Trucking Life

PLOVER, Wis. — Jessica Luttrell has been named Women In Trucking December 2019 Member of the Month. Luttrell is a professional driver for Umpqua Dairy in Roseburg, Oregon. When Luttrell was 30 years old, she moved to Oregon in search of a new career. She noticed a lot of trucks in her area and researched what it would take to become a driver. Luttrell did not grow up around trucks but had always been fascinated with them. So, she felt becoming a professional truck driver was a good career choice. After obtaining her CDL, she started driving over-the-road solo. Most memorable during this time was transporting rescue animals who were close to being euthanized to new cities and states to foster homes. Later, Luttrell’s husband followed in her footsteps, also obtaining his CDL. They drove team over-the-road for two years. At that point, Luttrell made a choice to drive locally so that she could be closer to her children at home. Driving locally gave Luttrell the opportunity to drive a dump truck for a construction company and even a tanker for a farm company. She is currently running a refer unit in the Pacific Northwest and is able to be home every night. “The company I currently work for has been around since 1931, and I am the first female truck driver hired here,” Luttrell said. “I feel like my job performance is setting the bar for future female drivers within this company.” Luttrell’s goal is to move into a trucking management position and become the first female truck driver in a management position.

STOCKBRIDGE, Ga. — Victoria Lombardo has won the Used Truck Association first Rookie of the Year award. Lombardo, 26, is a senior marketing representative for Freedom Truck Finance and the chair officer of the UTA’s Young Members’ Committee. She was presented the award last month at the annual UTA convention in Indian Wells, California. Lombardo has only recently entered the trucking industry and joined the UTA, but she has certainly jumped into her new roles with both feet, UTA officials said, adding that Lombardo had become a strong advocate for both the UTA and the trucking industry overall. She quickly saw an industry facing some demographic challenges and realized the opportunities for both women and younger people who wish to join an industry sure to last. “Something clicked with me, and I became very passionate about trucks. There will always be trucks,” she said.  “Actually, I was surprised at winning the award.” Lombardo noted that she’s been so busy with her job and her new responsibilities with the association that she hasn’t taken time to think about all the work she’s done. She was quick to credit the UTA for affording young people the opportunity to join an association full of experienced and successful mentors and she thanked those who have helped her in her new career. “We’re all here to build relationships, make money, and someday own our own businesses,” she said of the new members on the committee. “People do business with people they like.” UTA members help each other in a spirit of cooperation rather than competition, Lombardo said. With her eagerness to learn, her enthusiasm for her new industry, and her dedication to hard work, it is easy to see why she has already achieved recognition from the association she is so happy to help move into the future, according to Bobby Williams, chair of the UTA Dealers’ Group. This is the first year that UTA has recognized an outstanding young member with the Rookie of the Year Award. “Victoria was awarded this great award by her peers, which shows why she is truly deserving of it,” Williams said.        

DES MOINES, Iowa — David Isaac has been named TMC Transportation’s Trainer of the Month for September. Isaac started at TMC on Valentine’s Day in 2014. He spent eight years in the military and transitioned into his job at TMC while he was still enlisted. “TMC was the only flatbed company that stood out to me, especially the company being employee-owned,” he said. After driving on his own for a year and a half, Isaac decided to give driver training a try. “The instruction aspect of the job was interesting to me,” he said. “There are multiple ways to do one job, but I wanted to make sure that the end result is what is required of our company standards.” When it comes to his training style, Isaac takes a supervising role. “I try to let my trainees do as much as they can on their own, but I keep a close eye on them so I can correct them as needed,” he says. “I feel like this is the best way for them to get a feel of what it will be like once they have their own truck.” Isaac’s favorite part of training is meeting other drivers and helping to be a part of their success. “It’s great to see new guys do well,” he said, adding that it is great for the company and himself as a driver. “You can learn even while you’re teaching, whether it be a load you wouldn’t normally or discovering a more efficient way to do things,” he said. Overall, Isaac is grateful for the opportunities he’s had while driving for TMC. “From the discipline it takes to do the job to the relationships I have built with my peers, I wouldn’t trade it for anything else,” he said. Each month a TMC Transportation trainer who demonstrates the outstanding qualities TMC looks for in a trainer is honored. The Trainer of the Month recipient is chosen based on their safety record and the safety performance of their trainees, the number of drivers trained and the retention percentage of those drivers. For more information, visit www.tmctrans.com.                      

When Trucking Moves America Forward (TMAF) celebrated its fifth anniversary at the 2019 Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky, owner-operators Dave and Tina Peterson were there to share in the festivities, and the cupcakes. The couple is featured as one of TMAF’s Trucking Families, helping the organization further its industrywide education and image movement. Their tractor is signed on with Ravenswood Transport, hauling a contract route for FedEx Ground between St. Paul, Minnesota, and Dallas. The Petersons highly value that route, since their home is in a suburb north of Minneapolis. “It lets us balance work and home life and plan out our lives when we aren’t on the road,” Dave said. Both Tina and Dave grew up near interstate highways, watching trucks go by and hoping to drive one someday. “Being a child of the ’70s,” Dave said, “I grew up when there were trucks in music, in movies. I was attracted to the independence of the drivers.” Dave was working as a wrecker operator when he obtained his CDL through a local community college, hoping to find employment with more regular hours. He accepted a job with a carrier that hauled cars to an auto auction facility, and that’s where he met Tina. The relationship blossomed and Dave’s employer agreed that they could work together once Tina obtained her CDL. She graduated from the same program that Dave did, and they’ve been together nearly every mile since then. Both speak highly of community college training schools. “I think the community college programs provide a better overall learning experience,” Dave said. Tina added that she had been trained in a four-month program, much longer than many private CDL schools. The couple eventually went to work at Ravenswood and, after a few years, purchased both the truck they were driving and the route they ran to start their own family business. They average a quarter-million team miles per year, hauling package-filled doubles or 53-foot trailers to Dallas and back. While some drivers are hesitant to drive a route that regularly takes them farther north than Toronto, the Petersons think the southern part of their route is often more challenging. “People think that when we head for Dallas, we’re heading ‘down South’ to warm weather,” Dave said. “But when you get to Kansas and south, they have ice storms that close everything down. We’re more likely to encounter bad roads on the south end of our trip.” Tina agreed. “A lot of them don’t have the equipment for plowing and salting that they have in the north and the highways get bad pretty quickly,” she said. The key, she explained, is preparation. “We’ve driven the route so often, we know which counties prepare quickly for bad weather and which don’t,” she said. Dave added: “Our company, Ravenswood, is really good about us using our judgment about driving on bad roads. We don’t risk our business or each other’s lives for packages.” As with any team, dividing the workload makes everything flow smoothly. “I kind of do all the ‘girl’ stuff,’” Tina said, “making sandwiches, preparing meals and keeping the books.” In exchange, Dave gets the night shift. “I handle fueling, getting trailers ready and hooked up and so on,” he said. “I’ve been trying to get her to let me do the books, but she’s really picky about decimal points and details like that.” The equal division of work applies to driving, too. “We share the miles equally,” Tina said. “We each have our own duties, but we each drive 510 miles a day, too.” The team has high praise for the facility that services their truck, Nuss Truck and Equipment in Roseville, Minnesota. “They know we haul time-sensitive freight and they get us in and out quickly,” Dave said. The couple’s 2014 Volvo 730 has nearly 1.5 million miles on the original engine. Tina feels that’s a testament to the quality of the Volvo engine as well as the great care they receive from Nuss. “These motors run clean and they can really last,” she said. When the time comes to trade their current truck, they plan to stay with Volvo. “I like the interior layout of the truck, and it’s been really dependable,” Dave said, “also partly because of the relationship we have with the people at Nuss. To have that relationship is priceless.” When they aren’t running freight, Tina and Dave like to enjoy the Minnesota scenery, which is especially colorful in the fall. Known as “the land of 10,000 lakes,” with streams and rivers that connect many of them, the Petersons have 72 state parks to choose from. Don’t expect a CDL-sized camper, however. “We’re real campers, we camp in a tent,” Tina said. “We’re done maintaining vehicles.” Tina also scrapbooks their activities, and the couple spends a lot of time with her family, who live nearby. There are grandchildren, too, thanks to Dave’s son, Tina’s stepson. Some of the family outings are to historic sites maintained by the Minnesota Historical Society. The couple has purchased memberships for themselves and multiple family members. The couple also stays busy at another activity they love, promoting the trucking industry. They attend truck shows to represent TMAF, but Tina is also a captain on the American Trucking Association’s America’s Road Team. They recently participated in a “share the road” event at multiple high schools along with “touch a truck” events. “I love those because I can get one-on-one with parents,” Dave said. The couple also participates annually in “the World’s Largest Truck Convoy,” raising money for Special Olympics. Another family member participates in many of the events, “Dixie,” a fawn-colored boxer, is a constant companion and is responsible for more than 4 million burglar-free miles in her 12 years with the Petersons. Tina and Dave (and Dixie) have worked out a system to maximize their efforts at work, home and at industry events. They plan to continue their work to improve the image of the trucking industry and its drivers for the foreseeable future.

For some, driving a truck professionally is a job. There are good days and bad days, but when the parking brake is on and the key turned off, it’s time to leave it behind and go home. Then there are drivers like Steve Fields, for whom representing the trucking industry is a round-the-clock proposition. He’s driven 3.3 million miles without an accident in a career spanning 34 years, setting examples for both safety and longevity for other drivers. He’s been with YRC for 22 years and sits on the company’s freight safety committee. Steve has competed in truck driving championships at state and national level for most of his career. He often shines brightest, however, when he climbs down from the cab. He has served as a captain with America’s Road Team and is still an active participant in the American Trucking Associations’ (ATA’s) Share the Road program. He’s a member of Trucker Buddy. He’s worked with the U.S. Secretary of Transportation in a safety campaign and talked trucking with President Trump at the White House. And, he was the ATA’s choice to receive the 2019 Mike Russell Trucking Image Award, presented at the organization’s Management Conference and Exhibition, October 5-9 in San Diego. Like many drivers, Fields got his start in trucking at a young age. “My grandfather drove for TG&Y Stores back in the day,” he said. “I would sometimes ride along in his GMC Astro 95.” Fields has noticed a difference in the way drivers were perceived back then versus how they are seen now. “In my grandfather’s day,” he said, “truck drivers were held in high regard. A lot has changed.” In his view, the driver is on the front line of the image battle. “The public perceives trucking, as a whole, by the actions of the driver. How you dress, how you act, the language you use all say something about trucking.” While racking up safe miles, Steve began participating in truck driving championships in his home state of Missouri and nationally. Fields won the Missouri Grand Champion crown in 2003 and was top in the twins category at the nationals in 2011. The competition is fierce, but he enjoys watching and working with the other contestants. “This will be my 28th or 29th year,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of seconds and thirds, but it’s always great to see the talented drivers compete.” In 2007, he was selected as a captain on ATA’s America’s Road Team, frequently traveling to speak to high school students, drivers and to industry and community groups about driving safely around tractor-trailers. One of Steve’s favorite assignments is making presentations to teen drivers through ATA’s Share the Road program. “We talk to high school drivers ed classes about following distances, characteristics of the truck, stopping distances and so on,” Fields said. “Most of them are really surprised that takes more than a football field, including end zones, to stop a truck.” The instruction includes tips on giving trucks plenty or room, especially passing safely without pulling back in front of the truck too soon. The visits include some real-world training, as cars are placed in blind spots around the parked truck. “When they get behind the wheel and close the doors, they can’t see the cars,” he said. “It really opens their eyes.” Fields is a fan of the latest safety technology, but when asked for the most impactful innovations he’s definitely old school. “The number one safety improvement is the seat belt,” he said. “Any time you can stay in the vehicle during an accident, your chances are better.” He’s adamant, however about one thing. “The safest thing on the truck is the driver,” he said. When he speaks to other drivers, he talks about seat belts. “I always ask, ‘if you knew that 20 minutes from now you were going to be involved in a rollover accident, would you put your seat belt on?” On the rare occasions when he’s not behind the wheel or in front of a group, Fields likes camping, motorcycle riding and showing off his hot rod, a ’67 Camaro RS/SS that he enters into local parades and shows. He has a daughter who recently became engaged. “It’ll be an interesting year,” he said. The Mike Russell Trucking Image Award, sponsored by Hire Right, is presented to an individual, motor carrier, trucking organization and industry supplier who “demonstrates excellence in illustrating the industry’s essentiality, safety-first approach to doing business and professionalism.” With drivers like Steve Fields carrying the torch, the industry is well represented to the public, helping promote a return to the high regard earned by past drivers like his grandfather. From the schoolhouse to the  White House, his attitude and professionalism have taken him far beyond a truck driving job. “I’ve enjoyed this career,” Fields said. “It’s been a wonderful ride.”

HOLLAND, Mich. — Holland professional driver Dan Runice has achieved the accomplishment of driving over 3 million consecutive miles without a preventable accident. To put this distance in perspective, 3 million miles is equivalent to driving across the United States, from coast to coast, more than 1,000 consecutive times—all without a single preventable accident. “We are immensely proud of Dan and his 3-million-mile safe driving record,” said Tamara Jalving, YRC Worldwide Inc. vice president of safety. “His safety record represents decades of unwavering professionalism behind the wheel. We congratulate and thank him for his commitment to safety. Dan helps to make our highways safer while delivering award-winning quality service to our customers.” Runice has been a professional driver for 38 years. He’s been with Holland for the past 25 years operating as a line haul driver out of the Tomah, Wisconsin, service center. His routes take him through some of the country’s most challenging weather conditions making his safe driving record all the more exceptional. Runice is one of 33 active Holland drivers to have reached this incredible safety milestone. Runice attributes achieving 3-million consecutive miles without a preventable accident to his safe driving skills and to always being alert — with a bit of good luck thrown in. He watches other drivers around him, anticipates traffic flow, looks for unexpected behaviors, doesn’t crowd others, and always leaves an “out.” Traffic volumes are intense and filled with distractions. His safety advice: “Do not risk your life texting while driving.” Runice and his wife Becky have three children and two grandchildren. In his spare time, he enjoys watching his grandchildren participate in sports. Holland recently celebrated Dan Runice’s 3-million-mile safety achievement at the Tomah service center with an award ceremony. He was presented with a commemorative 3-million-miler jacket, a plaque, tractor decals and a personalized 3-million-miler ring. Coworkers and his family members attended the celebration. Runice received a highway patrol police escort with flashing lights and sirens to the Tomah service center.    

For years, I was able to boast that I’d never broken a bone. This was either a product of being a milk fan, from having genetically-blessed bones, or from being a general chicken when it comes to anything adventurous. I like my body in one piece, thanks so much. Although I do snow ski and that’s been proven to be fairly dangerous from time to time (see: Sonny Bono). But again, referencing my overly-cautious nature, I haven’t even had any issues there. A few tumbles but no tree engagement. A few years back, it was a particularly bad snow year and there was a ton of ice on the mountain. I discovered one quite large patch of ice lurking just over the crest of a hill, out of sight, in shadow and waiting for unsuspecting skiers to try and venture over it. That I did…unsuccessfully. I turned one way, the ice said No way, Jose, and my knee was caught in the middle. I got myself up, the knee was sore from the irregular bending, but I snapped back into my bindings (with the use of my hands rather than the force of my knee) and skied on down. The rest of the trip was crappy conditions but we maneuvered ok. I added a brace, a slower speed and still had fun though the knee was sore. Returned home and six weeks later when it was still bothering me, I went to see a doctor. Post MRI, it was discovered that I’d fractured my tibial plateau. The top of the tibia (bottom bone in your leg) has a sort of flat horizontal surface where it reaches your knee joint. Well, mine had a crack across it. Yet nothing more could be done other than chastising me for skiing on it and then walking around for 6 weeks other than adding a huge knee brace for another 6 weeks. But I don’t even count that in the broken bones department. I’m talking about a situation that requires a cast, crutches, maybe a scooter or wheelchair. I haven’t ever had that happen. Until this year. Back in March, I was walking my three dogs and a neighbor’s pup escaped their house with the aid of a toddler accomplice. Turns out, that pup was not a fan of other dogs and she invited herself into the business of one of mine: my most no-nonsense dog. And they proceeded to have it out. I began back-pedaling to get my dog away and in the process of doing so, rolled my ankle and crashed to the asphalt. So graceful. The neighbor arrived at the scene of the crime shortly thereafter, scooped up the attacker, and attempted to help me while I tried to regain some semblance of dignity. But standing was out of the question as was walking and I called my hubby to drive to my rescue. A couple hours and xrays later, I had a broken 5th metatarsal (outside bone of foot) and a sprained ankle as the cherry on top. No cast but six weeks non-weight bearing, another six in a boot. There was the threat of surgery as 20% of folks with this type of break do not heal on their own. But I’m pleased to say I’m now at 13 weeks. No more knee scooter, no more boot, no surgery. Let me tell ya—the 40+ years I went without a broken bone were 1000x better than the 12 weeks I had one. You do not realize the change you must make in your life when you cannot even WALK. So, when you see folks out and about who cannot get around easily, whether temporarily or permanently, help them out. Opening doors, clearing crowds, allowing me to move to the front of the line, giving me their seat, carrying bags…these were life-savers when my day-to-day mobility was limited. So many folks could be a little kinder in these crazy, impatient times; particularly for those who need a little extra help, it makes a world of difference. Be the nice one.