Up Front

Why we do what we do

Why does someone decide to become an over-the-road professional? Depending on who is doing the counting, there are about three million truck drivers in the United States…and there are probably that many reasons for entering the profession.

Some are literally born into it; their daddy was a truck driver and their daddy’s daddy was a truck driver, so trucking is “in their blood.” Others do it for the freedom of the open road and the chance to see this great, big beautiful country of ours on someone else’s dime. Others never thought of driving a truck for a living…until they lost their job or simply got tired of punching a clock in some factory every day.

Still others enjoyed long careers behind a desk, retired and turned to trucking to see for the first time in their lives how things work in the “real world.”

As we said, everyone has their own reasons for driving a truck, as the respondents to this month’s “Say What?” column (page 34) point out. No matter what your reasons for getting into this business, one thing is true of every driver: If you put in the effort and maintain your good health, you can stay here just about as long as you want.