Blessed Silence
by
Phil Madsen, Expediter
(Written November 13, 2003. Edited for publication on SuccessfulExpediters.com June 18, 2007)
Diane and I became team truck drivers partly to see the country and live simpler lives.
It’s working.
Thirty days ago, we went home to Minnesota to attend a family wedding. From there, we drove to Wisconsin, Chicago, Virginia, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Los Angeles, Chicago, Michigan, and back to Minnesota. While getting paid to pick up and deliver freight, we saw the North American forest, two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, southwestern deserts, the Rocky Mountains, Midwestern prairies and more.
Tourist and social fun in the last thirty days include an afternoon walking in a Connecticut, Atlantic-shore village and an evening of fine dining there; a day on the beach in Tampa, Florida; a night camped in a New Mexico state park, high on bluffs overlooking the Rio Grande river; a day on the Santa Monica beach and pier in California; lunch with friends at home; dinner with other friends at home; hours of pleasure reading; shopping in new and interesting places; and meeting some delightful people on the road.
As I write this, we are on our way to New Orleans, a city we are getting to know. From a previous visit there, we know where we will spend the night, park after we make our delivery, walk to eat, and what tourist attraction we will take in if there is time before we leave on our next run.
The job gets easier as we become familiar with the roads and cities of our great nation. We have learned that U-turns are made differently in New Jersey than in New Mexico. If we are in New York City overnight again, we know where we can safely park and sleep. Having now done both, we no longer worry about city or mountain driving.
It seems that the stories certain experienced drivers told us before we got into the business were overblown. While we have had some bad days on the road, trucking is by no means the ongoing horror story some drivers would have you believe it is. We have found the stress of trucking easier to manage than the stress of any other job we have ever had.
While we have yet to complete a full season of winter driving, we have had a taste. So far, it appears that the only differences between winter and summer driving are that you drive slower at times, drive in the dark more (shorter daylight hours), use more windshield washer fluid, use fuel additives, wear more clothes, and wipe your feet as you get into the truck. Other than that, the work is pretty much the same.
At this early point in our truck-driving career, I like prairie driving best. It offers long stretches of smooth road, wide open spaces that provide great visibility (no surprises around the next corner or over the next hill), and light traffic. Prairie driving leaves you alone with your thoughts for hours, and hours, and hours. It is peaceful and serene.
With the hum of the truck in the background and classical music in the cab, we have time to think about the world we are traversing and our place in it. We are free of the interruptions our white-collar jobs used to serve up. There are no client bases to worry about, no unwelcome social obligations to fulfill, no office politics to occupy our minds.
As truckers, our immediate concerns are addressed by ongoing traffic scans of the space around us. Longer term concerns are addressed by pre-trip inspections, getting our loads delivered safely and on time, managing the money people pay us to deliver their freight, and managing our time.
Compared to the work we used to do, trucking is simple and serene. It enables us to see the country, socialize with friends and family, and think about the things we want to think about, instead of the things other people would have us fill our minds with and act upon.
Of course there are the day-to-day things industry people want us to think about; drive on the right side of the road, obey the speed limit, get your paperwork in on time, keep the truck looking good and running well, etc.; but that is different than the work we came from.
Sales people don’t walk unannounced into your office reception area. Colleagues don’t try to get you to serve on their committees. There is no pressure to get involved in community affairs or contribute money to causes you don’t care about. Clients don’t distract you from your billable time with non-billable inquiries. You don’t wonder if it’s time to buy a new car because yours does not look as good as the other cars in the lot. You don’t have to put on $500 worth of clothes to go to work. You don’t have to dedicate weeks your life and thousands of dollars to fulfill the continuing education requirements of your professional licenses. You don’t have to attend meetings you’d rather avoid.
White-collar professionals reading this will understand what I mean when I say one hundred distractions a day. Now that we are truckers, those distractions have all but disappeared.
For us, trucking is the easiest and most serene work we’ve ever done. Among other benefits, trucking brings silence into our lives … blessed silence.