It's a Team's Life

In The Beginning...

In The Beginning…

How many of you knew that you would be a truck driver when you grew up? So often children will say that they want to be a fire fighter or maybe a doctor or a lawyer. Some might even say that they want to be a teacher or a police officer. Rarely has it been said that a little boy or girl wants to be a truck driver. If one or more of your parents were anything other than a truck driver, would they have encouraged you to be a truck driver? Maybe? Maybe not?

When Dave was a little boy he wanted to be a truck driver. He loved all the big equipment. After he graduated from high school he had a job that allowed him to drive a box truck within the state in which he lived. He was gaining experience. Unfortunately, the company would get contracts and once the contract was completed the employees would get laid off until another contract was secured. After several layoffs Dave decided that he needed to find a more reliable source of revenue. He was not old enough to get is commercial driver’s license (CDL) as the law mandates that only people that are 21 years of age or older can driver commercially throughout the United States. For this reason Dave went to work for a printing company as he had plenty of experience in that field. His childhood dream of truck driving would have to wait. 

Fast forward 25 years, Dave is now married and gets downsized from an industry that has slowly shrunk over the years. He was 45 years old and was facing uncertainty as to his next move. As a supportive wife, I suggested he get his CDL as I knew that driving truck had always been a dream of his. He was hesitant as he felt he was too old to start something new. With encouragement and a less than traditional method of getting into trucking Dave started by hauling campers with a one ton dually. 

After about a year of driving on his own, I decided that I did not want to come home to an empty house after work every day. I quit my job and began driving with Dave in his one ton dually. We made so many mistakes in the beginning. We went so far into debt. It has been nearly 14 years for Dave and 13 years for me since we walked away from our other life. So much has changed in our equipment, the freight that we haul, the company that we are leased on to and trucking in general. Through it all one thing remains the same. Dave and I are together and trying to live our best life. The journey has not been easy. The challenges have been many. In the end, we are exactly where we are meant to be.

Here’s to millions of safe, profitable and CONTENT miles.

Kelly Plumb