A special shoutout to trucker dads -- and one in particular

You may be reading the headline of this article and thinking, “It’s a little late for a Father’s Day post, isn’t it?” You’d be right. But there’s a special reason I held onto this one for a few more weeks.

Today, July 6, 2023, marks the end of a remarkable career in trucking for the man who is largely responsible for the position I hold today as an editor of a trucking magazine -- it's doubtful I would have pursued an opportunity to write about trucking without him.

My father, Sam Cole, has turned off the ignition, cleaned out his truck and handed in his keys for the last time after nearly 40 years driving, many of those as an over-the-road driver. He’s made it through those four decades with no major accidents, no tickets.

Dad was named the 2022 Safe Driver of the Year by Arxada Wood Protection -- his last full year as a driver. He's shown here accepting the award from Ariel Foster, transportation coordinator at Arxada.This article is a surprise for him, so I wasn’t able to pry too much without raising his suspicion. I don’t know everything about all the awards and/or recognition he’s received through the years, but I do know he was most recently honored this spring by the company he’s retiring from, Arxada Wood Protection, as its 2022 Safe Driver of the Year. I think it’s safe to say he’s going out at the top of his game.

Trucking, particularly OTR trucking, isn’t an easy career path for anyone, with days and sometimes weeks away from the comforts of home, family and friends. For those who are married and have children, I’ve seen first-hand just how tough it is.

Dad’s talked several times of when he would have to leave out after a few days at home, and I, not much older than toddler age, would run down the driveway chasing his truck as he pulled away. After watching that happen a time or two, he asked my mom to not let me do that anymore. It was just too tough for him to watch in his mirror.

He wasn’t always home for birthdays or holidays, for my athletic events or my sister Rebecca's band concerts. He was halfway across the country when my mom went into labor with Rebecca, and he missed her birth by a couple hours despite his best efforts to catch the first flight back home. We never really thought twice about the missed events, though. Dad was a truck driver, and that was the nature of being a truck driver. Rebecca and I had great childhoods and never wanted for anything. He made sure of it by working those long hours and being away from home.