Appreciating Drivers

The open road has called many to a life behind the wheel, but it’s a life that comes with a built-in contradiction. While long-haul truckers say they like the freedom that comes from rolling down the highway, far from the madding office, it remains a lonesome job.

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The most common complaint registered in an informal Transport Topics poll of drivers is the long-haul trip that stretches on and on at the expense of family life. It’s an ancient conflict.

The best part about trucking is “the ability to see parts of the USA that most people never see,” writes Steve McMurray of Pasadena, Texas. Yet, “the amount of time I have to spend away from home” is the one thing about the profession he would most like to change.

Still, the mysticism of movement does not flag, and the itch to get out and see some countryside and meet new people is at the root of many a trucker’s soul.

And it’s not all white knuckles and monotony, or the frustration of too many hours with too many rude four-wheelers, or thoughtless receivers and shippers. When Randy Nichols of Brookpark, Ohio, has “plenty of time” to make his destination and deliver the load, he knows how to “relax and pretend I’m on vacation.”

Scratch a true trucker, and you’re liable to draw independent blood. Can you count how many drivers who admit: What I like best about life on the road is that “all of my bosses are hundreds of miles away,” or “I like the control over my own way to run.”

For the full story, see the August 23 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.