersville, NC-11mi

1/6/14-Kernersville, NC to Charlotte, NC-88mi

1/6/14-Charlotte, NC to East St. Louis, IL-771mi

"Just as with much of the fatigue and psychological hardships that come with this occupation, the real danger of the job is ever present.  The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics report on occupational fatalities showed that tractor-trailer and other heavy duty truck drivers had the highest fatality rate of any specific profession; nearly 10 times higher than the rate of law enforcement workers and 30% higher than construction trade workers.  When carrying hazardous loads like explosive materials or toxic chemicals, employee drivers are given "hazard pay" of usually a few cents more per mile for the potential increased risk to one's life.  The large turnover of new drivers in the industry also does not help these statistics, with these novice operators reportedly 40% more likely to be involved in trucking accidents. "(From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)

One of the more harrowing drives I experienced was leaving a fairly warm North Carolina headed west toward East St. Louis, IL.  I drove through only heavy rain for most of Tennessee, but by the time I started driving north toward the border of Kentucky snow began to accumulate.  The precipitation eventually stopped, but the blizzard conditions that had been northwest of me left large amounts of snow and hazardous road conditions moving into my final stretch of the trip.  The highway had been hastily plowed, with only the tracks of other tractor-trailers on the largely abandoned night road in Illinois.  My goal was to reach a large truck stop in East St. Louis, but the slow driving conditions and hazardous roads made the chance of reaching that point safely and before my hours-of-service ran out look increasingly bleak.  In the midst of this, my windshield washer fluid completely stopped working on the driver's side window, soon leading to my already poor visibility becoming zero.  I was forced to pull over next to the snow drift.  I climbed out onto the hood to attempt to figure out what was going on in the sub-freezing temperature and discovered the tube that supplied the fluid had frozen solid, despite the fluid being theoretically designed for that not to happen.  I popped the tube off, brought it inside the cab to thaw out, popped it back in place and I was, again, off into the tundra, seeing much clearer.

The problem I soon found myself in was that all the exits hadn't been plowed, leaving several feet of compacted snow at each turn-off.  After witnessing several tractor-trailers stuck in these snow embankments trying to exit the highway, I decided to keep trekking.  I began to see a dozen or more tractor-trailer wrecks on the slow white knuckle drive to East St. Louis.  Some of them flipped over down the hill into the central median, some smashed through trees down the hill into the woods on the other side of the road.  I couldn't imagine that some of those accidents did not result in fatalities.  It seemed I had been very fortunate showing up a couple hours late to this nightmare.

I kept on driving for hours on this completely empty highway until finally reaching the light of the city with only minutes left on my hours-of-service and where things were looking increasingly plowed, with the exception to the entrance of to the truck stop parking lot, where I would get stuck after hours of exhausting driving.  So, in -15 degree weather, I got out, put chains on my tires and began digging out.  While lying on the ground, a woman approached me who was crying and extremely underdressed for the weather.  She said something along the line that her boyfriend had left her there and she was cold and asked if she could get in my truck.  This didn't quite add up being that there was a heated truck stop a few hundred yards from there.  For an obvious array of reasons I did not want to get involved in this situation, nor had the energy, so I took off my gloves and fished out $5 and said good luck to her.  I finally got my truck moving, but of course there were no parking spots in the whole place.  There are rarely any left at the end of any day, but especially not after a blizzard.  I parked in an illegitimate spot at the end of a line where I hoped to not get hit by anyone and crossed my fingers I would find a real spot in the morning.  At that same time, I saw the crying woman hop into some person's truck after knocking on its door.

I was stuck there for multiple days.  Not just because the weather was bad, but because it was so cold the diesel began to gel in the underground tanks of the fueling station and could not be pumped into the trucks.  I was left with a dwindling amount of fuel to run the cabs heater off of, which only raised the temperature of the cab to not much above freezing in the -25 degree temperatures that came over those days.

1/8/14-East St. Louis, IL to Mexico, MO-125mi

1/8/14-Earth City, MO to Pocahontas, IL-53mi

"Naturally, I had plenty of time to think out on the open road (or being snowed in East St. Louis for days).  I came to many realizations, but the most important of which was that it was time to ask to be in a serious, committed relationship with Celeste, if she would have it.  Celeste and I had been on pretty good terms.  Things were kept open and open ended, as we were both comfortable with through most of our relationship, but being we were in different places and doing very different things, it seemed to especially make sense.  I called Celeste and asked her how she felt about the possibility of, in the fall, when she started her doctorate program, me moving to New Orleans and us getting a place together and getting serious, which would be a large leap.  She was excited about the idea...initially."

"Two weeks later I got a call from Celeste, which in summary was along the lines of "Fuck you for leaving and becoming a truck driver."  In reality it was more that I waited something like seven years to tell her I wanted to get serious.  It was well deserved.  So now I was left kind of hopelessly driving around the country in the winter, risking my life in the snow, for terrible pay, heartbroken and with no real plan for the future." (From 2015 email)   

1/9/14-Pocahontas, IL to Carey, OH-426mi

1/9/14-Carey, OH to Montpelier, OH-110mi

1/10/14-Montpelier, OH to Freemont, OH-86mi DH

1/10/14-Freemont, OH to Laredo, TX-1555mi

1/14/14-Laredo, TX to Four Oaks, NC-1552mi

1/18/14-Four Oaks, NC to Hartsville, SC-145mi

1/18/14-Hartsville, SC to Edinburgh, IN-654mi

1/20/14-Edinburgh, IN to N. Vernon, IN-34mi DH

1/20/14-N. Vernon, IN to Springfield, MO-516mi

1/21/14-Springfield, MO to Joplin, MO-71mi DH

1/23/14-Jopling, MO to Lafayette, IN-559mi

1/24/14-Lafayette, IN to Chicago Heights, IL-98mi DH

1/24/14-Chicago Heights, IL to Buckley, IL-76mi DH

"1.25.14 –Woke up just in time to head to Pocahontas, IL.  I soon realized, heading out in the high winds, in the Illinois prairie, in an empty trailer was a mistake.  The imperfectly plowed highway, white out conditions and, I would find out later, 40 mph winds made for the scariest driving scenario I had yet to encounter.  It was the first time I believed I was going to crash.  I managed to make it to the closest exit, which were few and far between.  I shut down the truck on the off-ramp.  It felt like the wind was going to roll the truck down the hill.  I gave Ruben a call and asked him his advice on my situation.  He said to stay off the road for a while and reaffirmed that we are not required to drive in severely dangerous weather conditions, which was reassuring to hear before I sent the message to dispatch saying the same thing as a rookie driver.  Realizing I couldn't stay there, I attempted to get my shit together before driving another scary few miles down the road where a rest stop fortunately existed.  The flags I parked in front of at the rest stop were propped straight out by the wind.  I then slept for a few hours. When I woke up, the flags were blowing less intensely, so I decided to try again.  As I pulled out and began accelerating on the highway, my temperature gauge began to max out and my truck began to break down in the middle of the road.  I managed to do a rolling veer toward the emergency lane with lost power steering before coming to a stop on the icy side of I-57.  Road service told me it may be a four hour wait.  With dropping, sub-zero temperatures, on the side of an icy highway, the four hour wait was going to be a blast.  It would have been a boring place to die.  Which made me think about how in which they transport deceased bodies over state lines; I would have a long ride back to NJ.  The hazard triangles I put up were sure to blow away almost immediately.  It was certainly cold and windy.  I had a state trooper check on me twice to make sure that I was not yet dead.  That was nice of him.  I was lucky that the tow-truck driver was a thoughtful guy.  He had been halfway through pulling a tractor trailer out of the pond it crashed into, when he realized that he better come get me before the sun completely dropped and it became dangerously cold.  The process of towing a tractor trailer is no joke.  He had to remove the drive shaft from the truck on the side of the freezing highway, mount airlines and a few other pain in the ass things that the cold did not help, before he could tow it.  It took both of us to carry the drive shaft back to his truck.  My feet had no feeling left by the time we were hooked up.  He let me toss my guitars in the side tool boxes of his truck, which was nice of him.  He was 36, but spoke as if he was or felt much older.  His job was rough.  He made salary for the week and 25% more for jobs on the weekend, which means he made an extra $150 for all that shit he just did in the cold, but I was only one of many that day.  He went to college for agriculture.  He grew up on a farm, but when his grandfather died, his family fought over money and the farm.  He sadly admitted his Mom was the worst of the family members when it came to getting all she could get.  He said he disconnected himself from all of that and now takes care of his family driving the wrecker I was sitting in.  He told me another story about his air mattress exploding on a trip to Colorado, due to the pressure change.  He made sure I was all set at the hotel I found near the shop my truck was being dropped off at and he headed out.  Matt was a good dude and he certainly saved my ass that day.  I crashed pretty early, no dinner; I knew I had some headaches to take care of with the company in the morning." (From notebook)

"The decent entry level OTR salary does not truly reflect the commonly low hourly rate that it is made up of.   For example: at an entry level pay of .28 per mile at an average of 2,500 miles in a 70hr/8 day week comes out to about $10 an hour, which is not particularly impressive.  If one then factors in the true hours worked, which are not paid during that week, that rate can easily be around minimum wage or less.  This realization, compounded with the stress and danger of the job, results in the field having an astronomical turnover rate, over 90% for many larger trucking carriers. (From 2017 essay on Long Haul Driving)  

"1.28.14- I have been in Champaign, IL for the last three and a half days, hanging out at the La Quinta Hotel since my truck broke down.  I felt almost more confined in the hotel than in the cab of my truck.  Free waffles for breakfast, made fresh by me, were a lot cooler the first day than the third. Hard boiled eggs, the same all week, I ate the last couple anyway today.  Last night I watched a movie that I thought was an offbeat indie film, but soon discovered it was a soft-core porn.  Good for them that they fooled me for a bit.  I'm in the drivers lounge at the International shop.  My truck had its A/C pump freeze due to the cold, it snapped the belt, leading to its breakdown.   Hopefully, I don't have to wait here too much longer next to this snack box.  The peppermint patties are done though."

"After breaking down on the side of an icy highway in the middle of Illinois and waiting for hours in sub-zero temperatures to be towed, I decided that I was wasting my time and that my new journey was to convince a girl in New Orleans who potentially hated me, to maybe feel differently about it." (From 2015 email)

 1/28/14-Champaign, IL to Pocahontas, IL-138mi DH

1/28/14-Pocahontas, IL to Addison, IL-281

1/29/14-Addison, IL to DeKalb, IL-53mi DH

1/29/14-DeKalb, IL to Laredo, TX-1337mi

1/31/14-Laredo, TX to Port Allen, LA-621mi

2/11/14-LaPlace, LA to Alexandria, L-175mi DH

2/11/14-Alexandria, LA to Plaquemine, LA-345mi

2/12/14-Plaquemine, LA to Laredo, TX-629mi

"I gave my two week's notice at the company.  They told me I could take my final run to Eastern Pennsylvania and drop the truck at a yard there, so I could hop a bus over to Jersey, that would then allow me to load up my ‘92 Buick Century with as much shit as I could fit inside and pray it would make it down to New Orleans. That was overruled the next morning and instead they would send me to Laredo, TX to turn in my truck, almost seemingly out of spite.  I then started a three day bus ride back to Newark, NJ with all of my shit in boxes.  The bus stopped in New Orleans on the way up.  Celeste met me at the station to say hello and express how she was not exactly excited about me moving there, which wasn't encouraging, but she also did bring me a sandwich, which left me with some hope." (From 2015 email)

Allen Smith, "Trucking Companies Prepare for Possible Driver Union Battle." AskTheTrucker, 4/30/10, https://askthetrucker.com/trucking-companies-prepare-for-possible-driver-union-battle/

                "Average Truck Driver Pay Per Mile." Landstar Agent, 8/28/17, https://www.nonforceddispatch.com/truck-drivers-paid-mile/

                "Fact Sheet #19: The Motor Carrier Exemption under the Fair Labor Standards Act." U.S. Department of Labor, 11/09, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/19-flsa-motor-carrier

                "Income and Poverty in the United States: 2017." United Census Bureau, 9/12/18, https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2018/demo/p60-263.html

                Harrison Keegan, "Prime Inc. accused of falsely telling drivers $28 million settlement notice was a scam." Springfield News-Leader, 10/8/20, https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/local/ozarks/2020/10/08/springfield-prime-inc-accused-falsely-telling-drivers-settlement-email-scam/5922512002/

                "How to Understand Trucker Pay & Benefits." Truck Drivers Salary, 3/18/14, https://www.truckdriverssalary.com/

                Jennifer Cheeseman Day and Andrew W. Hait, "America Keeps on Truckin': Number of Truckers at All-Time High." United Census Bureau, 6/6/19, https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/06/america-keeps-on-trucking.html

                John D. Schulz, "Union-free carriers trying hard to stay that way." Logistics Management, 12/18/13, https://www.logisticsmgmt.com/article/union_free_carriers_trying_hard_to_stay_that_way

                Keith Romer & Sarah Gonzalez, "Big Rigged," Planet Money, NPR, 8/14/20, Digital Audio Stream, https://www.npr.org/2020/08/10/901110994/big-rigged

                Michael H. Belzer, Sweatshops on Wheels: Winners and Losers in Trucking Deregulation, (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000)

                "Summary of Hours of Service Regulations." FMCSA, 9/28/20, https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations

                Summer Meza, "Deaths At Work: Truck Drivers Had Highest Number of Fatal Injuries Compared to Any Other Job." Newsweek, 1/5/18, https://www.newsweek.com/truck-drivers-workplace-fatalities-rate-fatal-injuries-771920

                "Turnover Rate at Large Truckload Carriers Rises in First Quarter." ATA, 6/6/18, https://www.trucking.org/news-insights/turnover-rate-large-truckload-carriers-rises-first-quarter

                *John Bendel, "Driver turnover: the stark reality behind the statistics," Landline, 12/31/20, https://landline.media/driver-turnover-the-stark-reality-behind-the-statistics/