Say What?

Question: Do you consider driving over the road to be a stressful job?

Charles Hieleman, 56, Somerset, OH

Professional driving experience: 35 years

“Yes, it’s very stressful. It’s a combination of a lot of things. Traffic. Shippers. Dispatchers. Companies. Receivers. Just-in-time freight. Log books. You’re constantly worried about the logbook. What’s legal in one state might be illegal in another. Back when I started in the 1970s, people had high blood pressure, but there wasn’t all of the stress and health problems you see with drivers now.”

James Reinking, 63, Fort Wayne, IN

Professional driving experience: 45 years

“I drive regionally, hauling grain. It can get stressful during the harvest season, but nothing like these guys who are out on the road three or four weeks or more at a time. The key to dealing with stress is when you get done, leave your work at work.”

Marvin Stewart 57, Vinegrove, KY

Professional driving experience: 25 years

“Yes, it’s stressful. Why? Well, you can start with all of the B.S. you have to put up with from the feds. It’s not just the rules and regulations; it’s the fact they are changing the rules all the time. The DOT wants to tell me how many hours to sleep. I can’t sleep for 10 hours. That’s stressful.”

Rodney Spath, 57, Findlay, OH

Professional driving experience: 36 years

“Yes, it’s stressful, because you have to deal with all the people on the road today—four-wheelers and truck drivers, alike—who don’t know what they’re doing because of a lack of training and a lack of skills. On top of that, the DOT is constantly on truckers’ rear ends. No matter what we do, we’re always at fault.”

Thomas Meade, 56, Clarksville, IN

Professional driving experience: 9 years

“Yes, because of the traffic. The traffic is terrible, especially around the big cities. The last company I ran for, I ran dedicated. I was in Chicago five days a week. Putting up with that traffic made my job very stressful.”