How did you happen to become a truck driver?


James Gibson, 52, Louisville, KY  
Professional driving experience: 3 years 
“Well, you get tired of working for companies. You get tired of working in plants. You get tired of punching a clock. You get tired of putting up with dumb supervisors. An opportunity presented itself in Louisville; an individual opened up a trucking company and opened his arms up to the community and said, ‘Come on in if you want to get trained.’ He trained us for free, and he paid us along the way.”

Gary Baldwin, 49, Clearfield, PA   
Professional driving experience: 24 years  
“I bought my first truck in 1980. I was working on trucks before that. So if I’m not driving a truck, I’m working on one.”

Mike Roberts, 49, Oklahoma City, OK 
Professional experience: 21 years    
“I went to college for almost four years. I took everything under the sun, which I never should have done, but never got a degree. I ended up working in a warehouse, and you know how that goes. So I went to trucking school. Back then, it was a pretty good option.”

Tom McCullough, 59, Shepherdsville, KY  
Professional driving experience: 30 years  
“Real simple. I got tired of digging ditches and doing stuff like that. Driving a truck looked pretty good in comparison. That was 30 years ago. Been doing it ever since.”

David Noe, 72, Star Valley, AZ  
Professional driving experience: 2 years  
“I had my own business for years distributing camp firewood all over Arizona, but I always wanted to drive over the road. I couldn’t because I had to raise my last two kids by myself. They’re both in the Army now, so I went to trucking school. I applied to KBR [global engineering and construction firm with extensive contract work in Iraq]. I figured I was too old to fight, but not too old to go over there and help. I wanted to be a truck driver in Iraq, but