PART OF WHY I
ROLL THESE 18 WHEELS

By Poet/Artist/Truck Driver Trevor Hardwick

We all have our own reasons for why we chose to drive a truck for a living.  For some, it’s just a job that pays the bills, and for others, it’s a paid retirement plan, much like traveling the country in an RV only with pay and (sometimes) benefits.  I personally was born and raised in a trucking family, so my decision was influenced very early in life.  I won’t claim to like everything about the trucking industry, but the things I do like about it far outweigh the things I don’t.  The following poem is just a nod to those simple pleasures I appreciate about our line of work and the things I mayhave missed out on had I not chosen to follow my folks into trucking.

 

PART OF WHY I ROLL…
By Trevor Hardwick

There’s nothing like the morning, in Kentucky, in the spring.
When the grass is freshly mowed, and the median is green.
The sun is casting beams of light, across the bluegrass hills.
...That’s part of why I roll these 18-wheels.

I love it in the afternoon, in small town, U.S.A.
When kids get out of school, and they run outside to play.
They gesture me to honk my horn, remember how that feels?
...That’s part of why I roll these 18-wheels.

So many things, that I could do, if I were so inclined.
I could take an office job, I guess, and join the daily grind.
But then I’d miss the highway, and the greasy truckstop meals.
...That’s part of why I roll these 18-wheels.

Montana, in the mountains, with a midnight summer moon.
The Wasatch Range in Utah, on a winter afternoon.
A fancy, decked-out, largecar, dressed in chrome and polished steel.
...That’s part of why I roll these 18-wheels.

I love it in Wyoming, when the wind is at my back.
I love when freight is shipped on trucks, instead of railroad tracks.
I love it when the rates, are high enough to pay my bills.
...That’s part of why I roll these 18-wheels.

The windshield time, the piece of mind, the caffeine in a cup.
The silence in the morning, just before the sun comes up.
The highway and horizon, and the things that they reveal.
...That’s part of why I roll these 18-wheels.