As part of Ike’s analysis of the impact of automation on truck driving jobs, we’re profiling a few real truck drivers and exploring how their work may change in the future.
Steve worked as a company driver for more than seven years before he bought his first truck in 1995. He has worked for himself ever since, treasuring his flexibility and independence.
“You’re in complete control of your finances this way; you choose the freight you want to haul and your destination, and you come and go as you please,” says the 60-year-old U.S. Marine Corps veteran. “If I want to go on a cruise, or go hunting, or go home, I decide.”
Working out of Jacksonville, Florida, Steve specializes in heavy loads, such as construction equipment and military gear, and has hauled trailers weighing up to 90,000 pounds. In 2004, he bought a Lowboy trailer with a detachable front (also called a removable gooseneck) that lets the trailer create its own ramp, allowing for the tallest, biggest, and heaviest kinds of cargo.
“I don’t like the general freight market; it’s so competitive,” he explains. “There are 500,000 guys with vans ready to take a load of diapers.”
Steve also prefers long-distance routes, which he says pay the most.
“I like to stay out for four or five weeks and then take three weeks off,” he says. “Some truckers will ask me how can you be gone that long, and I say to them, how can you work 52 weeks straight?”
Q: What do you like most about your job?
A: The freedom. For instance, a few years ago I was in Chicago and my mother was planning a big birthday party back in Florida. I couldn’t find a load to take back home, so I just drove the 1,000 miles back anyway.
Q: What’s the hardest part?
A: There can be some insecurity. If I break my leg, God forbid, I don’t have any guarantee of income. It’s just me. Still, I’ve done okay so far; I have no debt and I can afford to take time off.
Q: What do you think people most misunderstand about your job?
A: The amount of time we spend doing it. A lot of people get their idea of trucking out of the movies. They don’t get how long we work. It’s not an eight-hour-a-day job. We’re limited to a 70-hour work week in eight days, but from the time you get up in the morning to when you stop it can be 15, 16 hours.
Q: How do you see the future for independent operators like yourself?
A: It looks good to me. There’s a lot of talk about automated trucks, but as far as I can see the nut that hasn’t been cracked is unexpected circumstances. Like in the spring of last year, I was on Interstate 65 South between Indianapolis and Louisville, Kentucky, and there was an accident five miles ahead with a rolled-over truck, hazardous materials and a fatality. The entire road was closed and a police officer with a baton was sending trucks in one direction and cars in another. I can’t see a situation yet in which the current level of technology could handle that. So I’m planning to stay with this job. I had a good friend who passed away last year; he was 79 years old and still doing heavy hauls. He’s kind of my inspiration.
Q: What has been your favorite load to haul?
A: That’s easy. I once had to haul a former t72 Soviet Union tank that had been used for bombing practice from New Mexico to Florida. It was almost antique, with a big red Soviet star on it. When I picked it up, I saw there was a huge pile of crash test dummies about to be trashed, so I asked if I could take one and they said yes. I took a Sharpie and drew a moustache and beard on the dummy, and put a pair of glasses on it, and stuck it in the turret of the tank. I remember in Texas there was a county sheriff’s car that came flying by me at 90 miles, the way they do, and he hit his brakes so he could come back with his camera. It can be a lonely job: you have to look for the fun where you can find it.
How we see Steve’s job changing
It doesn’t. Experienced operators like Steve will be hauling specialized freight for a long time to come. Some day automated trucks may be able to do this work, but Steve will be long retired.
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