Eye on Trucking: Hats off to the diverse and talented truckers who bring us the good stuff

By LYNDON FINNEY
The Trucker Staff

11/6/2009

National Truck Driver Appreciation Week began Nov. 1.

It’s a time when America pauses to honor trucker for their hard work and commitment in tackling one of our economy’s most demanding and important jobs.

And a time when the staff of The Trucker and those at our sister Target Media Partners trucking publications take time to say thanks for taking time to read us this year.

We know that as you travel this country and watch as over time thousands of trucks pass you going the opposite direction, you must from time to time wonder who’s behind the wheel of that truck and what’s their story.

A couple of times a month, Barb Kampbell of our staff visits the Petro Stopping Centers east of North Little Rock and uncovers some of those “stories.”

As our tribute to truckers on this special week, we want to revisit some of those men and women.

There was Dan Istre who said says he was stuck on trucking after spending 25 years as a pipe fitting boilermaker and just wanted to do something different.

Being a trucker, he said, “gets in your blood and you don’t want to leave it.”

Then there was Terry Gribbins, an owner-operator from Lafayette, Tenn., who says more or less he’s always been a truck driver since he started out at age 15 or 16 hauling carnival equipment back in 1965 when, as a hitchhiker he was offered a job for $65 week and took it.

He’s also a hero. Once in New Jersey, he pulled a guy out of a pickup truck that was in flames and stayed with him until the ambulance arrived.

The New Jersey Highway patrol honored him with a certificate for his efforts.

On another occasion he pulled a three-year-old child out of some water, saving its life.

Owner-operator Dave King of Evening Shade, Ark., was a tow truck driver for 14 years before he got into long-haul trucking.

He then decided to become a chicken farmer, but a tornado that ripped through Arkansas Feb. 5, 2008, changed all that and he eventually returned to trucking.

 “Feb. 5, 2008, blew me away,” he said, speaking of a major tornado that hit several parts of Arkansas and flattened his chicken houses.

“I took a direct hit,” he said. “We took cover in our egg cooler. I had two chicken houses. The only things left standing were my egg cooler — the one we were in — and my front porch.”

After working as an armed security officer and also at a correction facility for both men and women, Cheryl Mitchell of Jasper, Ala., says she likes her job as a trucker.

“I wanted to make more money and I enjoy driving; I’ve always enjoyed driving,” she said.

She went to Bevill St. Community College in Sumiton, Ala., where she attended school for eight weeks. A friend of hers worked for TransAm so she applied there and was hired. She then spent three weeks with a trainer until she was on her own.

“The scenery — the places you’ll never see otherwise,” is one advantage to driving, Mitchell said, adding that she gets to do some sightseeing and that she’s a photography buff, “so I do more picture taking than anything. I see some beautiful sights. I don’t pull over unless it’s an emergency. You can take an exit ramp and get sunsets and sunrises and different landscapes.”

Robin and Tina Calhoun are a team of sorts.

Robin drives and Tina rides to give him support and keep him company on those trips that sometimes can become so lonely for a trucker.

“We met on T-mobile,” Robin said. “You’ve got a lot of lonely truck drivers. We met on a lifestyles site where you can go and talk to people all over. I was going through a divorce and cut off from my kids. I met my sweetheart.”

The meeting almost didn’t happen, according to Tina.

“What was weird was I was going to delete my profile and he said ‘hi’ and asked if I wanted to talk on the phone,” she said.

Together, they’ve visited all but about five states.

Finally, there’s Richard “Dick” Green, who has been an over-the-road trucker for 38 years, and guess what?

He’s driven 4 million miles without an accident.

Green started his driving career after serving in the Army in Germany during the Vietnam era. He left the service in 1967 and drove straight trucks on local routes for about four years before beginning his long-haul driving career.

Green said he gets home about every three weeks and stays home about two days.

“I have to keep working to support two grandkids,” Green explained.

 At home, he’s got a wife, Sandi. Between the two of them they have six children and four grandchildren.

So to all you truckers out there on this special week, as they used to say on that old TV show “Hee-Haw” — saaaaaaalute!

Lyndon Finney can be reached for comment at editor@thetrucker.com.

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