Experienced Atlanta truck driver

by Keith Turner
(Atlanta, Georiga US)

Well my story is simple. I now life in Atlanta, GA and I do casual driving. I started driving in 02 and I started off as a local yard jockey.

I then felt like I wanted to go over the road and my first company was Swift Transportation. During this time the year was 2003 and I felt that I need concrete over the road experience. Swift didn't have enough trucks for anybody and had to send 53 of us back home to constantly call for freight.

I called for about 3 months until I had to find a temporary job to support me and my family. This was the first horror that almost made me give up truck driving.

Since I stayed in Chattanooga, Tennessee, I felt like I had more power to search for a over road company that was local that I could touch. I was right about that because all of the companies would threaten drivers not to take them back home if that would sign up with the company.

I had more power because if the company would operate on my terms then I would be able to go home. With this in mind, I learned then the power of "doing your own thing" and I wanted that hold that power for myself.

Since then I've worked with Schneider, PTL Truck Lines, JB Hunt, Western, and went back to Covenant Transport later on. I have about four years of solid experience because I kept going back and fourth into truck driving those first six years.

Then someone introduced me into contract truck driving or casual driving in 09. I was very reluctant to get into it at first because it wasn't consistent but then I figured out that I could do other professions and drive too!

Nevertheless, I've been doing casual truck driving every since and it changed my life. That is all I do and to do for the rest of my career. I finally found my nich and I want to embellish on this because if the client and me can't agree, we both can just go our separate ways and there is no hard feelings on both parts.

This is the way I prefer this transaction. I can do just one run a piece and we both can gradually get a relationship where we can trust each other.