Former attorney leaves stress behind, hits the road
Richard Voss said there is no stress in trucking unless you make it yourself. (THE TRUCKER: Barb Kampbell)
By BARB KAMPBELL
The Trucker Staff
7/31/2009
Voss File
Drives for: Owner-operator leased to Landstar Ranger
Drives: 1995 FLD Freightliner
Years trucking: 11
Birthday: October 27, 1949
Grew up in: Illinois and Wisconsin
Home vehicle: Buick
NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Owner-operator Richard Voss practiced law for 12 years before he had his fill of the stress and decided to do something different and ended up on the open road of trucking.
Voss attended the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he earned a bachelor of arts in business administration. He had a double major in accounting and real estate. Later he earned his juris doctorate after attending law school, then passed the bar, and became an attorney, practicing “small town” law covering everything from criminal law to bankruptcy law, until the stress of it affected him too much to continue.
“There comes a point where you don’t sleep well,” Voss said. “There comes a point where you get too stressed to do the job right and it is time to stop. This is one job where a ‘poor’ man can see the country.
“The places you go may not be interesting — like a factory — but inside is. I’m fascinated by what people will do to make a living. You meet nice people out here, too. If you go in with a smile and a good attitude you find people with a smile and good attitude. If you go in grumpy your day goes downhill and their day goes downhill.”
Voss hauls consumer goods, dry freight, “whatever pops up and is available. We pick our own loads with Landstar,” he explained.
Voss typically drives Interstate 80 in Illinois to New Jersey and New York.
“I prefer to stay east of the Mississippi and north of Florida,” Voss said, “because it’s more scenic. There’s something serene about driving through Vermont, New Hampshire … snow in the moonlight, ice on the rocks, but not on the road.
“To me the nice thing about driving a truck is you get to see the country. There’s no stress unless you make it yourself. I’m free to choose the load but once I take it I have to deliver.”
Some drivers talk about the freedom available on the road and Voss agrees to an extent.
“Before I went to law school I ran the family furniture store where I worked 12 hours a day,” he explained. “I was confined. I’m confined to the truck, now, but it’s moving. I get to see different things.”
Voss currently lives in Henry, Ill. He has a wife and five children, ages 32, 22, 19, 17, and 14 with only the youngest two still at home and the 19-year-old in college.
“Kathryn is 19 and made the dean’s list last semester at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa,” Voss beamed. “She is on scholarship to play softball and walked on to play basketball too. All my kids play sports.”
His oldest children, Justin and Richard, are young men who work and do not live at home. The youngest two are girls, Claire, 17, and Ella, 14, who are both on traveling softball teams and keep their mother, Mary Claire, busy keeping up with them and following their sports teams.
When he gets home Voss usually works around the house and visits with family and friends. He likes the small town setting where he lives.
“In this little town, in the words of my father-in-law in the ’50s: ‘It’s a real sanctuary. As people driving trucks might tell you — they live in nice towns but they can’t make a living in those towns.’”
Voss spends a lot of time away from his home and family while he works.
“My home time varies with how the freight is running,” Voss said. “I get home every three or four weeks. I can go home if there’s a reason. This July 4 [The Trucker interviewed Voss June 30] it would be nice to be home, but they’ll be gone to tournaments. The important things I get home for.”
Voss offered his thoughts on how he sees things in the trucking industry:
“I don’t like being called a truck driver,” he said. “I’m a business person who knows how to drive a truck. Too many drivers are trying to get there quick and they are forced to by dispatchers, or shippers loading late. Too many people want to force drivers to cheat.
“At Landstar we don’t do that — if it gets there it gets there legal. You have to be a thinking man. You gotta plan your trip. You may have to revise it in accordance with new data.”
Voss started his trucking career as a company driver for J. Bauer, in Medford, Wis. He stayed there three and a half years hauling paper, cheese, and kitchen cabinets.
He then hauled auto parts for Mike Brooks Inc., in Knoxville, Iowa, and left there to go out on his own.
“I’m a lifetime safe driver,” Voss said. “Forty-three years of driving vehicles without a wreck. As a trucker I have only gotten one ticket. That was for running a red light when I could not stop my load.
“They have all these signs up to tell you what to do — as long as you do that you don’t get into any trouble.”
Voss said the economy has affected him, but maybe not as much as some.
“There are fewer loads to choose from and the rates are low. My wife will tell me total revenue is down but my expenditures are down; like fuel. We’re making a comfortable living. If you are the kind of person who gets depressed because you can’t have steak and lobster, you’ll be depressed. Be happy you ate.
“You have to become more efficient. You don’t idle the truck, it kills profits, it’ll wear out the engine, and it’s not legal in most places. I don’t have a generator. So you sweat a little bit. Last winter I idled one night. It was 15 below in Minnesota.”
Barb Kampbell of The Trucker staff can be reached for comment at barbkampbell@thetrucker.com, or visit www.beaglebirdpress.com to find out about her new book, “Living Life Inside Out.”