Career trucker loves riding cycle on off time, enjoys traveling companions
TLI driver John Mallow is kept company by his girlfriend, Pat, and his two dogs Sleepy, on left, and the rather unangelic pup named Angel who is either very protective of her truck, or Mallow, or perhaps both. (The Trucker: BARB KAMPBELL )
By BARB KAMPBELL
The Trucker Staff
12/31/2009
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — John Mallow enjoys the freedom of trucking although he’s not happy with some of the rules that come along with it.
Mallow started out working on a farm where he hauled cows.
“That’s how I got started trucking,” Mallow said. “We had a lot of stuff on the farm. I started hauling cows for other people and then started hauling to the Midwest.”
The reason he left the cattle hauling business is that there aren’t as many loads, Mallow said. Now he hauls general freight for Transco Lines Inc., based in Russellville, Ark., where he has been a company driver for about a year and a half.
The Trucker asked if Mallow likes being a trucker since there seem to be a lot of drivers today who feel like it’s the only option for them although they may hate it.
“I like being a trucker,” he said. “I guess I do enjoy it. I just don’t like somebody looking over my back, over my shoulder, all the time. I like the freedom. You get to see the country.”
And being on the road isn’t lonely for Mal-low, at least right now anyway. He travels with his two miniature Dobermans named Sleepy, 10, and Angel, 4. And besides that, his girlfriend Pat has been riding with him since June.
While he talked with The Trucker, Mallow held a Dec. 1 issue that we’d given him. He pointed to a picture of the new administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Anne Ferro, and said: “This woman’s going to cause us some problems.”
He really wasn’t specific about why she would do that, especially when we pointed out that the issues facing her weren’t her idea to bring up; they are things that have been in the works since President George Bush was in office.
On the subject of speed limiters, Mallow said that it would be a bad idea for all trucks to be governed at the same speed pointing out that from where we sat at the Galloway Exit off of I-40 there would be traffic jams all the time.
And like most truckers, Mallow has mixed feelings about the latest Hours of Service regulations.
“In the old days you could take a four- to five-hour break; now you can’t,” he said. “There are times I’m a little sleepy but I can’t take a nap because it’s going to mess up my hours. I know there’s more wrecks now than there were before they changed HOS. I don’t always agree with what the government puts out there. They say what they want us to know.”
Mallow also has some thoughts on how drivers should be trained which is another topic that Ferro will deal with now that she heads FMCSA.
“Driving schools — 14 days of school and out of that they only drive a few hours,” Mallow said. “I grew up on a farm and taught myself. I think they should have to train a full year and run all the states, well not all, but mountains, snow, a little bit of everything, not just in their home state.
“I think [President] Obama is anti-trucking because where he came from the Illinois governor was anti-trucking.”
What would be ideal HOS rules, The Trucker asked?
“I think the 11 hours is alright if they’d just let us break up the sleeper-berth,” he said. “I don’t always drive my 11 hours. Usually about 10 [hours] is what I drive every day. The way they got it right now you can’t take a nap.”
It appears that Mallow plans to retire in trucking, at least that’s what he’s aiming for now.
“It’s done me good,” he said. “I’ve made a good living at it. If you don’t like it get out of it as far as I’m concerned.”
Mallow says when he’s driving he always looks at the people in the vehicle beside him and he sees a lot of distracted driving.
“I see people driving [while] on the Internet, reading books. I saw a truck driver reading a book. I called her company and told them. To me I don’t see cell phones as a big problem. I see other things as a big problem. Now texting is a different story. There’s some people who can’t do two things at the same time. Some people can, some people can’t.
“I have a headset that I use all the time. I’m so used to it I can’t talk on the phone without it even at home.”
Mallow lives in Kingsport, Tenn. He’s got two grown sons. When he goes home he likes to get on his ’05 Wide Glide Harley and see more of the country.
Barb Kampbell of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at barbkampbell@thetrucker.com.