The American Trucker
Sample Text
Get-On Ramp
First - I Have Never Driven a Truck
So, what gives me the gall, to even attempt to tell the world how you—a real truck driver—should do your job?
I retired as a state trooper from the Wyoming Highway Patrol in 2003. In the 20 years before that, I was in a perfect spot to watch and learn; first, from an enforcement standpoint.
Watching as thousands of them put a “John Hancock” on the legal document I presented with a smile, I soon came to know them as more than a “pinch.” When we were finished, they got to mail in an average of $200-$500 to some county judge they didn’t even know existed twenty minutes before we met. All for violating the speed limit or some obscure or forgotten DOT regulation.
The world of the American Trucker is full of stories—thousands of them, behind the wheel of each of the ten-thousand or so trucks I would see in a week’s time. Some were grandparents; a man and wife perhaps; teams driving to see a country they loved but could never afford the fancy half-million dollar motor home, so they opted for this life as a substitute. These, are American Truckers.
Some alone; a mom or a dad out on the road and missing their family terribly back home, a thousand miles away. Longing, for the one or two days every three weeks or so when the route brought them within reach of a stopover and a hot, home cooked meal with their family. These too, are American Truckers.
I have seen single men and women working feverishly to save up money by living in their truck; or soldiers returning from the Middle East; only to find a populace claiming to support them, but not the war in which they fought so bravely. So now, they find themselves driving across their country—a country they loved so much, they were willing to die for it— to earn a living. These, are American Truckers of the highest order.
I saw every race and creed imaginable. Black, White, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Christian, Atheist, Jew Buddhist, Muslim and mixes of all of them. All indeed, American Truckers.
In each, a story of the day they first climbed up behind the wheel and all that had transpired between then and this moment; meeting me on Interstate 80, in the middle of Nowhere, Wyoming.
I wrote Truckers and Troopers a couple of years ago. It was a collection of thoughts and observations I had made over the years as a state trooper. The moment it was released, I knew just one thing. There was more. Much, much more to say.
I would need a second volume because I had “forgotten to remember” so many more examples and stories of just what truly sound and good people these drivers were. Of the American patriots they were. More than the comical or dramatic storytelling, I wanted to express an opinion I held strong and solid in my heart – that this was a group of professional and well-educated, well-motivated and well-trained men and women taking on a very difficult calling. One sorely misrepresented by the media and misunderstood by the general public.
Very different from what the media would want the public to think, these men and women do care about sharing the highway with respect and courtesy and they are not, a bunch of pill-popping, fatigued driving, log book-lying trailer-trash!
Instead, they are for the most part, keenly aware businessmen and women; running their trucking companies or driving for one, with the same aplomb and endless hours of attention, as would any successful entrepreneur or loyal employee.
As a resident trooper in Wamsutter, Wyoming for 15 years and all of my 20 spent somewhere on Interstate 80, I miss the many “dedicated run” drivers (drivers who make the same trip for the same shipper each time) who passed through my area, gabbing pleasantly on the CB. Later in this work, I have listed some of their CB handles – their very own call sign—much more colorful than a regular, boring, real name for God Sakes! See if you recognize any of them!
Perhaps, someday, our paths will cross again. Until then….I salute them all as fellow patriots and for being hard-working, tax-paying souls they truly are.
Why One Trooper Loves America
She is imperfect and flawed, like anything else built by the imperfect and flawed hands mankind of this earth. Yet, she survives.
She is many things to many people. Hope, prosperity, sanctuary, opportunity and freedom. With these blessings, she is an object of envy and hatred by those who have none of these. Yet, she survives.
Her people – with each generation – take her for granted more and more. That her freedoms and gifts are free when they are bought and paid for by the sweat, blood, pain, anguish, grief and fears of each generation that came before. Yet, she survives.
She has been beaten and ravaged – urinated and defecated upon. She has been burned, trampled abused and degraded by people who do not understand what they do. She weeps each time. Yet, she survives.
Her children have died defending her, building her, improving her and upholding her virtue and glory. Her abundant resources have fed, cooled, warmed and sheltered her children for eons. They have taken from her and not given back. Used her and littered her. Depleted her and polluted her. And yet, she survives.
Her founding documents – the Declaration of Independence and ultimately the Constitution, have been attacked, misinterpreted and some, have tried to reinvent and rewrite them. Her courts have twisted and perverted her laws; her politicians have claimed her as their own when she belongs to us all. Her intent and her dream have been all but erased. And yet, she survives.
She has defended herself in many, many wars with other nations; some nearly extinguishing her small flame of hope and brotherhood. She has nearly been lost; many, many times. And yet, she survives.
She is more than earth and water. More than wildlife and trees and mountains and desert. So much more than her physical being.
She is a glimpse of all we can be if we all stand together within her protective arms yet stand as firm in front of her, beside her and behind her; to protect her from all of her enemies. She is a promise of possibility and optimism. Of diversity and a beautiful variety of mankind. She is strength and honor to me and a gift from a God I love and follow.
My friends, part of the oath a state trooper takes, is a promise to defend the constitution. I took that oath very seriously as a part of my profession. A duty I was paid to perform. I did so proudly.
But an American Trucker who feels what I feel, in his gut and in his heart, isn’t required to do anything, act to defend her or display any level of devotion or patriotism.
Yet they do. In many ways and forms, American truckers proudly boat, speak of and display an unquestionable, undeniable love of country and a fervor of loyalty and rage against anyone or any government or group of cowardly terrorists who would attack her at any level.
And that, among so many other reasons important to this trooper, is why they are to be admired as the heroes they truly are.
Post-Trip
(Afterword)
In my first trucking book, Truckers and Troopers, I asked you to be the heroes you are, to so many who needed one in this time of a divided people and a fight for peace and freedom from fear, in our own nation. To be the example; the place we look to when we need a reminder on how to be. On what ethics mean. On what strength and character, mean. You have and you continue to be, that hero.
This time, I have one more request:
Carry on! Keep doing what you do. We state troopers learn something within the first few days of the academy. We learn that no matter how hard we work, how diligent and brave and selfless we are, that no one will ever have the foundational knowledge—the genuine understanding—to truly give us the simple benevolence and gut-felt understanding we need. That only a few who understand what we are up against, could possibly know what we see, smell, hear, taste and feel with every tour of duty, every bloody wreck, every dead child.
You—truck drivers—are some of those few. Truck drivers see it and deal with it, probably even more often than do some state troopers. Truckers see the horrific scenes of torn and bloody bodies on the pavement with every few hundred miles, every couple of states, and every coast-to-coast trip. Some wrecks worse than others, you see a constant reminder of the danger and hazards you face as a professional; making a living on each of the millions of miles you drive.
You understand the state trooper lives with and must stop the thousands and thousands of felons, mentally deranged and selfish criminals of all kinds, who share the nation’s roadways with good Americans every day by the thousands. Drunken drivers, reckless and immature motorists threaten the safety you need and troopers are there to help you. All true trucking professionals are keenly aware of this.
So stay strong. Understand there are real people—people like me—who understand, respect and are grateful for all you do. All state troopers; could you hear them all, would probably surprise you in the numbers who say what I am saying; that this world would not function without you, the professionals who pick up, transport and deliver, the very things we must have to exist, survive and thrive. That the professional way in which this is done ensures the safety of every other motorist sharing your roads with you.
As I say “88s” and “33rds” to you all, my wish is for dry and dusty roads, friendly dockhands, forgiving troopers and understanding dispatchers. For good and well-adjusted equipment, honest and truthful logs and plenty of parking spots when those storms shut you down.
I hope you enjoyed my words and my thoughts. May your route be free of grades and gators and may it be easy on the brakes. May you all enjoy the life of comfort and convenience you deserve—brought to you—by one of your own.
Drive on—American Trucker! Drive on!