In The News

Driver for 32 years looking for something different

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Billy Jones, a driver for Snico Cartage Inc. out of Memphis, Tenn., doesn’t really care much for trucking, but he says you have to do what you have to do.

In 1981 Jones bought a truck and had worked as an owner-operator until last May when he parked it. While he was not driving his truck he helped care for his sister who had cancer and he looked for a job.

“I didn’t intend to go back to driving but when you get hungry you have to do something,” Jones said. He returned to trucking in July after only a few months off and said the main reason he parked his truck was because fuel got so expensive and he wasn’t making any money.

Jones hauls general commodities consisting mostly of Direct TV loads. He drives “everywhere,” he said, meaning the lower 48 states.

When The Trucker asked him to talk about some things he’s encountered as a trucker he had a quick reply.

“I’ve seen just about all of it,” Jones said. “If I haven’t there’s not much of it left. “

And when asked what he liked about trucking, an even quicker reply followed.

“Nothing,” Jones quipped. “Not anymore. There’s too much time involved in it. You have to be gone all the time and you don’t make enough money.”

And what about his return to trucking; we wanted to know just what it was he wanted to do different.

“I wish I knew,” Jones said. “That’s the difficult part. Something interesting. I thought about politics, but it takes too long. It’s the same old thing. They’d say I don’t know anything because I’ve just been a trucker.”

Before he became a truck driver Jones spent about four years working in factories right after high school.

“My brother got me into this trucking mess,” Jones explained. “He said, ‘You’re gonna get rich.’ I got into it for the money because back in the ’70s factory work wasn’t paying much.

“I can’t totally complain about it. I used to be leased to a company … I made good money until they sold out. I haven’t done well since.”

In the late 1990s Jones got his own authority and was an owner-operator for a few years, until he “went broke.” He said there was too much paperwork and government regulations for a small company. And then the 2000 fuel crisis “put me over the top,” he said.

“I may get out of trucking in a couple of months,” Jones said on a day in late December. “There’s not enough money in it. You do what you gotta do right now. There aren’t a lot of jobs out there.

“I’ve got my eyes open to see what happens. I have a date set to quit but I might not. I might go into construction. I’d settle for a rich woman. It’s amazing how fast they run when I say that.”

Jones told of the most memorable occasion in his trucking career dating back to his second week of trucking. He said he stopped atop a mountain in the state of Washington. It was a clear night and he said he looked down and it was like he was “looking down on everything. I felt like a mountain climber. I won’t ever forget that. I had never been anywhere in my life and it just seemed like I was above everything.”

Jones gets home every week and spends time with his grown daughters, one who lives with him and the other who lives with her mother. While home Jones said he takes care of household stuff that needs to be done, and visits with extended family.

“If I had time I’d fix up old cars,” he said. “I have a ’72 Chevelle and a ’59 Ford pickup. Right now I just spend time trying to keep everything together. I might go out and find me a girlfriend. I don’t know what I’d do [if he got a job that kept him close to home]. I like to stay around the house.”

Jones said during his career as a trucker a lot has changed; and it’s been for the better.

“When I first started — safety’s always been an issue — there’s been amazing improvement in equipment in 30 years,” he said. “There’s better equipment and it’s more comfortable.

“Parking is a big issue, though. Late at night you can’t find a place to park. It takes two hours at night sometimes to find a spot. I won’t park on the ramps.

“If our government and safety people were as much into drivers not getting tired they’d build rest areas and truck parking.”

Jones said he’d advise anyone considering trucking to think twice.

“Find a job somewhere else,” he said. “I mean, if you are going to be over-the-road you have no time for family. That’s one of my biggest regrets. Go to school and learn how to do something besides drive a truck.”

Jones’ wish list for trucking includes putting in power those who have trucking knowledge.

“As long as I’ve been in trucking, I’ve always heard others say we’ve never had anyone in office who understood trucking and stood up for us,” he said. “They need to find someone and put them in a higher office that will stand up for us.

“They could do a lot for trucking. They don’t understand living conditions, pay, and the time involved with it. There’s not a politician that I know of who understands the trucker’s life.”

Jones has problems with the Hours of Service rules and said it’s difficult on the small companies to operate and service their customers and follow HOS.

“I sleep when I’m tired and it messes up my 14 hours,” Jones explained. “Anybody who drives tired is nuts. I’ve done it and I’ve been lucky. I did it when I was younger; I won’t do it anymore.”

Jones says that if he sat down and figured it up he’s driven at least 4 million miles, maybe 5 million in his career.

When asked what his biggest hope for the future is in trucking, Jones discussed the bigger picture.

“I’m just hoping everything in general will get better,” Jones said. “Jobs, money, all of it. Everything will improve so people won’t have to worry about if they can eat next week.”

Barb Kampbell of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at [email protected].