Say What?
Question: How did you happen to become a truck driver?
Blaine Turner, 65, Crittendon, KY
Professional driving experience: 30 years
“It takes a unique person to be a truck driver. You’ve got to want to do it. I’ve liked it from the time I was a young man. I never had a college education. All I ever wanted to do was drive a truck. I had a cousin who drove, and I got into it from him. My own son used to go with me a lot, and when he was little, he used to say he wanted to be a driver. When he got older, he drove for Pepsi for awhile, but then he got out of it.”
Mark Worline, 40, Holland, MI
Professional driving experience: 13 years
“I really don’t know. I guess it was something I really wanted to do when I was a kid. When I was older, I decided one day to give it a try. I liked it, and I’ve been at it ever since.”
William Condron, 59, Rochester Mills, PA
Professional driving experience: 5 years
“It was out of necessity. My wife and I got tired of our jobs, and then we got laid off. It didn’t matter, because we didn’t like the jobs we had anyway. We talked about driving a truck and going on the road, so we went out and bought a truck and now here we are.”
William Ringstaff, 42, Omaha, NE
Professional driving experience: 16 years
“I’m a third-generation driver. You might say I was pre-ordained to drive a truck. I’ve always liked to drive. I like to travel and see the country. It’s worked out pretty well.”
Ralph Howard, 55, LaPlata, MO
Professional driving experience: 1 year
“I was a systems analyst. Nobody wants to hire a 55-year-old systems analyst who doesn’t have a college degree. I participated in the great downturn in California when high-tech companies were going belly-up. I had driven part-time in the 1970s, and I drove a truck when I was in the service. I first started driving professionally in 1982, but I got a much better offer to work in electronics. The bottom fell out of the industry a few years ago, and my job was exported to India. Now I’ve got a job that can’t be exported overseas.”
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