Truck Driver Arthur Cage Achieves 6 Million Safe Miles
At a glance, no one would confuse YRC Freight driver Arthur Cage with Lee Majors, star of the 1970s television series “The Six Million Dollar Man.”
But Cage has his own 6 million achievement, driving that many miles safely and accident-free.
That’s a record distance for YRC drivers by about 2 million miles and is among the longest safe stretches ever for any driver, anywhere, anytime.
“A good attitude is the key,” Cage said. And he uses the word “serenity” to describe how he feels at the wheel.
He drives a Volvo, a gift from the company emblazoned with his name and safety accomplishment.
Cage, who hails from Memphis, Tennessee, typically has run between Memphis and Houston — doing three round trips a week on a route that’s 577 miles one-way — for the past 10 years.
American Trucking Associations recognized Cage for his safety on the road over the past 42 years.
Jaclyn O'Laughlin/ATA
The Nov. 5 tribute at ATA’s Arlington, Virginia, headquarters included giving Cage a crystal tractor-trailer trophy inscribed with good wishes: “Congratulations Arthur Cage on 6 million accident-free miles.”
Also during the visit, Cage shared some insights and experiences gained since he began driving for Roadway Express, a predecessor of YRC, including his co-workers’ habit of calling him the Six Million-Mile Man.
“I don’t feel like the greatest truck driver in the world,” Cage, 69, said of his elite status. “Mainly, I just like what I do.”
To put that achievement in perspective, 6 million miles is the equivalent of 12 round trips from Earth to the moon, 241 trips around the Earth and the distance of traveling from New York to Los Angeles and back 1,075 times.
Debra DevineBased on an average 500-mile trip, Cage has hauled about 250,000 tons of freight.
Caution is a factor, too, for Cage, who admits: “I’m scared to have a wreck.”
It could be that Cage, who still lives in Memphis, comes by his skill from a family connection. He’s the third generation to live on the same land, following in the tracks of his father, who drove more than 4 million miles for a now-defunct grocery chain. Two of his brothers were drivers, too.
His serenity is there when coping with motorists whose abrupt, unsafe and curious moves can leave other professional drivers angry, frustrated and sometimes apoplectic.
“I get concerned about the situation, but I don’t let it get to me,” Cage said. “My dad always told me to ‘expect the unexpected.’ ”
And after so many years on a 577-mile road, his colleagues would quip: “You must know every hole in the road,” Cage said with a knowing smile.
He particularly welcomes today’s automatic-automated manual transmissions as one of the greatest advancements in the industry.
“This is God’s gift,” he said. “I love the automatic. It has the power to go over hills and brake on wet roads.”
That’s a far cry from three decades ago, when Roadway first experimented with automated transmissions, Cage said.
“They had no pulling power, and the handling was terrible,” he said.
Cage sees another benefit to the automated transmissions and other comforts in today’s trucks. He believes those features will help to attract women to the driver’s seat.
His assurance doesn’t extend to his feelings about some younger professional drivers. He’s certain they need more training, especially those who are rushed through school.
