Jack and Lori Testimonial

Truckers are prone to story telling and exaggeration. Tales of making great money are at most truck stops and driver lounges. But when it comes down to the nut cutting, no one ever has the settlements or the tax returns to backup their claims. I was at the urinal at the Pilot in Laramie, WY when this guys comes up behind me and slaps me on the back while I'm trying to take a piss, "I use to drive for a Mega Carrier," he exclaimed, "How are they treating you?" Obviously, he read the back of my shirt from the truck rodeo and wants to engage me in trash talking the carrier. I have no interest in this because the carrier is treating me fine and at my age, I can't piss and talk at the same time. I choose to ignore him.

He persists, "I drive for a company that pays twice the money and I drive fewer miles. They don't walk me through a metal scanner at corporate. I can run paper and they don't bug me. They give me a load, I deliver it and then they give me another load. No baby sitting. I get home whenever I want. I take time-off whenever I want." I start to get irritated that this guy isn't letting me take a piss, "They taught me to drive. They sold me a truck that I now own free and clear. I team with my wife. We make good money," I retort. Then he starts to get nasty, "You think you're OK at that carrier, but your not. When your truck wears out, you won't have enough money to buy a new one. That's where they get you. You'll have to lease another truck and you know what that's like. That's how they get you. You're not making enough money to live a decent life and have enough left over to replace your equipment."

I abandon the idea of trying to take a a piss, zip-up my junk and decide to dispatch this idiot driver the way I always have a hundred times in the past, "You got some settlements to show me? My wife and I netted $150K last year. What did you do? Do you have hard proof you can show me right now?" "I netted $150k driving solo," he replied, "and I've got the paperwork in my truck right now to prove it. Not only that, my wife drives her own truck for the same company and she did better last year than I did. She's outside right now with her truck and I can introduce her to you and your wife right here, right now. My name is Gary and my wife's name is Chrissy." Surprisingly, not only did Gary have all the numbers for he and his wife, he had all the numbers for all the other owner operators at the company. "We share all of our numbers so we can compete with the other owners to see who can make the most money," he explained.

My wife and I drove our first Legacy load three weeks later.

-- Jack P