Organic farmer John Malayter needed to bring in more consistent income, and being in his 50s, he felt his career options were limited. So he got his CDL a few years ago, “which was pretty smart in hindsight, and I probably should have done it a lot sooner,” he says.
Though trucking hadn’t been on his radar, his history of working with his hands helped smooth the transition to driving professionally. “I grew up working on vehicles out of necessity,” he says of helping to maintain family vehicles. “It was necessary to know how things worked, and that helps me understand trucking a lot more.”
Now 57, Malayter drove for about one year with another company before switching to Jordan Carriers, based in Natchez, Mississippi, for its better home time and pay. He hauls mostly construction materials and steel on a flatbed.
A career change is nothing new for Malayter. His work has included four years in the U.S. Air Force, about 10 years as an electrical technician and then nearly a decade in the Air National Guard. All the while, singing, playing guitar and writing songs has been a constant. He’s occasionally earned a little money as a bluegrass musician.
Before he started driving professionally, he wrote “Take Me Back to Tennessee,” whose lyrics sound like they were written by a trucker – in retrospect, pointing to his career change. Trucking has helped his “songwriting inspiration 100%.” When an idea strikes, he dictates the lyrics into his smartphone. “I always have these things swirling around in my head,” he says.
He was 13 when he realized he wanted to play guitar, and an uncle gave him one for Christmas. “I sat for hours and hours teaching myself how to play a little,” he recalls. “Early on, I found that I was never able to tell the complete story with just the guitar alone. So singing became a necessity.”
After many years as an electrical technician, working on kitchen appliances, he joined the New Jersey Air National Guard. In fact, he was in uniform during the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. “I worked on the F-16 aircraft,” which included electrical and mechanical systems, “and loaded missiles and bombs.”
