A Picture of My First Company Truck

For all you new drivers out there, take a look at my first truck when I graduated Trucking School in 1991.







This was not my actual truck, but I stared out in a 1987 Cabover like the one you see here, and in about this same condition. I didn't pull vans tho, I was flatbed.

It did not have power steering. It was drafty even with the doors closed and windows rolled up, lol. But you know what, I wouldn't trade my experience with that truck in for anything in the world.

It was hell living in that truck for a month at a time, but she always came through for me. I never broke down with her, she was governed slightly higher than the other company trucks, and they all hated it when I passed them on Interstate 95 because my truck would do 69 MPH.

I remember getting the call when my father died while I was driving that truck. My father was a World War II veteran, baptist minister, had 8 children, stayed married to the same woman for 50+ years. My mother is still alive today and is 81 years old in August.

As a new driver, you'll learn the ropes of the road, and what can look like a curse may actually be a blessing in disguise, as was my first company truck. You have to learn by experience. But don't give up, just realize that you're starting out at the bottom and when you're at the bottom, there ain't but one way to go (if, God forbid, you don't get serously sick or killed).

I eventually got another truck but I'll never forget this old gal. She wasn't much to look at, trainwreck ugly as a matter of fact, but she sure ran like a champ, and that's what mattered. She was a worker and I can still hear her ponies whine when pulling the Fancy Gap.

If there's any advice I would give a new driver today is this - when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. It's what built this country. Be persistent, don't give up, if you get a lemon, try to make lemonade. I know that's not always possible. Above all things - BE SAFE. Don't let anybody intimidate you if you feel its not safe to drive (for whatever reason - weather, bad equipement, health reasons - whatever). I have it from a very good source that YOUR LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN A RICH MAN'S FREIGHT or a paycheck. Always remember that above anything else.


The call me the Southern Star, because if I'm heading South, I'm heading home.

May God bless you all, May God bless America, and go to bed before you go to sleep.

 

Did it look something like this?

 

Yea, I ran from 91 to about 95 or 96 thereabouts. Got out of trucking and into software developement.

I designed and wrote an application for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Admin in Washington DC. It allows post crash inspectors to enter data on post crash CMVs. It's used in all 50 states by State inspectors.

I recently returned to trucking. All my debts are paid and to be honest, I'm only trucking now for retirement. I'm currently 44 years young, plan to truck for the next 20 years and retire, unless I hit the lottery, which then I'll only truck for the next 15 mins before I retire.

I drove out the Halifax NC terminal for BT. This was back when the Gayes owned the company, Charlie Gaye I think his name was...

Anway, I was going to transfer down to the Lumberton terminal, but for some reason they wouldn't let me even though it was 2 hours closer to my house. Lumberton was short haul at that time. Its doesn't exist today.

I often wondered what happened to Builders Transport. They were a pretty big outfit when I drove for them. If I'm not mistaken, I believe somebody bought the company and its based out of Tennessee now.

Tommy was my trainers name at the Halifax terminal. He was a mulatto and always wore his cap sideways, one the most decent men I've ever had the priveledge to meet. He was an "old school" driver himself, nearly ready for retirement from BT.

He told me a story of a trainee he once had. He was a young kid and had never played the lottery. So Tommy explained to him how to play. So they bought a ticket together at the next truck stop and Tommy told him they'd check the USA Today newspaper to see the winning numbers when the drawing was held. Well, that was on a Monday and the drawing wasn't until Wednesday so it turned out that Tommy happened to be driving that Thursday and the trainee was asleep in the sleeper. Tommy pulls in the Truckstop for fuel and cigarettes etc and gets the USA today paper. He comes back out to the truck and notices the lottery ticket on the dash and looks up the winning numbers in the paper and naturally they didn't win. But before he left the truckstop, he goes back inside and buys a new ticket with the winning number from out of the paper and puts it on the dash.

Well, a few hours later, the trainee wakes up and after a few minutes Tommy tells him he bought the paper but hasn't had time to check the winning number and for him to look it up. So the trainee finds the lottery drawing results in the paper and looks at the ticket (which Tommy had put on the dash) and man he went crazy! "WE WON! WE WON! #### WE'RE RICH" Tommy went along with him and they all talked about what they were going to do with all that money. So after a few more miles, Tommy says he's going to pull the truck into the truckstop and call the company. He takes the lottery ticket and rolls it up and puts in the driver side sun visor and tells the trainee "I'm going to put the ticket right here. Stay with the truck until I get back." Tommy goes inside truckstop and about a half hour later comes back out and the ticket, the trainee, and all the trainee's stuff are gone.

He looked everywhere for the trainee and couldn't find him. He had done left with the bogus lottery ticket, deciding he wasn't going to split the winnings with Tommy.

Tommy called the company and told them his trainee had disappeared.