Life on the Road

What drivers like…and don’t like

Everyone knows that truck drivers like to listen to country music, like their coffee black and like nothing better than to go hunting and fishing when they’re not on the road. “Everyone,” it turns out, may not know as much as they thought, at least according to a recent survey of 125 moving van operators.

“Our annual survey is designed to be a fun way to show emerging trends and preferences on the driving side of the relocation industry,” says Greg Hoover, a senior vice president and chief marketing officer with the company. “These are the opinions of an extremely hard working group of men and women.”

While country music barely beat out classic ’60s, ’70s and ’80s music as the favorite entertainment of the drivers surveyed, leaded coffee (sugar and cream) topped regular (black) coffee by a considerable margin, and “hanging out with family and friends” turned out to be the most popular pastime.

In the last issue of our sister publication, Pro Trucker, we published a few of the questions and answers from the survey. Following are some more results:

If you had to choose the most scenic stretch of highway in the United States, where would it be? (top three responses)

12% I-70 in Colorado

6% 101 in California

5% I-90 in Montana

When I’m on the road, and I have the radio on, most likely I’m listening to: (ex-ceeds 100% due to multiple responses)

34% Country

30% Classic ’60s, ’70s & ’80s

30% Satellite radio (XM, Sirius, etc.)

15% National Public Radio or talk radio

13% Rock and roll

No other music received more than 5%

.

When you are on the road, which of the following do you use? (exceeds 100% due to multiple responses)

96% Cell phone

56% CB radio

20% Laptop

1% Pager

While on the road, how many times have you stopped to aid another motorist?

39% Once or twice

35% Three to 10 times

19% More than 10 times

7% I’ve never aided another motorist

How do you like your coffee?

35% Leaded (sugar and cream)

24% Regular (black)

12% Premium (cream only)

6% High Test (sugar only)

What’s your favorite pastime when you are not working?

54% Hang out with family/friends

22% Go hunting or fishing

16% Have a relaxing dinner

11% No contest…sleep!

9% Go to a movie

6% Go to a sporting event

5% Work on house/yard

3% Motorcycling

2% Golf

2% Work on/restore vehicles

For complete survey results, visit the Web site at www.atlasworldgroup.com/survey.