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A Trucker's Tale: Wit, Wisdom, and True Stories from 60 Years on the Road by Ed

Description: A Trucker's Tale by Ed Miller Wit, wisdom, and revelations from sixty years of life on the road. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Wit, wisdom, and revelations from sixty years of life on the road. Driving one highway after another at sunrise, winding through the mountainside, hearing the call to rise of the roosters, or simply exchanging "fishing stories" with the other guys at the truck stops. Like that one about the trucker who stopped along the highway and helped a little old lady who had a flat tire. By the time the trucker had told his tale a dozen times, the simple tire change story turned into one where an old lady was accompanied by her gorgeous, blond, and twenty-one-year-old granddaughter--you know how that ends. Imagine the story traded from one driver to the next. Each time, a more outrageous yarn is spun.They say that only truck drivers experience the true grandeur and landscape of America. In A Truckers Tale, Ed Miller gives an inside look at the allure of the work and the colorful characters who haul our goods on the open road. He shares what it was like to grow up in a trucking family, his experience as an equipment officer in Vietnam, and the trials and tribulations of life as a trucker. His tales are often funny, sometimes sad, cringeworthy, or unbelievable. Many are the results of what he calls, "just plain stupidity." Together they paint a compelling portrait of a vibrant but little-known industry, and reveal why he just kept on truckin. Author Biography Ed Miller was born into a family of truckers in North Carolina and began driving tractor-trailers at age thirteen and moving trucks around his familys farm or backing them into the dock at the warehouse yard. He has more than forty years of management and ownership experience in many aspects of the motor carrier industry, including flatbed, van, refrigerated, specialized, and transportation brokerage. From 2003 to 2010, he worked in the Office of Freight Logistics at Marylands Department of Transportation, where he served on numerous county, state, and national transportation and research advisory committees. Today he is a part-time school bus driver, working as a substitute/trip driver transporting students or taking school teams to sports events. Ed grew up in western North Carolina and attended East Carolina University before serving in the US Navy Seabees. He is a father of three and a grandfather of two, and lives with his wife in Rising Sun, Maryland. Table of Contents PrefacePart One: An EducationPart Two: Military TruckingPart Three: College TruckingPart Four: Characters Part Five: ManagementPart Six: Directions, Shippers, Strikes, and Baby Animals Part Seven: Knights of the Highway A Note on SafetyEpilogueAcknowledgments Review "A well-crafted, intimate portrait of a life lived in trucking."—Overdrive Magazine"If theres one person who can reveal how to overcome loneliness and social distancing, while maintaining a great sense of humor, its a long-distance trucker. Ed Miller literally wrote a book on it."—Fox45 News, Baltimore"Hop into the cab for a view of trucking in all its glory, grease, and hilarity."—Texas Border Business"A Truckers Tale is notably refreshing. . . . Over the years, Ive spoken to any number of folks who have riding in a big rig on their bucket lists; Millers book is a wonderful opportunity to vicariously clear that item off your list." —The VVA Veteran"The beauty of A Truckers Tale is that you can read the whole book or everyday choose just one story to transport you to another place. Some of the stories are full of laughter, while others sadness and anger, male machismo, rescuing damsels in distress (dont know if I can use the word damsels anymore), highway consciousness, manners, bad leadership and really, really good guys."—Arabella magazine Promotional Apollo Publishers Long Description Wit, wisdom, and revelations from sixty years of life on the road. Driving one highway after another at sunrise, winding through the mountainside, hearing the call to rise of the roosters, or simply exchanging "fishing stories" with the other guys at the truck stops. Like that one about the trucker who stopped along the highway and helped a little old lady who had a flat tire. By the time the trucker had told his tale a dozen times, the simple tire change story turned into one where an old lady was accompanied by her gorgeous, blond, and twenty-one-year-old granddaughter--you know how that ends. Imagine the story traded from one driver to the next. Each time, a more outrageous yarn is spun. They say that only truck drivers experience the true grandeur and landscape of America. In A Truckers Tale , Ed Miller gives an inside look at the allure of the work and the colorful characters who haul our goods on the open road. He shares what it was like to grow up in a trucking family, his experience as an equipment officer in Vietnam, and the trials and tribulations of life as a trucker. His tales are often funny, sometimes sad, cringeworthy, or unbelievable. Many are the results of what he calls, "just plain stupidity." Together they paint a compelling portrait of a vibrant but little-known industry, and reveal why he just kept on truckin. Review Quote "Hop into the cab for a view of trucking in all its glory, grease, and hilarity." -- Texas Border Business "If theres one person who can reveal how to overcome loneliness and social distancing, while maintaining a great sense of humor, its a long-distance trucker. Ed Miller literally wrote a book on it." --Fox 45 News, Baltimore "A well-crafted, intimate portrait of a life lived in trucking." -- Overdrive Excerpt from Book Surely everyone knows that a fishing story grows each time its told. A minnow morphs into a largemouth bass after just a few beers in a bar full of new faces. You might have heard some awfully tall yarns spun by drivers, maybe at a truck stop lunch counter while you sopped up your eggs with toast and bacon. Theres the one driver who stopped along the highway to help a little old lady fix a flat tire. The third time he tells this story, the little old lady becomes a buxom blonde twenty-one-year-old. Perhaps by the fifth retelling, she takes him up on his offer for a ride. I dont have many tall tales to offer--the stories in this book truly happened to me or to truckers I know. Some names have been changed in a good-faith effort to protect the identities of the boneheaded, dim-witted, and off-kilter, or because I dont want my ass whipped for telling the truth about those of you who might prefer to remain anonymous. Ive been part of the trucking world for sixty years, and Im damn proud of it. I was born into a trucking family, and as soon as I could talk, I was pestering my dad to ride in his truck. Each time I asked, he would tell me that I could ride with him when I was old enough to climb into the truck without any help. I must have been five or six years old when I climbed onto the running board, the side step, and crawled up into his Mack B61. Id known the smell of diesel since I was three or four, but the diesel smell from the B61 was unique, and awesome. In later years I would come to associate the smell with a flash of lightning--fierce, quick, and powerful. It burns the nostrils, leaves the tongue bristling, and makes your arm hair stand up. For me the smell conjures feelings of power and brings an adrenaline high. Its a symbol of a journey about to be undertaken. Several years ago, I was privileged to be the guest speaker at a dinner for the Maryland Motor Truck Associationss annual Truck Driving Championships awards ceremony. The competition dates to 1955, and competitors are tested on their driving and inspection skills, knowledge, and professionalism. Winners qualify to compete in the American Trucking Associationss annual National Truck Driving Championships. Anyway, I began my talk by asking how many of the several hundred truckers in attendance had grown up in trucking families, and the majority of the drivers raised their hands. I asked how many of their fathers told them to stay the hell out of the trucking business, like mine did, and damned near every drivers hand was raised again. The room filled with laughter as we realized that not one of us had taken our dads advice. I am sure my father offered this advice because he knew how aggravating the trucking profession could be. He understood the nature of trucking, that just when you think things are going great, unseen forces always throw the proverbial "wrench"--whether they are flat tires, lights going out, hoses bursting, bad weather, or those cursed weigh stations that all truckers hate. Most truckers have lived at the mercy of these tough breaks and know damned well that these events are going to continue dogging them. Evidently, we are all gluttons for punishment. So why do we it? Non-trucking folks are always asking why we drive trucks if we complain about it so much, and its a fair question, but I say, let em scratch their heads and wonder why. You cant understand trucking until you do it--the views, the lifestyle, the rush. Vacationers and businesspeople see some of the great US and Canadian landscapes while traveling, but only truck drivers get to enjoy the grandeur from high up in their cabs. While crossing bridges, the tall concrete walls and Jersey barriers prevent four-wheelers from having marvelous views of the lakes, rivers, or gorges theyre crossing. Truckers can watch the shifting landscape from their thrones. Try to imagine the view a truck driver gets while driving across Staten Island at daybreak as he crests a rise in the highway. The sun, in all its enormity and fire, perched dead center between the two supports of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. Ive seen views like you wouldnt believe while topping the hill on I-70 West in Hancock, Maryland, about a mile before the intersection of I-68. Just after midnight, halogen highway lights glitter off the bare limbs of appletrees. Its poetry, really. The whole orchard covered in sleet and freezing rain. An ice forest, etched forever in the mind. The road bears a certain beauty, sometimes most evident in the quiet hours and remote stretches that truckers are privy to every ride. Long hauls might inhere long nights and early mornings, but they also inhere access to a seldom-witnessed world. Truck drivers also have bragging rights from having learned to persevere through rides that would paralyze other drivers. Imagine coming down Jellico Mountain, north of Knoxville, Tennessee, in a freezing fog so thick you cant see anything ahead but a very faint ticker of white lines on the road. You cant see whats behind you, and you have your four-ways flashing to warn drivers approaching the rear of your truck. You cant even pull over on the shoulder--you cant even see the shoulder--but even if you could, you fear another truck will think youre still traveling and hit you from behind. What thoughts race through your mind when you finally emerge from the fog at the bottom of the mountain, when you turn and see the four-inch-long horizontal icicles sticking straight back from your side-view mirrors? You wipe the sweat from your brow. You might even have to change into a new pair of pants. Maybe you add one last verse to the litany of prayers you offered the whole way down the mountain. (Truckers probably pray more in their cabs than in church.) But you survived, and you will next time too. One of the first things a new truck driver learns, the lesson thats most important, is how to navigate around some of the, shall we say, less experienced, four-wheel drivers we all know and love. Most drivers of four-wheel vehicles dont think theyre doing anything wrong when they pull in front of a big truck just moments before traffic comes to a screeching halt. Perhaps theyre unaware that they did something wrong, perhaps theyre inconsiderate or blinded by road rage, but the action is careless and dangerous, and we see more of this behavior every day. Many four-wheel drivers seem to not notice trucks, acting as if four-wheelers are the only ones on the highway. I dont think they realize when they piss off a truck driver, and I think theyd be aghast to know that truckers have several near misses because of their shoddy driving. Take my word for it when I say that its the four-wheelers causing mayhem on the road. Truck drivers are paid professionals, while many car drivers still need a hell of a lot more practice. Until all four-wheel drivers become proficient at driving, which we doubt will ever happen, truck drivers will always be the more responsible ones--ever mindful of that carload of kids who have the misfortune of having their mother behind the wheel. Once, while traveling one of Ohios secondary roads to pick up a load, I arrived at an accident scene just after a trucker saved the lives of a carload of kids. Ohio state police had stopped traffic at the intersection, and curiosity drove me to get out of my truck to inquire what happened. The mother had run a red light, and rather than wiping out the small vehicle, the trucker had somehow kept control of his flatbed load of steel and steered to the right of the car. When I got there, the rig--what you may call a tractor trailer, a semitrailer, or a semitruck--looked like the driver had driven straight into a muddy cornfield for about one hundred yards. Many instances like this cause truck drivers to lose control of their vehicles and the rig jackknifes, with its trailer facing one way and its tractor another, like a pocket knife. The tires were almost completely buried, and the bottom of the flatbed was sitting on top the mud. As I drove past the scene, the woman and kids were laughing, crying, and hugging the truck driver whod saved their lives. There is no telling how many wreckers--or tow trucks--it took to pull that rig out of the mud. Truckers develop thicker skin every time they experience a narrowescape, including the damned near incidents they are thankful to have survived. I know Ive had my share of them. But we do our best, and while I realize most people dont know a thing about trucks, other than that they haul your goods around and, if--or when--you notice them, likely scare the hell out of you because theyre so big, you should know that no truck driver heads out on the road thinking, Lets go out and terrorize the four-wheelers today!--even if it does have a nice ring to it. No, each truck driver hits the road with the same goals as you: to reach their destination safely and then return home to their family. I will say it again--truck drivers are the professionals of the highways. While you drive to work, a truckers drive is his work and were not slacking off behind the wheel, were putting the time in and getting the job done. And we have to. America depends on truckers for nearly everything. We rely on them to haul our food to our local grocery stores. Our favorite snacks and beverages, and indeed everything that sustains us, doesnt simply materialize out of thin air on shelves and in freezers. And those packages filled with new clothes, housewares, and books that appear on our doorsteps with such convenience? Truck drivers ensure their swift arrival. The home you just moved into? Truckers hauled the beams and bricks. The brand-new washer dryer? The stainless steel refrigerator? You guessed it. Truckers carry the foundations of our infrastructure, too--hauling the supplies that c Description for Sales People Rare exposure : Truckers are privy to a world that few people get the chance to witness. In A Truckers Tale readers are taken on the road with the author and get an up-close understanding of the allure of the industry and why the author made a lifelong commitment to it. Engaging read : Content is highly readable and authors voice is friendly, likable, and accessible. Readers will want to stay with him during the duration of the book, enjoying his stories and begging for more. Readers will come to think of Ed as their friend. Expert author : Ed has spent 60 years in the automotive/trucking industry, having grown up in a family of truckers and continuing to work as a driver today. Few others have a lifetimes worth of expertise on their subject, and very people know the ins and outs of trucking and have a wealth of stories to go along with it. National appeal : Eds experience is America. Whether its growing up in the family business, serving in the military, or experiencing the physical beauty of every corner of the country, from sea to shining sea, Eds story is the American dream. Presented with warmth and humor, his story is approachable to all at a time the country most needs it. Details ISBN1948062380 Author Ed Miller Publisher Apollo Publishers Year 2020 ISBN-10 1948062380 ISBN-13 9781948062381 Format Hardcover Imprint Apollo Publishers Subtitle Wit, Wisdom, and True Stories from 60 Years on the Road Country of Publication United States Short Title A Truckers Tale Language English Pages 216 Illustrations photo insert with 8 color photographs Publication Date 2020-05-28 NZ Release Date 2020-05-28 US Release Date 2020-05-28 UK Release Date 2020-05-28 DEWEY 388.324092 Audience General AU Release Date 2020-06-22 Alternative 9781954641815 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:147773834;

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A Trucker

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ISBN-13: 9781948062381

Book Title: A Trucker's Tale: Wit, Wisdom, and True Stories from 60 Years on the Road

Item Height: 228mm

Item Width: 152mm

Author: Ed Miller

Format: Hardcover

Language: English

Topic: Transportation, Travel Writing, Commercial Vehicle, Business

Publisher: Apollo Publishers

Publication Year: 2020

Type: Textbook

Item Weight: 363g

Number of Pages: 216 Pages

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