Trucking Life

GREEN BAY, Wis. — Joseph Morning, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and California National Guard service member has been honored by Schneider as this year’s Ride of Pride driver, the company announced June 1. Schneider’s Ride of Pride program features specially designed Freightliner trucks that serve as rolling tributes to the nation’s military. Through the program, Freightliner has presented Schneider with a total of 14 U.S. Ride of Pride trucks — the most awarded to any carrier — since the program began in 2001. Morning received his new truck, which honors the 75th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force, May 27 and immediately set out to travel throughout the U.S. behind the wheel of the truck. “When I saw the truck roll down the line, especially with many veterans there, it was one of my top life experiences,” Morning said. “It was surreal. I had a lot of mixed emotions.” Throughout the next year, the public will see Morning and the Ride of Pride truck on the road and at the annual Wreaths Across America event in Washington, D.C. “I look forward to meeting other veterans at Schneider and across the country,” Morning said. “Most importantly, I’ll get to be a part of Wreaths Across America. My first Sergeant Major is at Arlington. One of the greatest honors would be to be able to deliver wreaths there to honor him and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.” Schneider has been independently ranked as a top military-friendly employer in the trucking industry, with nearly 14% of its associates having military experience. “Being a truck driver is almost the equivalent of being in the military, to an extent,” Morning said. “You have to be able to take care of yourself and other people around you, and you need to be aware of your environment. I feel that having those skills and transferring them over to truck driving worked out very well.” Morning has worked for Schneider for three years. He spent four years in the Marine Corps and currently serves in the California National Guard. Morning has been deployed overseas five times. Outside of his work with Schneider and his California National Guard duties, Morning enjoys creating videos with his drone and sharing the clips on social media. “We are incredibly proud to have someone as highly regarded as Joseph Morning behind the wheel of this year’s Ride of Pride truck,” said Rob Reich, Schneider’s executive vice President and chief administrative, who is a veteran of the U.S. Army. “Adding a new Ride of Pride truck to our fleet is always an exciting time and displays our dedication to those who serve,” he continued. “We are committed and honored to provide opportunities for veterans and current service members.”

Go ahead and chuckle at the slightly naughty-sounding name: Mother Trucker Yoga. Company founder and powerhouse entrepreneur Hope Zvara does it all the time. After all, she originally coined the phrase as a joke anyway … only to turn the tongue-in-cheek moniker into a highly successful company serving the fitness needs of drivers. “I went to a local business mixer here in Wisconsin with my husband,” Zvara explained. “I met a guy and I just started talking to him, and I’m trying to pitch him corporate yoga — and he looks at me and says, ‘Do you have anything for truck drivers in the cab of the truck?’ “Now, I think I’m funny sometimes, and I threw up my hands and I was like, ‘Mother Trucker Yoga!’ just trying to get a rise out of him, trying to make the conversation fun,” she continued. “Instead, he looks at me, sticks out his hand and says, ‘That’s brilliant. You want to go into business together?’ We shook on it.” Since then, Zvara has shed the partner and accelerated Mother Trucker Yoga into a formal yoga workout program designed specifically for truck drivers. While it’s not the first health and fitness service aimed at the trucking industry, Mother Trucker Yoga is unique in that all of the poses and stretches can be done in and around the rig itself. Best of all, you don’t have to be in great physical shape to get started and succeed. “Everything else I was seeing was people slapping gym exercises onto truck drivers,” she said. “I was like, ‘This isn’t working; this isn’t what they need. This isn’t practical for them.’ I wanted (Mother Trucker Yoga) to be ground-level. “I’m not looking for the drivers who are already into health and fitness. I’m looking for the drivers who feel like there’s nothing out there for them, like they’re a lost cause. Because that’s how I’ve felt in my life, for so many years,” she continued. “I know what it’s like to be overlooked and underestimated. Even in the yoga world, I always kind of felt like I didn’t fit. So, those are my people.” In addition to working with trucking companies to help maintain driver wellness, Mother Trucker Yoga offers individual subscriber options for drivers who want to give it a try on their own. With more than 200 yoga videos tailored specifically to drivers on the road, Mother Trucker Yoga provides sessions short on time and long on flexibility (no pun intended). “There ain’t nobody on the planet — I don’t care if you’re a truck driver or not — nobody wants to sit down and do a 60-minute or even a 20-minute workout. Nobody wants to do that in today’s culture,” she said. That’s why every Mother Trucker Yoga exercise is designed to be completed in five minutes or less. In addition, Zvara offers meditation exercises to help drivers achieve better sleep, relaxation and more. “Mental health and stress is a huge thing, not just for truck drivers but for everybody,” she said. Zvara says she has experienced the physical and emotional benefits of yoga firsthand. In fact, she shared, yoga first “found” her when she least expected it — but it was when she needed it most, at one of the darkest points of her life. “I was 18, 17, somewhere around there,” she said. “I had an eating disorder and drugs and alcohol and depression, anxiety, just lost. Really lost. I was an addict. I had done everything, had therapists; nothing was working because I wasn’t ready for it to. “I was working at a local pool as a lifeguard when a co-worker randomly looked at me and said, ‘You look like somebody that would practice yoga.’ And something in me that day just kind of tripped. I went home and I was like, ‘I think I’m going to practice yoga,’” she recalled. Out of nowhere, Zvara cuts loose with one of her trademark laughs. “Full disclosure: I don’t even think I ever heard the word ‘yoga’ prior to that conversation,” she said. “But I believe things happen in life or a reason. So, I went home and told my mom. She knew I was struggling, and she said, ‘Well, I did yoga in college. I’ll go with you.’” During that first yoga class, Zvara recalls she stood out because she was the youngest participant by 25 years — as well as the one with the least hint of what she was doing. Nevertheless, she left amazed at the peace in her mind and the way her spirit hungered for more. “I remember looking back into the room, and for the first time in as long as I can remember, my mind was clear,” she said. “I wasn’t thinking about hurting myself. I wasn’t thinking about what should I eat, or what am I going to drink? Nothing. I was hooked; I just kept going and going and going.” Years later, after that chance meeting at her husband’s business mixer, she perfected the basics and debuted Mother Trucker Yoga at the 2018 Mid-America Trucking Show. Not having a background in trucking (either before or since), combined with no idea how to become a public speaker, might have spelled disaster for the new venture. But then, as now, Zvara preached the benefits of yoga with an evangelistic zeal that has won over converts and taken the program nationwide. “I was always around blue-collar workers,” she said. “My dad was a sewer pipe layer. I love the men and women that have the jobs that keep this country running strong, and I don’t say that as a cliché. “I’ve felt that way my whole life, because my dad was ashamed of what he did,” she explained. “He felt underappreciated, and I feel so many similarities between watching my dad (when I was) growing up and truck drivers. I love those people. Those are my people.” Even though Zvara says she’s not comfortable with public speaking, she has conquered this fear, along with many others during her life and in her Mother Trucker Yoga venture. “When I stepped into trucking, I had no fear. It was like, ‘I know this is going to work. I know that this is what they need,’ she said. “(I had) so much confidence that I knew I could help these men and women.”

No matter how much they love their job, longtime truckers will readily admit that the road can be an isolating place at times. Women in the trucking industry can feel that isolation on an even greater level. Professional driver and senior chaplain Mona Beedle is working to make both short and long hauls brighter by creating a group that creates a sense of community among everyone in the trucking industry — particularly women. Her vision is of a group in which drivers can lean on one another and receive comfort from others who truly understand what it means to be on the road. That group, Trucking Angels for Christ, is the result of that vision. Beedle created the community in 2017; the nonprofit group was officially organized in 2019. Originally from Lakeland, Florida, Beedle now makes her home in Clarksville, Tennessee. “I have three wonderful children, Tim, Jessica and Selena, and seven grandchildren now,” Beedle said. Beedle began her trucking career in 1989 as a company driver; she later became an owner-operator. She says her faith in Christ inspired her to name her company Crimson Rose Express. “The logo had two nails for the cross and the crimson rose in the middle of cross for Christ and drops of blood coming down,” Beedle said. Being able to see God’s creation while in the road is what drew Beedle to a career in trucking. “I love the journey and (seeing) God’s beauty and his creation everywhere,” Beedle said. “When you take a hold of that, it makes your driving so much more outstanding. I love meeting people across the country.” Faith is the cornerstone upon which Beedle builds her life, and she weaves that faith throughout every aspect of her career. As a child, Beedle says, she was called to a life of evangelism. During her more than 30 years in the trucking industry, she has gracefully intertwined her love for Christ and her love for her career. “(Trucking Angels for Christ) started out focusing on the women drivers and women in the trucking industry,” Beedle said. “I knew what their struggles were. Being away from home is hard. Being away from your children and family is hard. Being isolated out here on your own and not having anyone to talk to is hard,” she explained. “Our mission is to evangelize, equip and educate the women in the trucking industry with the infilling of God’s word. The attack of the enemy out here on the road is real in your body, your mind, your spirit and your emotions.” Beedle says she wants women to know they are not alone. Trucking Angels for Christ has chaplains who are available to speak with those who need care, comfort and to be uplifted. They organize phone calls and even provide drivers with chances to sit and have coffee with someone who understands life on the road. “My heart’s desire is to share the love of Christ with these women, but we’ve had a lot of men reach out to us too,” Beedle said. Committed to being as accessible as possible, Beedle holds daily devotionals on the group’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/truckingangelsforchrist. While sharing a cup of coffee with her viewers, the daily virtual gatherings are a time to reflect, share and bond. The group is also working to create a website which Beedle says should be up and running soon at www.truckingangelsforchrist.com. In addition, every Tuesday evening at 7 p.m. Eastern time Beedle hosts an interactive conference call in which people can participate in praise and worship, ask questions and share prayer requests. The gatherings begin with a short meet-and-greet, followed by the introduction of that week’s speaker, who will share a devotional message before the phone lines are opened for fellowship, questions and prayer requests. Beedle sees the Trucking Angels for Christ group as a way for those who cannot attend church due to their work schedule to be able to gather together for worship and fellowship. “We bring church to them,” Beedle said. While Beedle does her best to make sure there is a sense of community and family while on the road, she does not always travel alone. Beyond being a mother to her kids and grandmother to her many grandchildren, Beedle is proud to also carry the title of “dog mom.” She is often accompanied by a quartet faithful four-legged friends — Crybaby, Trooper, Hope and Katie Sue, all Chihuahuas. During her travels, Beedle attends trucking shows across the country, sharing her message of hope through the Trucking Angels for Christ booth. It’s not unusual to see Beedle and other group chaplains praying with other truckers at a show and handing out free Bibles. Trucking Angels for Christ is a nonprofit organization and relies on a partnerships with individuals and groups as well as other donations. The funds given by partners and other donations are used to purchase booth space at shows and to cover the costs of the Bibles the group distributes. Beedle has also been known to use her own personal finances to ensure the continuance of her mission. For information on becoming a partner or donating, visit the group’s Facebook page to connect with Beedle. Beedle’s advice for women thinking of joining the trucking industry is simple: “Keep God first,” she said. “I pray before I move that truck. We never know what life ahead will be. There are obstacles and troubles every day. I encourage them to learn everything they can about their truck and about the industry,” she said. I believe we are all positioned for a reason. “I may not know the reason I am at the place I’m at, but God does. I just want to be His feet and His hands and His mouthpiece,” she concluded.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) has named truck driver Binyam Tadele a Highway Angel for spotting a fire under a car, extinguishing it and getting the driver out of the vehicle safely. Tadele, from Baltimore, has been driving a truck for Schofield, an independent affiliate of Quality Carriers, for more than four years. Tadele’s journey to becoming a Highway Angel began on a recent foggy morning at around 7 a.m. along Interstate 70. He was on a run between Baltimore and Shippensburg, Pennsylvania. Tadele noticed through the fog that a car up ahead appeared to have flames billowing underneath it. “As I’m passing, the flame started getting bigger,” Tadele shared with TCA. He continued to watch the car, which was pulled over, in his mirror. “The flame got worse, and the people were not coming out,” he said. Tadele safely pulled his rig over, grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran back to the smoldering car. A woman, wearing hospital scrubs, was alone inside. He yelled at her, “Hey! Your car’s on fire! You gotta get out!” The woman, unaware of the fire, exited the vehicle, called 911, and Tadele proceeded to extinguish the blaze. He said he is glad he saw the fire when it was “still small – it could have been worse for her.” Tadele stayed with the woman until emergency crews arrived to assist. TCA has presented him with a certificate, patches, lapel pins and truck decals. The company has also received a letter acknowledging him as a Highway Angel. Since the program’s inception in August 1997, nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers have been recognized as Highway Angels for the exemplary kindness, courtesy, and courage they have displayed while on the job. Special thanks to the program’s Presenting Sponsor, EpicVue, and Supporting Sponsor, DriverFacts.  

DENVER — All his life, Troy Miller says, he was “only waiting for a moment to be free.” While Miller’s first choice of a career path was to follow the written word — he studied English literature at Colorado State University — he says the open road has empowered his exploration of creativity and self-confidence during his 12 years of heavy hauling. “I never went to a trucking school,” proclaimed the 30-year-old Miller. Instead, he learned trucking “the old way” from veteran drivers. While in college, he met two drivers he considers to be the “greats” of trucking — Gary Disher and the late Bobby Ewing, who showed Miller the ropes when he first entered the trucking industry. Today, Miller has accumulated more than 1 million miles through lowboy heavy hauling and is an owner-operator with Black Diamond Auto Transport. While Miller might have learned about trucking in the old-school, traditional way, that doesn’t mean his lifestyle stayed traditional. Tattooed from the neck down — nearly 40 tattoos in all — he enjoys a colorful life, eating a rainbow of vegetables as a vegan, and he is a proud member of the LGBTQ community. His favorite (and most recent) tattoo is an image of two hands releasing a blackbird, allowing it to fly toward a rainbow of colors. The hands are that of Ciara Sleeth, Miller’s best friend who encouraged him to come out to his friends, family and trucking colleagues. The blackbird tattoo, inspired by The Beatles song of the same name, features the lyric, “You were always waiting for a moment to be free.” After nearly four years as an openly gay trucker, freedom is all Miller explores on the road. Through trucking, he says, he is free to be himself, to see the world, to cook and create unique vegan dishes, to express his visionary mind, and to have time for his friends and family in Colorado. During the winter, Miller sometimes takes jobs pulling a reefer trailer, but it’s rare. Most recently, he spent four months driving a route through California. While the change of scenery was nice, he said, he values his time with his family more. “When you end up with these delays and produce ships to load or unload, it can make getting home much more difficult,” he said. Getting home to help his family when needed is important to Miller. Recently, his eldest brother, Greg, suffered a heart attack in Fort Collins, Colorado. As his brother recovered, Miller stayed with his family, using his love language of cooking to support his family in a time of need. Miller puts his family first, and his tattoos reflect that devotion. A half-sleeve tattoo features cartoon characters and animals that represent each of his family members, either through a favorite animal or a family memory. For example, when the movie “Madagascar” was released in 2005, the family agreed that Miller’s younger brother Cory definitely fit the character of one of the penguins, Skipper. Miller happily shows off a tattoo image of Skipper playing the bagpipes. Miller’s other brother, Greg, is represented by a Badtz-Maru penguin from Hello Kitty, and his mother is depicted as her favorite animal, a puffin, holding a set of knitting needles and wearing a Hello Kitty bow. An image of Eeyore with an airplane represents his father. While driving a truck might seem a far cry from a literary career, Miller draws inspiration from his time on the road to express his creativity. While on the road, he takes photos for 10-4 Magazine; when not actively driving, he writes. Taking a pencil to paper to express himself through words has always come naturally to Miller, who says he received straight A’s in the subject at school. Over time, his talent guided him to draw inspiration from postmodern French philosophers such as Albert Camus, as well as Russian literature by Leo Tolstoy. “If you asked my parents, they would say I had the gift of gab since I was a kid,” he said. “Writing always came fairly easily to me. It’s not that I’m the greatest writer in the world; it’s just something that always made sense to me.” Miller’s word-filled brain made English literature a natural choice when it came to choosing his major in college, but the story is different once it shifts to his interest in photography. “I did not set out to be a photographer,” he explained. During his sophomore year of high school, he needed just one more fine-arts credit to move on to 11th grade. He heard through the grapevine that photography was the easiest credit to earn, so chose it to avoid another class burning through his mental energy. That first class had him hooked, however, and by the time he graduated from high school he had five semesters of photography under his belt. The darkroom entranced him as he learned to develop film and prints and then enhance them with enlargers and special effects. He’s now switched primarily to digital photography, but fondly remembers the days of film, keeping those skills close whenever he has a need to shoot or write articles. Along with a deep love of literature and photography, Miller has long been fascinated with trucks. “Trucking happened because even before the reading and writing, my parents told me, before I could even say the word, ‘trucks,’ they could tell I loved trucks,” he said with a laugh. While growing up, garbage trucks sparked his interest as he watched them going back and forth in his neighborhood. That initial interest “dumped” a load of love for all trucks in his brain. His love for trucks took over his childhood room: All his books were about trucks, and his LEGO sets were model trucks. As a teenager, Miller dreamed about living on the road, even while he was practicing photography and developing his writing skills. Today, he lives out that dream of life on the road — and he keeps a copy of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” and his cameras close by in case inspiration strikes.

There’s an awful lot about LeAnna Thompson’s life that followed its own muse. She never imagined herself riding around the country in the cab of a big rig — but that’s what her life has been since she joined her fiancé Tosh Eyler, who’s driven for Wilson Logistics of Springfield, Missouri, on the road three years ago. And while she’s always loved animals, Thompson never thought she’d be sharing that cab with one, let alone two, canines. (Neither did Eyler, for that matter.) But hey, love leads you to do strange things sometimes. “The idea to get a dog was mine. Totally 100% mine,” Thompson said with a laugh. “Actually, that’s how I ended up on the truck. Tosh suggested (that I travel with him) and I was like, ‘Well, I don’t know.’ Then he said he’d get me a puppy, and cheesecake, and carrot cake, and all the things that I love. So, he bribed me.” Enter Diesel in May 2021, which the couple adopted from an animal shelter in Nashville, Tennessee, when the pup was just seven weeks old. “He’s a funny story,” Thompson said. “We were looking for a small dog, a little dog. At seven weeks, they told us he was a chihuahua. Not kidding! He is the biggest ‘chihuahua’ I have ever seen in my life.” One glance at Diesel, and even those most uninitiated in dog provenance will know the dog isn’t a chihuahua; his appearance shows signs of hound or perhaps border collie in his DNA. Regardless, it was mutual love at first sight both for the couple looking for a companion and the hound looking for a home. “Diesel has severe separation anxiety, actually, with Tosh,” Thompson said. “He does not like him leaving the truck. Tosh cannot leave, he can’t pump gas, he can’t go to the bathroom. He cannot leave the truck without Diesel freaking out.” It was during one of these anxiety-induced frenzies about Eyler heading into a truck stop to take a shower, in fact, that Diesel tore open and ate an entire box of detergent pods. After rushing him to the vet, the couple began to think another pup would help prevent such situations. Enter Gidget, in September 2021. This California girl is the product of a full-blooded bloodhound and blue tick coonhound — and she has the pitch-perfect vocal pipes to prove it. It was love at first sight between the two fluffers, even if it meant Diesel forfeiting any notion of being leader of the pack. “That connection was instant,” Thompson said. “From the moment we brought Gidget home, Diesel was just so adoring over her. “But she’s the dominant one,” she continued. “He is not allowed to have any toys. Gidget does not like Diesel to have anything. Nothing. Even if we buy the same exact toys for both of them, she will steal all his toys. But Diesel doesn’t care because he just loves her.” Dog parents, much like parents of humans, have to have a certain set of survival skills, such as a sense of humor, a massive amount of patience, and excellent problem-solving abilities. In the cab of a truck — Eyler drives a 2021 Volvo VNL860, coast-to-coast – these skills are even more in demand. In Thompson’s regular posts to social media sites featuring drivers and their pets, followers will immediately spot the baby crates that were converted into makeshift pens to give the hounds their own space. It’s an idea with a “middling” success rate. “We’ve tried to kind of separate them while we drive, because they do get really rowdy and there’s not enough room in the truck,” Thompson said. “We came up with an area where they can still interact but are separated because they wrestle so hard. They’re also still chewing, and we don’t want wires or important stuff getting chewed. “We started kenneling them when they were babies when we first got them,” she continued. “But obviously there’s not a whole lot of room in the truck for two kennels for their size. We makeshifted their own space.” Reading between the lines of Thompson’s posts you learn of other adventures, too, such as when the couple makes a trip to visit Thompson’s parents (her father is over the moon for Diesel) or when she posted about her new slow cooker. “That was Diesel,” Thompson said. “He ate almost half a crockpot of chili. It was quite the mess.” Eyler, who’d never owned a dog before, said there have been other adjustments, such as getting used to barking or the other shenanigans the furry family members pull while en route. But, he said, it’s not without its payoffs, either. “A lot is that companionship,” he said. “You wake up, and Gidget especially is super-sweet, and you wake up with little kisses and cuddles. “When I leave the truck to go check in or run into the truck stops, I know LeAnna is not in the truck by herself,” he added. “We experienced a few things along the road, just creepy people, and it’s nice knowing that those dogs are there to at least make some noise and deter anybody who might get too close.” Thompson says Gidget is more responsive to Eyler’s commands than to hers. “Gidget is a daddy’s girl!” she cooed. “She likes to do everything with her daddy. When I call her down, she doesn’t listen. She’ll scoot over towards Tosh and be like, ‘Can I get away with it?’ She knows how to get down; she knows that command. She just doesn’t mind me. That’s almost like a sarcastic comment to me.” Owning dogs has gained the couple entry into a fraternity of drivers who travel with their four-legged family members. And while traveling pets is becoming more common, the service industry that caters to truckers has a long way to go to catch up. “The only place that is really pet-friendly is Love’s. They at least have, for the most part, a dog park area. It’s small but it’s doable for them to run off some energy,” Thompson said. “Love’s is very accommodating. They let us bring the dogs inside. They can even go in the shower with us. That is the only truck stop that is pet-friendly. “As a result, we do prefer to either go to Love’s or a rest stop, because we can take them out at a rest stop and play with them,” she said. “We’ve found quite a few rest stops that have little hiking trails and stuff like that where we can go on a hike and take them for a good walk.” Both Thompson and Eyler said that drivers wanting to get a dog as a driving companion should first do a little homework. “If you are by yourself and you have nobody else riding with you, I suggest you get an older dog, not a puppy,” Thompson said. “I will tell you right now, puppies are a handful. It was a handful with Diesel, but Diesel kind of worked us into a pattern, which is why we’re able to handle Gidget because we learned what to do and what not to do with Diesel. “Still, if you’re a single driver and don’t have a passenger to help you out, do not get a puppy because it’s a lot of work; it’s a lot of chaos,” she said. As for traveling with both a dog and a significant other, you should be prepared for good days and bad days, Eyler said. “The biggest thing is the tight quarters; you’re always around each other,” he said. “You’ve got to have a strong relationship to be able to even handle that, without that break of each other going to work at separate jobs. That would be the biggest thing I would say, how well you handle being with each other 24/7. “Just keep the peace with what issues do arise, so that it doesn’t turn into bigger deals than need be,” he concluded.

As a career driver with 52 years of service, Billy Stone was recently inducted into the Howes Hall of Fame. According to a news release, Stone “stands as a prime representation of the heart of the trucking industry. Stone has served as an impeccable driver, an inspiring mentor, and a dedicated family man.” With an exemplary driving record under his belt, Stone has logged more than 4 million miles over the years. That equates to more than eight round trips to the moon, or more than 160 times circling the Earth’s equator. He’s traveled far and wide across the entire North American continent, including Canada and Mexico. In fact, the only American state he has yet to visit is North Dakota, a bucket-list item he plans to check off this year with his son. As a young boy, Stone developed an interest in the trucking industry early on, with both his father and uncle being over-the-road drivers. In 1963, while working as a mechanic, he met and married Barbara Stone, his wife of 58 years. Barbara had family in the trucking industry as well, and when she spotted an ad for truck driving in the newspaper, she knew her new husband would be thrilled at the opportunity. Breaking into the trucking industry in 1966, Stone began his career at Whitaker Oil where, after just six weeks of training, he hit the road. After that, he never looked back, driving straight through until his retirement in 2018. For the next 10 years, Stone hauled everything from chemicals to exotic furniture before joining the team at Conyers Air Products & Chemicals in 1977. There, he quickly established himself as one of the company’s most admired drivers. “Mr. Stone is one of the most professional drivers I have had the pleasure to work with over the years,” Conyers Site Manager John Hardy said. “His commitment and dedication to safety has positively impacted generations of new drivers at the company.” With safety always at the forefront of his mind, after 35 years with Air Products & Chemicals, Stone reached a major milestone in 2012: He eclipsed 3 million miles without incident.   “I’ve been proud to do all these years and all these miles. But being recognized for it, that’s a big deal. It’s a feeling I can’t get over.” — Billy Stone     That means no accidents, fender benders or even so much as a broken taillight. Though he has accumulated numerous other awards, this one continues to be his most cherished. “Billy typifies what it means to be a truck driver – hard working, dedicated, conscientious and driven by strong family values,” said Rob Howes, executive vice president at Howes Products. “We built this hall of fame to make sure the stories and values of drivers everywhere are represented through people like Billy. As a truck driver, he’s part of a group that we are most proud of and shows how rewarding a career in driving can be. His mentorship and lead-by-example efforts help others realize that they too can achieve great heights in the trucking industry.” Dividing his time between running solo and as a team, Stone says he cherishes the relationships he built with the variety of partners he had while hauling hazardous gases and chemicals. However, closest to his heart is the inspiration he invoked in his nephew. Under Stone’s mentorship, he has also become a truck driver. Along with safe driving, Stone holds time with family as one of the most important things in his life. Being on the road for long stretches of time was difficult for Stone and his family. Before the age of cell phones, finding ways to keep in contact with his family was a top priority. Though he sacrificed many weekends and holidays away from them, Stone always tried to be a part of as many big and small family moments as possible. Barbara Stone explained, “It was just a way of life that we adapted to, and actually, it was exciting because it was different than other people’s way. But we enjoyed it.” A true family man on the road and off, Stone always made the most of his time at home. “My dad was gone for a while, you know, on the road. Then he would come back home and we’d spend a lot of time with him,” reminisced Stone’s son, Reed Stone. “Whenever dad would bring his truck home, we would become famous, because everybody in my neighborhood would see the truck parked in front of the house. It’d be a special time, a great time.” Though Stone credits the raising of his children to his wife, he never wasted a minute of time spent with them. It is clear by the pride and admiration with which they speak of him, he made a huge impact on their lives, and was never far from their hearts or minds. Erika Howes, vice president of business development at Howes, noted that Stone is the first hall of fame inductee of 2022 and the first nominated by the public. “The Howes Hall of Fame has gained a lot of momentum since we opened it in 2020, but this induction is extra special to us,” she said. “Billy is the driver we all know is out there, who goes unnoticed or underappreciated, but still works hard to make sure we all have what we need in our daily lives. He is the type of person we want to hear about from people in the field. Someone who inspires others, who goes above and beyond. Billy, and others like him, know they’re special to their family and friends, but we’ve developed this platform to let them know they’re special to all of us as well. It’s extremely important to us that people head over to the Hall of Fame and get nominating, so we can fill it with amazing inductees like Billy.” Stone is also the first inductee featured on the new Howes Hall of Fame Virtual Reality Platform – an experience launched at the Mid-America Trucking Show this year. Visitors with access to VR headsets compatible with AltspaceVR can dive into an immersive experience when visiting the site. The simulated Hall of Fame features games and challenges and can provide interactive experiences with other visitors from around the world. Both the current digital and new virtual versions of the Hall offer interesting facts about trucking, farming, the Howes company, and of course, the phenomenal inductees. “I’ve been proud to do all these years and all these miles,” Stone said. “But being recognized for it, that’s a big deal. It’s a feeling I can’t get over.” To visit the Howes Hall of Fame online, click here.

Ric Pike always has to eat a little crow when he tells the story about how he became a professional truck driver. “I thought it was an easy job, that I could do it without any problems,” Pike said during a recent interview with The Trucker. He’s now nearly three decades into his career. The Oregon native started his professional life as a pressman at a plywood mill. It was a tough job — one that he was eager to step away from when the opportunity arose to haul the wood instead of helping to make it. Pike said he learned how to drive a big rig “the hard way,” in a 1957 Kenworth equipped with a five-in-the-floor transmission and a soot-belching 230 Detroit diesel engine. He soon discovered that trucking wasn’t as easy as he thought — but even so, he still took a shine to it. After a few years of transporting plywood, he moved on to hauling logs. “That really kept me on my toes,” Pike said. “I was 18 or 19 when I first started out, so I learned as I went.” After a stint of driving timber in the Pacific Northwest, Pike hit the road to try his luck as a long-hauler pulling a dry van. “About that time, I met a guy who was running reefer, and he said he would teach me everything I needed to know about it, so I went along with him and drove reefers for about 15 years,” Pike said. “Then I went into flatbeds. I worked for six years doing that; then started doing oversize loads.” Over the years, Pike has hauled everything from yachts to pieces of a Titan missile. It was during that Titan missile haul that he met his wife, Suzzanne. At the time, he was making runs between Seattle and Los Angeles along Interstate 5. One day, while rolling near Modesto, California, Pike said he heard a woman on the CB, asking for someone to talk to. “I picked up the CB, and we started talking,” Pike said, noting that the other truckers listening in were jealous that Suzzanne seemed to like him and not them. “She was with her mom, hauling a horse to her sister’s house, and I was heading her way,” Pike said. “We kept rolling and agreed that we needed to meet somewhere. So we pulled over and got something to eat with her mom.” Suzzanne’s mom convinced her daughter to go for a ride with Pike in his rig. They immediately hit it off, and were married not long after. “I had (had) basically no sleep when I met them,” Pike said. “So, when Suzzanne got in the truck with me, we talked a lot, and we kept talking with her mom (on the CB). That was great.” Hard times befell Pike in the years after meeting and marrying the love of his life. His original rig was stolen, and he said he almost lost everything. He credits his nephew, Steven, for helping to save him. “I have to give credit where credit is due, He really came to my rescue,” Pike said. Unfortunately, the bad luck kept coming for Pike. Recently, his beloved rig, which has been featured on a CAT Scale card and as a CAT Scale Rig of the Week, was involved in a wreck in Oklahoma City. After stopping for backed-up traffic, he was rear-ended by another rig. The impact propelled Pike’s tractor into the trailer of the rig in from of him. “It did $30,000 in damage,” Pike said, pain notable in his voice. “I have been down 180 days off the road.” Pike’s beloved rig is no ordinary piece of machinery. He bought the 2005 Peterbilt 379 about five years ago for his son to drive — but he ended up rebuilding and driving it himself. He stretched the frame to 310 inches, updated the paint, added a lot of chrome and installed dual-revolution lights in green and blue to match the paint job. Pike’s wife has nicknamed the truck “Belligerent,” saying it’s unique, full of life and doesn’t care what other people think of it. For performance, Pike is running a 550 CAT heavy-haul program with a PDI tuner. He also added 8-inch stacks with old-school rain guards. On the inside, he installed a 40-inch TV, cabinets, hardwood floors, a microwave and a pressure cooker. He said he hopes to have it back soon and get back on the road. When he’s not trucking, Pike enjoys being a “gearhead,” tinkering with one of his many motorcycles or the classic 1969 three-door Suburban he’s rebuilding. “Recreation is my obsession,” Pike said, describing his down time spent working on his bikes and the Suburban. “My dream is to get a moving van or enclosed auto trailer and dedicate the first 30 feet of it into living space, then load my motorcycles and hit the entire bike circuit,” he said. “I want to go to bike show after bike show.” Pike won’t say exactly how old he is, only that he is “between 50 and 60,” but if you talk to him long enough, it’s obvious that this truck driver still loves being on the road, whether it’s on a Harley or in his Pete. As for changes he has seen during his career, Pike says the electronic logging device, or ELD, is one of the “best and worst” things to come along. “I hate it with a passion,” he said. “I am old school — go till you fall down. On the good side, the ELD, in a lot of ways, is actually cool once you learn how to operate it. It keeps you out of trouble and makes it so you don’t have to run as hard.” For now, Pike is just waiting to get Belligerent out of the shop and back on the road. In the coming months, he’ll either be behind the wheel of Belligerent or hunched down in the saddle of one of his motorcycles, rolling along the open road. “I’m always ready to go,” Pike said. “I am ready to get moving again.”

GREENWICH, Conn. — XPO Logistics, Inc. announced Monday that a record number of less-than-truckload drivers have been honored for achieving safety milestones in 2021. The company recognized 261 professional drivers in its North American network for driving a total of 328 million accident-free miles — a new high-water mark for the company. Of the 132 LTL drivers who reached accident-free milestones in the last six months of 2021, 109 surpassed one million miles, 18 surpassed two million miles, and five drivers achieved the highest honor of three million accident-free miles: Allan Bryan (Pennsylvania) Kevin Christie (California) Donald Forman (Tennessee) Jerry McDonald (Minnesota) Frank Mills (Louisiana) “We congratulate all our million-milers for their phenomenal achievements in 2021,” Mario Harik, acting president of less-than-truckload and chief information officer of XPO Logistics, said. “Our LTL workplace extends to our trucks, where our 12,000 drivers become ambassadors of our values. We’re immensely proud of the team’s commitment to our safety culture.” XPO is the third largest North American provider of LTL transportation, with a national network of 291 service centers and over 12,000 professional truck drivers. On average, it takes a driver approximately a decade of safe driving to attain one million miles without an accident.