Driver says he was ‘born to get behind the wheel’

By BARB KAMPBELL
The Trucker Staff

11/13/2009

Joseph File:
How long trucking: Since 1987
Company Driver for Carroll Fulmer
Drives: 2007 Mack
Hauls: Van freight
Birthday: Dec. 20, 1963

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — At the age of nine, Michael Joseph was asked by his mother what his plans were for the future.

When he replied that he wanted to be a truck driver, mom wasn’t too thrilled and asked him why he didn’t plan a career as a doctor or lawyer. To which Joseph replied that truck drivers make a lot of money.

As a substitute for being a doctor or lawyer, Joseph said he then told her he would play football. That goal didn’t pan out when he had a career-ending injury while attending junior college.

The odd thing about Joseph picking driving as a career is that he didn’t know any truckers.

“Despite not having any experience or anything I wanted to be a trucker,” he said. “It just came to me.”

Joseph lives in Los Banos, Calif., with his wife, Bonnie. The couple has been together 10 years. They have 11 children. Before they met they each had three children. The ages range from four months to 24 years. Bonnie stays at home with the children.

“She’s my super woman with an S on her chest like Superman. She’s my super woman when it comes to the kids,” Joseph said.

Back in 1987 he attended trucking school at Superior Training for three weeks.

“I had planned to haul gasoline,” Joseph said. “When I got out of school I went back to Silicon Valley and started moving with Mayflower for about 10 years. I was with a co-driver. We moved households and did trade shows like Adidas, electronics, warehouse displays. I was just doing local and things started changing where I couldn’t advance in that company.”

Joseph hauls van freight for Carroll Fulmer. He’s currently looking to find a local trucking job because he has so many children.

“When I leave it’s hard for me to get back,” Joseph said. “I’m gone a month before I can even try to get back.”

Joseph said that a lot of companies don’t understand the personal side of things for drivers. He said there are things that need to be done at home and health issues because he can’t always get back home for appointments.

Joseph said he’s on the road about four weeks at a time and then home for about seven days, but lately it’s been spending about five days at home.

“I get attacked by love when I come through the door,” he said. “I’m playful and that’s how they are towards me. It’s a big wrestling match when I get home. It’s something to look forward to.

“The kids save things to show me when I get home. I love that. It’s special.”

Joseph said he’s active and tries to get plenty of exercise when he’s home. He enjoys just being with the kids and doing things with them.

“Cause time is limited,” he said. “So I make the most of it when I do get home. That’s the part of being an over-the-road driver; you miss those magical moments. You can’t replace it with pictures or a video camera. You miss birthdays and holidays.”

Joseph said he was “gifted to be a trucker. I was born to get behind the wheel and be a professional driver. When you grow up and do what you were given to do you don’t realize what you are going to miss. It’s lonely out until you get home. He [God] gave me the ability to drive. I know it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

To pass the time away from his wife and children, Joseph relies on God.

“I read my Bible,” he said. “I believe in God. I listen to Bible CDs. I just believe in Him. I keep His word. I just try to do unto others as I would treat myself. Without Him I couldn’t do it.”

Joseph drives California to the East Coast and said he doesn’t like driving in New York or New Jersey.

“Actually I appreciate it all from desert to forest, from oceans to mountains, from sun up to sundown,” he said.

Things haven’t been so easy the past few years for the family, though. They had a car wreck and lost one of their daughters in it. She was five. That was three years ago.

“I was getting ready to meet them,” Joseph explained. “I got a phone call in the middle of my travel. Once I got that phone call I was in shock. But knowing what happened, I just stood on knowing that God was in control. My daughter and another gentleman passed away that night.

“By the time I got the phone call the only thing I could do was go to the hospital where my wife lay and my two kids. My son had been airlifted to another hospital. My daughter was already taken by the coroner.”

Joseph said another adult was driving for his wife and the van got T-boned. He said the man got out and ran and his wife was charged and taken into custody. The police think she was driving and she got probation for the incident.

Joseph said his immediate and long-term plan is to drive local.

“It’s something you can’t walk away from,” Joseph said. “It’s like a magnet; it calls you back. My wife’s tried to get me out of it. I’ve thought about being an owner-operator but the way things are and with so many kids [it just isn’t likely to work].

“A goal is to raise the kids and then go buy a truck and it’ll just be me and her again.”

Barb Kampbell of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at barbkampbell@thetrucker.com or visit www.barbkampbell.com to find information about her new book.

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