I am 47 years old, and since the age of 19, I’ve wanted to be a truck driver. I earned my CDL class B when I was 20 and learned to drive a dump truck (somewhat), then a few years later earned my CDL Class C w/hazmat. From there I worked with a family member running expedited runs.
I learned a lot but still felt like something was missing. Fast forward a few years, I met and married my wife and completely gave up my CDL. I didn’t want to start a family while being an OTR driver, so my wife and I started our little family. We welcomed our first and only daughter in 2008, two years after getting married. Working different jobs such as printing, customer service, etc., I always had the feeling every time I passed a truck on the road "I wish that was me!"
By 2010, every few days I would look at my goals for myself regarding where I wanted to be in 3-6 months as far as driving a truck was concerned: find money for school; visit doctor; study manual; find school; get my permit; take test; get my license; find a job!
As I started to complete my goals one by one, I crossed them off the list, until I got to the last goal: find a job. I thought to myself, "this will be the hardest goal!"
I took a job with another company, however I quickly found out it just wasn’t the right fit for me! I then came home off the road from the other company to say a final goodbye to my father who had been diagnosed with cancer. As I was home dealing with losing my father, I received a call from Averitt Express. I filled out an application, but I didn’t finish it and the recruiter was calling to see if I wanted to finish it. I said sure! So she asked some more questions and then told me I would hear from someone soon. The next thing I knew I had a gentleman call me to ask more questions. And then I was officially hired by Averitt Express!
After a couple of weeks of training and finishing school, I made my first official run as an Averitt Express truck driver!
My entire family and friends were so proud of me! But the best thing about being an Averitt Express truck driver is that I’m proud of me! I’m proud of the journey I took to get to where I am today!
I entered my story to hopefully win an Averitt sleeper cab model truck like the one I drive every day. But as I was writing this little story, I began to realize that while the diecast truck would be awesome to have, I get to drive the real thing! Thank you, Averitt Express, for being a part of my story and my dream.
