In The News

Florida trucker truly is a rarity in his own right

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Veteran long-hauler Dan Taylor is something of a rarity in the trucking industry.

The Inverness, Fla., resident has been with the same company, United Van Lines, from the day he started trucking for a living 21 years ago.

“Trucking and moving furniture is what I know best,” he said, during an interview with The Trucker at the Interstate 40 Petro in North Little Rock, Ark., earlier this month. “And it pays the bills.”

Taylor got the trucking bug while growing up in rural southeast Ohio.

“We were surrounded by produce fields,” he recalled. “One day, someone put me in a truck, handed me a price tag and told me where to make the delivery. That’s the day I saw what I could make driving a truck for a living, so I knew right then and there what I wanted to do the rest of my life.”

Driving for United, he said, “is the perfect job for me. It gives me all the physical exercise I need to stay in shape and to keep from getting fat and lazy. United is a good company to work for, too. At least, they’ve been good to me.”

“From day one,” he added, “they’ve always treated me like a man and they’ve never talked down to me. The respect is mutual, I might add.”

Like most truckers today, Taylor has his “druthers” when it comes to hauling to various parts of the country.

“I like the Florida-to-California run,” he said. “I stay mostly on I-10. I always try my best to stay out of areas where it snows. I don’t like snow and ice. I really don’t like going to Chicago or Atlanta, but mainly because of the traffic in those two places. Still, I go where they send me and where the money is best.”

Asked how he would react if someone was to ask him about the pros and cons of a career in trucking, Taylor said he would “tell them to get with a good company, one that’s going to back you and be behind you all the way. That kind of support is real important.”

Divorced and the father of three girls, Taylor said the only thing lacking in his life is a woman to share it with.

“I don’t mind telling you, I’m looking for the right kind of female companion,” he said. “Who knows?” he added, grinning. “Maybe this [article] will help me get the word out.”

He said he gets home for a week to 10 days about every two months. “I like to fish and spend time with my kids when I get home. I also make an effort to spend a little time looking for that certain woman, too. I’m not giving up until I find the right one, either.”

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