A Trucker's Tale: In The Beginning

Sep 20, 2023 - one year ago

We are thrilled to introduce the first article from our newest contributor to Supply Post — Ed Miller! Mr. Miller’s book, A Trucker’s Tale, impressed us so much that we convinced him to join our team. Look for his regular column, also titled A Trucker’s Tale, in many more issues of Supply Post to come. Welcome, Ed, we are happy to have you!

A Trucker's Tale: In The Beginning — B61 Mack — The first truck I learned to drive. My dad let me drive on an interstate when I was 14. Since I had observed him doing so many times, I surprised him as I put my arm through the steering wheel, grabbed one of the (two) sticks with my left hand, the other stick with my right hand, then double-clutched into a lower gear.

Author’s note: As I began writing A Trucker’s Tale, I imagined myself having conversations with other truckers, as you will read.

Trucking has been an integral part of my life for over 60 years, and my book was an attempt to share many of my fondest memories which took place throughout these trucking years. These events are, at times, humorous, sad, hilarious, unbelievable, and some even came about due to just plain stupidity. Most truckers, if not all, have experienced similar events and situations, and I am fairly certain each of you will be able to identify with either the people or events contained herein. All these stories happened, although I will ask your indulgence if some sound too absurd. Surely, you truckers know that each “fishing story” grows, and somehow becomes more interesting, each time it is retold. My “fishing stories” have never grown to this extreme level, but everyone has had to listen to some awfully tall truck driver yarns spun by numerous drivers.

I was born into a trucking family, and as soon as I could talk, I began pestering my dad with the question, “When can I ride with you in a truck?” Each time I asked, he would remind me that I could ride with him when I was old enough to climb into the truck by myself without any help. I must have been five or six years old when I climbed onto the running board (without cheating) and crawled up into the Mack. From that first day, I have been addicted to the smell of diesel fuel, diesel fumes, and almost everything else having to do with diesel.

Even before I was in my teens, my dad gave me the following advice, “Whatever you choose to do in life, just stay the hell out of the trucking business!” It seemed that he was not the only trucking father to offer this advice, because several years ago, I was privileged to be the keynote speaker at a Maryland Motor Truck Association’s Annual Truck Drivers Championship awards ceremony. I began my talk by asking how many of the several hundred truckers in attendance grew up in trucking families and the majority of the drivers had raised their hands. My next question asked them how many of their fathers had told them to “stay the hell out of the trucking business.” Damned nearly every hand was again raised, and the room immediately filled with laughter caused by the realization that we all had become truckers after none of us had taken dad’s advice.

I am pretty sure my father offered this advice because he knew how damned aggravating the trucking profession can be sometimes. He understood the nature of trucking, in that just when you thought things were going great, unseen forces always seemed to throw the proverbial “wrench” into your tasks, whether they presented themselves as flat tires, lights going out, hoses bursting, bad weather delaying your trip, or those cursed weigh stations no trucker enjoys. You kindred truckers have all experienced these unseen forces, and although you know damned well they are going to continue dogging you, you are still behind the wheels of the big rigs. Evidently, we are all gluttons for punishment! I suppose it is that once trucking gets into our blood, we are hooked, and love it or not, most of us stay at it our entire lives…in one form or another.

Vacationers and businesspersons see some of the landscape while traveling, but only the truck drivers get to enjoy the grandeur of the United States, and Canada, from high up in a truck. While crossing bridges, the tall concrete walls and jersey barriers prevent the four-wheelers from the marvelous views of the lakes, rivers, or gorges they are crossing.

How about the views you observe, though it is extremely hard to adequately describe them, such as driving across Staten Island at daybreak, when you crest a rise in the highway and are treated to the sight of the sun, as an enormous fiery red ball, perched dead-center between the two supports of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge? Imagine the 40-year-old photo image burned in your brain after you topped the hill on I-70 West in Hancock, MD, about a mile before the intersection of I-68. Just after midnight, the numerous, towering halogen highway lights are glittering off the bare limbs of the neighboring apple orchard which had very recently been completely covered by sleet and freezing rain. The scene resembled an ice forest! Hardly a day goes by that you truckers are not treated to sights such as these, and it helps to make the job of truck driving fun and interesting.

A Trucker's Tale: In The Beginning

Truck drivers also learn to conquer the types of fears very few other drivers are lucky enough not to have to experience. Imagine coming down Jellico Mountain in a freezing fog so thick you cannot see anything ahead but a very faint glimpse of the white lines of the road, so all you can do is creep down the mountain in a very low gear. You certainly cannot see what is behind you, although you have your four-ways flashing to warn those drivers coming-up behind you. You cannot pull over and stop on the shoulder, mainly due to not being able to see the shoulder, but also because you are afraid another truck will think you are still traveling and hit the rear of your trailer. What thoughts go through your mind when you finally run out of the fog at the bottom of the mountain, and are then amazed to see the 3 ½ to 4 inch long, horizontal icicles attached to, and sticking straight back from your side mirrors? Well, you wipe the sweat from your brow, and you might even have to change into a new pair of pants. You probably add one last prayer to the list of prayers you offered all the way down the mountain during your scary ride.

Ed Miller has more than 40 years of management and ownership experience in the trucking industry. Today, he is a part-time school bus driver, published author of ‘A Trucker’s Tale,’ (Canadian link). and regular contributor to Supply Post.He is a father of three and a grandfather of two, and lives with his wife in Rising Sun, Maryland.