Tennessee trucker believes strong will survive industry’s hard times

William Shelby is still going strong after 25 years in the trucking industry. An exploding tire a few years back almost brought an end to his career. (The Trucker/Jerry Breeden)

By JERRY BREEDEN
The Trucker Staff

7/25/2008

Owner-operator William Shelby of Nashville, Tenn., is living proof that what doesn’t kill you will only make you stronger.

A few years ago, he was earning a living by removing overturned 18-wheelers from the road. On one such occasion, Shelby was working feverishly to clear the highway of a particular rig when something happened that nearly put him out of commission — permanently.

“I was real busy,” he said. “I was all caught up in what I was doing and my adrenalin was going crazy. I was walking along the side of this truck when, all of a sudden, one of the tires exploded.”

Shelby caught the brunt of the blast on the right side of his chest and shoulder.

“Up to that time, I had always thought I’d probably get taken out by a passing truck or car and that would be it,” he said. “I never dreamed it would be an exploding truck tire.”

He still experiences a lot of pain as a result of the incident, but it’s something he’s learned to live — and work — with.

Driving seems to come naturally to Shelby. As a youngster, he used to ride along with his truck-driving father, the late Bill Shelby.

“Actually, it wasn’t my dad but my cousin, Bruce Cook, who taught me how to drive,” Shelby said. “I guess I learned pretty fast. I think I was a natural, like I had a gift for it.”

As owner of a trucking company bearing his name, Shelby has spent the past eight years moving trailers cross-country for different companies. At the time of the interview with The Trucker, he was leased to Prime Transportation out of Bristol, Ind.

In light of all the economic obstacles that truckers — particularly owner-operators — are faced with in today’s uncertain times, Shelby said he is convinced that those who “stay strong and play it smart will not only survive, but be much stronger in the end.”

“One of the most important things,” he said, “is to not put all your profits into paying for your truck. Ideally, you will have low or, better yet, no payments at all.

“If you start out with a huge payment, considering what we’re forced to pay for fuel and other necessities, you’re already going at it in an upside-down fashion, because you have little or nothing to off-set your truck payment,” Shelby added. “That leaves very little room for putting some aside for a payment every time you get a paycheck. And surcharges aren’t the answer because if you don’t add them to your costs, it comes out of your own profits in the end.”

Maintenance costs can also take a big bite out of profits. “If, for instance, you’re tired of paying for repairs and want or need a new truck, you have to consider just how much you would be paying for it every month.

“I drive a 1999 Freightliner with a Diesel engine,” he said. “It has a little over 1.4 million miles on it. A few years back, I was really wanting a new truck, but I got scared just thinking about how much the payments would be.

“I’m a bit of a tinkerer and that has saved me a bunch of money by doing most of the repairs on my rig myself,” he said. “That has allowed me to hold off so far and I’m thankful I can do that.

“When you get right down to it, it’s a matter of wants and needs,” Shelby said. “Wanting a new truck and being able to pay for it is one thing, but absolutely needing one is another. If you truly need a new one, you might want to think about downsizing from what you have now.

“I certainly don’t have a clue where things in this industry, especially fuel prices, are going, but I really believe that the owner-operators who have no or low truck payments will survive and come out on top in the long,” he said.

As for the high cost of fuel, Shelby said he wishes that “all the truckers in the country could get together on a single, really effective approach, but everybody I know in this industry is so independent-minded that you couldn’t get enough drivers together all at once for a football game.

“It would take them a month of Sundays just to agree on the rules,” he said. “We all have a different point of view on everything, which would make it very difficult for us to agree on a single approach to protesting these outrageous diesel prices.”

Shelby said it’s also important that the owners of some of the major companies accept their fair share of the blame for the current state of affairs.

“Some of them are hiring foreign drivers who — let’s face it — will work for a lot less than most of us didn’t come to the United States from some other country,” he said. “The influx of foreign drivers is putting the hurt on the rest of us. I’ve even heard of some companies who have laid guys off after 20 or so years just because they’re not bilingual. That is a bad business practice, it seems to me. It would be a sad thing to have happen to you in this country, to get kicked to the tide of the curb because you can’t speak a language other than English.”

He said he believes that fuel prices and other factors are contributing to “the low-morale that’s so prevalent throughout the industry these days. A lot of drivers today would just as soon cuss you as help you if you should happen to find yourself broken down alongside the road somewhere.

“It used to be that truckers were a pretty tight-knit group, but there’s very little camaraderie these days, which is a sad commentary on our times in general, I guess,” he said.

“Nobody’s perfect and we all live within our own little world, but something else I’ve noticed the past few years is that some drivers don’t pay attention to what they’re supposed to be doing — driving,” Shelby said.

“There seems to be too many things other than driving going on inside the cab,” he explained. “The driver is either playing with his radio, the CB or the computer instead of concentrating on what’s ahead. About every fifth driver I see ahead of me is usually swerving to one side of the road or the other.

“I try to keep my eyes focused mainly on what’s going on ahead and behind me all time so I can see things starting to unfold before they actually happen,” he added. “But, hey, if you even dare to get on the CB and try to help some guy by correcting him, nine times out of ten you’ve got a fight on your hands. All I’m saying is that driving is a full-time job and it requires our full-time attention.”

Shelby is also of the opinion that the constantly increasing cost of fuel today is affecting everyone and every aspect of the American way of life.

“If you were to get off these major highways and start driving along some of these country roads, you’re going to see that there’s a for-sale sign at about every other house.

“It used to be that people were making enough money to hold onto what they’ve worked for all their lives, but nowadays you’ll see a truck, or a car, a boat, an RV or even a house up for sale,” he said. “It’s sad, but I’ve seen it happening more and more recently and I’ve got to believe it’s mainly because of the price of oil.”

Shelby is seldom very far away from the world of trucking. Even in his off-hours at home, he can be found tinkering with his truck.

“But my wife, Betty, and I do try to get out and about and visit with our friends,” he said.

The Shelby’s have no children, but he has one from a previous marriage.

“Her name is Chynna,” he said. “She’s 13 years old and a pretty smart kid, too. If you don’t believe me, ask her.

“In fact, if I come across a problem I don’t know the answer to, I just call her. She knows everything. Like I said, she’s a teenager.”