“You gotta love the drive!” – Victor Wolak, Chicago, Illinois
“My father was always a great role model for me. He is a Marine who served in Vietnam, and then he started trucking in 1974 – the year I was born. I didn’t see much of him when I was little, but I always wanted to be just like him. He worked hard and eventually became an independent owner-operator. As a young boy, on summer breaks from school, my dad would take me on the road with him. I thought his job was fun, and from then on, I knew it was what I was going to do when I grew up. Any job I ever had was in transportation – I worked in warehouses and on cross-docks, and eventually got my CDL and started trucking. I love the freedom of the job. I started out running regional, local and the east coast, and now I mostly run on the west coast. I have always enjoyed the drive, but it wasn’t always easy. I drove for all kinds of trucking companies, big and small. The big ones treated me like a slave (I was just a driver number). The best driving jobs were with the smaller outfits, where people actually knew me by name, and when I wanted to be home, they made sure to get me there. The pay was always better at smaller companies, too. I tried running my own truck through a lease purchase – I guess I needed to learn the hard way. When I was struggling with my truck, Leo, my current boss and the owner of ‘the cow’ truck seen here, gave me a call. He was looking for a driver and I was looking for a better opportunity so the timing couldn’t have been better. As soon as I got back in town, Leo said, “You’ll be driving ‘the cow’ Kenworth,” and I was like, “Are you kidding?” He wasn’t. This is the baddest company ride I’ve ever been given the privilege to drive and I love it. Some might say they drive the latest equipment, but you don’t see many (if any) company trucks like this. It just goes to show, if you love what you do and work hard, good things will happen. And, all these years later, I still love the drive!”
