This Texas trucker is at home on the highway, fairway or speedway

When he's not on the speedway or fairway, Frodge and his co-driver/wife Sharon are busy making a living. (The Trucker/Jerry Breeden)

By JERRY BREEDEN
The Trucker Staff

2/20/2008

When owner-operator Richard Frodge isn’t hard at work behind the wheel of his big rig, chances are he can be found out on the fairway or speedway in his hometown of Tye, Texas.

Frodge, who said he has been leased “off and on since 1981” to Eagan, Minn.-based Dart Transit Co., is an avid golfer and dirt-track racer. He wasn’t inclined to say much about his golfing abilities, but he did tell The Trucker that he’s in the process of building his own hobby-stock race car.

“It’s a stripped-down Chevrolet Monte Carlo,” he said, “with a 355 [motor] that I’m rebuilding. I’m kind of anxious to get it ready to go.”

In the meantime, though, Frodge and his co-driver/wife Sharon are busy making a living.

Asked what he likes most about trucking, Frodge said he “never really thought about it much. Like all jobs, it has its drawbacks. That’s normal, no matter what you do.”

“The pay is good,” he added. “I like the way Dart pays its drivers. It’s a good company. We’ve had our ups and downs over the years, but that’s normal. They’re a good group to work for.”

After a slow first two months of the year, Frodge predicted that “things will pick up in the spring. We’re in kind of a downturn right now, which is normal for this time of year. It’ll get better. It always does.”

The worst part of trucking, in Frodge’s opinion, is the ever-dreaded downtime.

In fact, when The Trucker interviewed him at a Central Arkansas truck stop, he was in the middle of an equipment breakdown and waiting for the delivery of an idler pulley.

Frodge has been a driver most of his adult life. One of his former jobs was driving a cement truck for Halliburton. When he was in the Marine Corps, he was a heavy-equipment operator and did reconnaissance work.

Frodge said he was probably influenced to take up driving as a career by his father, Bill Frodge, who retired after 30 years in the industry.

Asked if he has any children, Frodge said he has two stepdaughters, five grandchildren and “our first great-grandchild is on the way.”

What advice would Frodge give a young person looking to make trucking a career?

“Don’t do it,” he said with a smile. “No, seriously, it’s not a bad life, but it’s not for everybody.”