missing dogIt was mid-afternoon last September when Sadie went missing.

Joshua Gray opened the door of his truck at a Love’s truck stop in California. That’s all it took. Sadie bolted from the truck like lightning.

Joshua and his wife Chana, team drivers for Forward Air, searched for their beloved terrier mix for three hours. They called animal shelters and posted on Facebook.

It was useless. Sadie was gone.

“I was walking barefoot looking for her, crying, asking people if they’d seen her,” Chana recalls. “I cried for two days straight. My husband kept saying, ‘I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.’”

A Facebook Group Saves the Day

Chana and Joshua Gray

The Grays were heartbroken, and the next few days were filled with tears and angst as they wondered where Sadie was and if they would ever be reunited with her.

“I thought for sure I would never see her again,” Chana says.

The Grays are members of the Facebook group Trucking Fur Babies, dedicated to truck drivers who ride with pets. Chana posted in Trucking Fur Babies about Sadie, never thinking it would actually lead anywhere.

But it did.

Three days after Sadie went missing, the most remarkable thing happened. Chana received a message from driver Tammy Edmonds, another member of Trucking Fur Babies. She had spotted Sadie just a short distance from where she went missing.

“Tammy spotted her and followed her to a guy called Chevron Larry, a homeless man in Coachella, California,” Chana recalls.

Reunited and It Feels So Good

Chana spoke with Chevron Larry over the phone. He agreed to care for Sadie until the Grays could be rerouted back to California.

Within days they were reunited with their beloved Sadie.

“It was about midnight when we got over there,” Chana says. “I pulled in. Sadie heard the truck. I asked, ‘Sadie girl?’ She launched up at me and that was all she wrote. I couldn’t stop crying.”

By the time the Grays arrived in Coachella to pick up Sadie, Chevron Larry had developed affection for her. In the short time he had Sadie, he fed her hot dogs and took her everywhere he went.

“He told me, ‘Just take care of her,’” recalls Chana, who gave Larry some cash and fresh bedding as thanks for his help.

“If we didn’t find Sadie, I would have been devastated,” Chana says. We have two other fur babies, so she’s part of the pack. They come as a package deal.”

Do you have a great pet story of your own? Join our community here and tell us about it!

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Matt Blattel loves the outdoors. Hunting, fishing, camping, he loves it all.

In fact, Blattel’s love of the outdoors goes back to his childhood on a 3,000-acre farm in southeast Missouri. His family raised 1,000 hogs and 1,000 cattle.

“That’s where I began to learn about building,” says Blattel, a regional driver for Baldwin Express who was matched to his job through Drive My Way and absolutely loves what he’s doing.

“I got exactly what I wanted,” he says. “I wanted to be home every weekend, good pay, good miles, newer trucks. And then, I got all of that. I’m ecstatic about it. Once I put in my criteria of what I wanted, Drive My Way started matching me. It was a godsend.”

In addition, Blattel said that Baldwin Express takes care of him, so he finally is able to enjoy the work-life balance he sought for so long.

trucker house

The house Matt Blattel built. He also made the name plate in front and designed the landscaping.

Handy Man

Blattel has had a CDL driver job for 21 years. But, when he’s not trucking, he’s a talented builder.

“I’ve always been somebody who works with my hands,” he says. “I can see something and then go make it. I’ve built things since I was a teenager.”

Blattel, now 46, figures he’s been building things for 30 years. He carves decorative logs for his friends at the holidays. But he’s proudest of his masterpiece: his mother-in-law’s house.

A Strong Foundation

Blattel built the house from the ground up eight years ago, saving his mother-in-law $40,000 in the process.

“I built it completely by myself from start to finish,” Blattel says. “From the foundation and the landscaping to the woodworking, wiring and insulation, you name it, I did it. Also, I even laid hardwood floors throughout the whole house. It makes me feel good to know my mother-in-law has a house that’s exactly what she wants, and I built it from top to bottom.”

It took Blattel a mere seven months to build the house in his spare time. Now his wife wants him to construct a new house for them. “Whatever she wants,” he says. And he means it.

A Talent Deeply Rooted

So where did Blattel learn to do all of this? Building “has always come to me naturally,” he says. “There’s not a whole lot I can’t do. If you tell me I can’t do it, then I’m going to do it anyway just to prove you wrong.”

Blattel picked up his talent for building just by growing up around it. He learned by paying attention.

To other truckers who would like to try their hand at building, Blattel has sage advice: “Overall, don’t be afraid to ask questions, and do it right the first time.”

In summary, it all takes patience, organization and most of all, a clear vision.

“It always starts with that vision, in every aspect of my life,” Blattel says. “I don’t use blueprints. They are all in my head. I research it and see what I gotta do to get it done—and then I do it.”

In addition, the same goes for his job at Baldwin Express. “I couldn’t be happier,” he says.

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Truck driver Brian Matthews with his son, Brian

He was called by the sea. For four years, Brian Matthews worked on a tugboat and traveled to ports around the world as an able seaman and merchant mariner.

The job instilled in him a lifelong yearning for the ocean—and a talent for 3-D drawing and woodworking.

A lifelong artist, Matthews often drew on the boat. His engineer saw his drawing one day and asked him if he would carve a model of it. Matthews never had carved anything before, so he rose to the challenge.

Carving is a talent Matthews nurtures to this day, and his truck has become his workshop on wheels. Matthews made the transition from able seaman to CDL trucker 16 years ago.

“I always wanted my own truck,” he reasons.

Trucking and Carving

Now Matthews works as an over the road flatbedder for E.W. Wylie, carving whenever time allows—whether he’s waiting on a load or breaking for his 34-hour restart. Scraps of wood often pile up in his truck, evidence of Matthews’ talent at work.

Matthews always draws 3-D renderings of his models before carving them, measuring as he draws for accuracy. His models typically measure 6 feet long and 9-and-a-half inches wide.

Matthews’ Steamboat Natchez replica

The best thing Matthews ever carved was stolen years ago from his Houston apartment during a break-in. It still pains him. It was a replica of the last tugboat Matthews ever worked on, the Jackie B., and it was one of only two replicas Matthews ever made. The other was of the famous New Orleans steamboat, The Natchez.

“I loved that boat, I miss that boat,” Matthews says of the Jackie B. replica. “It had a remote control. It was four feet long, a foot wide. I’ll build it again. It’ll just take time.”

Art Kept Him Out of Trouble

Matthews says he grew up in a rough part of New Orleans, where “everybody around me wanted to fight. My momma said, ‘This fighting isn’t going to work. You need to find something to do.’”

So the young Matthews took up drawing. He’s been drawing ever since.

Matthews likes to create lighting for his models, too.

Today, Matthews identifies with drawing and woodworking equally. “I’m a little of both,” he says. “I can draw my butt off, but I can build my butt off.”

Forever a Seaman

Despite his artistic chops and his love for his CDL trucking job at E.W. Wylie, Matthews always will be a mariner at heart.

“Even though I don’t work on the water no more, boy do I miss it,” he says. “I haven’t worked on the water in years, but I promise you, if I went back on the water tomorrow, it’s still with me. It’s like I never left. Deep down, I’m a seaman.”

What drives you every day, truckers? Connect with us here to share you story.

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Neil GorsuchSupreme Court confirmation hearings for nominee Neil Gorsuch are under way.  And as he faces scrutiny by U.S. lawmakers, truck driver Alphonse Maddin is shedding light on the Neil Gorsuch decision that he just cannot shake. Abovethelaw.com wrote about the case recently, highlighting Gorsuch’s decision making:

The Tenth Circuit decided a case called TransAm Trucking v. Dept. of Labor. The case talked about how Maddin broke down on a freezing Illinois road, at night, out of gas.

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‘The frozen trucker’ Alphonse Maddin

He called TransAm. They told him to wait with his load.

He found that the brakes had frozen. The cab of the truck was unheated. He called TransAm again, who told him to wait again. Hours passed. He called TransAm again, explaining that he had symptoms that sound a lot like the early onset of hypothermia. TransAm told him, according to court records, “to either drag the trailer with its frozen brakes or stay where he was.”

After three hours in the cold, Maddin unhitched the trailer and went in search of gas. Eventually, the trailer was secured, and Maddin was fired for violating orders.

Maddin sued, and an arbitrator ruled that his termination was illegal under laws that protect employees from being compelled to operate vehicles in unsafe conditions. Appeals ensued, and the Tenth Circuit sided with Maddin, 2 – 1.

The one dissenter was Neil Gorsuch. In his opinion, Gorsuch wrote:

“It might be fair to ask whether TransAm’s decision was a wise or kind one. But it’s not our job to answer questions like that. Our only task is to decide whether the decision was an illegal one. The Department of Labor says that TransAm violated federal law, in particular 49 U.S.C. § 31105(a)(1)(B). But that statute only forbids employers from firing employees who “refuse to operate a vehicle” out of safety concerns.

“And, of course, nothing like that happened here. The trucker in this case wasn’t fired for refusing to operate his vehicle…. The trucker was fired only after he declined the statutorily protected option (refuse to operate) and chose instead to operate his vehicle in a manner he thought wise but his employer did not. And there’s simply no law anyone has pointed us to giving employees the right to operate their vehicles in ways their employers forbid.”

When describing Gorsuch’s dissent recently, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) said: “According to [Maddin’s] recollection, it was 14 degrees below. So cold, but not as cold as your dissent, Judge Gorsuch.”

What would you have done in Maddin’s position, drivers? Join our community here and share your thoughts.

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Although Drive My Way is relatively new to the trucking world, there’s one team member so immersed in the business she is considered an institution.

She’s Jamey Wozniak, Drive My Way’s chief matchmaker. If you are a driver or employer who has worked with Drive My Way, chances are you have crossed Wozniak’s path. Simply put, she personifies the brand.

“I am passionate about Drive My Way,” Wozniak says. “Probably because I’ve been with the company since the very beginning. I’ve been part of the problem solving and seen our progress. It’s amazing to see how much we have grown already.”

Making the Match

Jamey working with a driver

As Drive My Way’s chief matchmaker, Wozniak communicates with truck drivers and helps them clarify what they seek in a CDL trucking job. Wozniak’s conversational style puts drivers at ease. It helps that Wozniak truly enjoys what she does.

“Helping someone succeed always makes me feel great,” Wozniak says. “I help drivers work the system a little bit. I give them the tools and show them that you get out of it what you put into it. I’ve been here long enough that I can help drivers maximize their benefit.”

In addition, on the employer side, Wozniak serves as Drive My Way’s account manager. In that role, she helps onboard employers, enabling them to match with drivers and hire them through Drive My Way. Also, Wozniak revels in sharing with employers tips and tricks that help them use Drive My Way’s application to their full advantage.

“As a former employer myself, I respect what they do and how they do it, because I’ve been there,” Wozniak adds.

An Accomplished Businessperson

Drive My Way matchmakerAs the owner of Joe’s Hitch and Trailer, a company that designed and installed custom trailer hitches and truck accessories for the outdoor market, Wozniak nearly doubled the company’s business, to $1.5 million.

“Joe’s was really my baby, the place where I evolved as a business owner,” Wozniak says. “I had my own radio show. Several newspapers and magazines featured me. Overall, I represented the brand.”

Being written about in the local press was a testament to her demonstrated leadership within the industry and as a female entrepreneur. “Overall, I was a woman in a man’s world, and I realized I could do it,” Wozniak says.

The Woman She Is Today

Currently, Wozniak still serves as a woman in a man’s world, but this time it’s trucking. Her direct, friendly personality serves her well at Drive My Way, just as it did at Joe’s. A graduate of automotive school, Wozniak has an affinity for fast cars. She’s a roll-up-your-sleeves, get-down-to-business type of gal who gets her point across with a smile on her face.

Wozniak draws as much from her entrepreneurial success as she does from her background in human resources and recruiting. A former recruiter and human resources generalist at Sony and Helene Curtis, Wozniak also worked her way up to VP of HR for Schindler Elevator. Her HR experience now plays an essential role when Wozniak communicates with recruiters. “Traditional HR and recruiting processes are so cumbersome and time consuming,” says Wozniak. “It’s easy to see what a game changer Drive My Way’s technology is by comparison. Educating recruiters on how our technology can save them time and money is one of my favorite aspects of my job.”

Overall, when Wozniak puts her mind to something, there’s nothing she cannot do. “I’ve been with Drive My Way since the beginning. So, it’s in my heart, it’s part of me,” she says. “I look forward to seeing where we go from here.”

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truck driver photographerThis summer, longtime truck driver Steve Shepherd will take to North America’s roads for the umpteenth time. But he’ll do so in a very different way than he ever has before.

This time, the company driver for Industrial Maintenance and Service Corporation in Richmond, Va., will be taking a leave of absence from his CDL trucking job to do something far more special.

A before-and-after shot of the school bus Steve Shepherd and Maryann Sloan converted to an RV

He’ll be living his dream.

Six months ago, Shepherd and his girlfriend, Maryann Sloan, bought a 2002 school bus. They converted it to an RV and drive it all over North America for several months.

Then, from Canada’s Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia in the East to California and Alaska in the West, Shepherd and Sloan will blanket the continent, savoring its beauty from behind the wheel and through Shepherd’s lens.

Photography Will Bring Their Journey to Life

For Shepherd not only is a veteran truck driver of 27 years. He also is a talented photographer who loves taking pictures from the road. He and Sloan keep a travel blog throughout their trip and shoot photos they plan to publish in a coffee table book at the trip’s end.

With stops that include Niagara Falls, Montreal, Memphis, New Mexico, Texas and myriad places in between, Shepherd and Sloan plan to explore as many national parks as they can.

“Good Lord, just talking about it makes Maryann and I excited about the adventures that lie before us,” Shepherd says.

In addtion, Shepherd is an avid outdoorsman who embraces the opportunity to pass through rural America as part of his CDL driver job. Something about old barns and farm buildings captivates him most of all. Overall, he loves the lines, the shadows he sees in them.

“There are so many barns and farm buildings,” he marvels. “And so many of them are abandoned. I always wonder what the story is behind them.”

The Advent of Technology

When he’s on the road for his CDL driver job, it’s easy and safe for Shepherd to take photos. That’s because his Olympus camera works by voice command. He simply mounts it to a GoPro stand and he’s off and running.

“You can aim it in any direction you want,” he says. “All I have to do is say ‘shoot’ and I’m taking pictures.”

Shepherd has liked photography for 15 years, but he never pursued it until a few years ago, when technology had advanced enough to lower the price of cameras.

“Nowadays you can buy a high-quality camera with only a small financial burden,” Shepherd says. “With the apps that are out there, editing your photography is so much easier, too.”

Shepherd’s favorite app is Olympus Image Share. It lets him edit, share and organize his photos by date and location. He’s also a big fan of Instagram, where he has more than 600 followers.

Inspiration Point

While Shepherd is moved by barns, nature and the ephemeral light of dawn and dusk, he’s also inspired by those who take note of his talent.

“Getting a response from people, being able to share my photography, it inspires me to do more with it,” Shepherd says. “Out here on the road, I see so much stuff that I know people won’t have an opportunity to see. It’s easy to capture it all with a camera and share with others a visual experience as opposed to a verbal experience.”

On a more personal level, Shepherd says Sloan, his girlfriend of nearly three years, first inspired him to take photos. So when Shepherd takes a photo he likes, she is the first person he shares it with.

“She’s the one who bought my camera for me. She’s the one who was inspired by the pictures I take and said, ‘You really need to do something with this.’ So she’s a lot of my motivation.”

The two will be inspired all the more this summer when they board their RV for the adventure of a lifetime.

Because out on the road, “you just never know what’s going to be around the corner,” Shepherd says.

Have you had a life-changing adventure on the road? We’d love to hear about it. Connect with us here and share your story for a chance to be featured on Drive My Way.

For more on notable truck driving photographers, see our Sharpshooters series featuring the photos of Tempie Davie, LeRoy Baxter, Robert Moody and Morgan Countryman.

All photos by Steve Shepherd

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Editor’s note: This is the second installment in our Trucking As a Treatment Series about depression among truck drivers.

 For some people, life seems to be an uphill battle.

Aron Borzyskowski (pronounced Boar-za-cow-ski) is one of them. No matter how hard he tries, he simply can’t escape life’s challenges.

“The stupidest things happen to me and I can’t figure out why,” says Borzyskowski, a 12-year flatbedder for UPS Freight.

“For example, I had a 15-year-old girl run out in front of my truck and commit suicide. I’m that one in a million person who it happens to. I know I didn’t do anything to cause that, but I’m still working on closure, you could say.”

That was two years ago. Borzyskowski has battled depression ever since then. While moving on has at times been a struggle for him, Borzyskowski refuses to dwell on his depression, instead finding ways to relish the new promise each dawn brings.

How He Turns It Around

When he’s having a bad day, Borzyskowski simply commits to getting through it. “I get up the next day and have at it again,” he says. “As long as I get up, I’m halfway there.”

At other times, he loses himself in upbeat films and music, savoring the distraction.

But there’s one thing that lifts his spirits more reliably than anything—practicing kindness to others.

“Making people laugh is a big thing for me,” says Borzyskowski, who has 1.8 million safe miles to his name. “I’m always trying to make people laugh. You gotta laugh at yourself every once in a while, too. I also take that extra second to say ‘You’re welcome’ to people. I’ll hold the door or help someone who needs help carrying something to their truck. It always makes me feel better.”

truck driver depressionRecently Borzyskowski even stopped to check on another driver who drove into a ditch.

“His lights were on, his wipers were on, so I stopped,” Borzyskowski says. “If I was in that situation, I would like someone to stop. I don’t understand why people don’t stop. We need to look after our fellow human beings.”

On hard days, things as simple as sharing a smile, honking his horn for a kid waving in a car, or carrying someone’s groceries fill Borzyskowski with joy that carries him through the day. He hopes others who suffer from depression can learn from his example and work to stay positive in the moment by practicing kindness.

“There is a solution for everything,” he asserts. “You can hash out family problems. You can rectify a bad day just by being kind to a stranger. When life kicks you, sometimes all you can do is get up and kick it right back.”

Borzyskowski, who is married with four kids, also reminds himself of his obligation to his family.

“You may be the world in somebody else’s eyes, and that’s where things really matter,” he says. “It could be a child, it could be a dog. But when you’re having a bad day, you have to remember that your life matters to someone.”

Check out the first story in our Trucking as a Treatment Series to learn how trucking itself has brought drivers out of their depression.

Life isn’t always easy. It’s how you respond to the hard times that sets you apart. Are you a driver who has committed to rising above life’s challenges? Connect with us here and tell us about it for the chance to be featured on Drive My Way.

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Thirty years ago there were a handful of lady drivers in this male-centric industry. Those tough and determined ladies paved the way through their own blood, sweat and tears for the thousands of lady drivers out on the roads today. Still, it is fair to say that the truck driving industry is very much a man’s world. Even with more women drivers going over-the-road year after year, men still make up the largest demographic of drivers.

Our lady drivers should be celebrated every day for the fantastic work they do in this often challenging and many times lonesome career.

But today I want to recognize and celebrate another group of ladies: the ladies who support their trucker.

The ones who stay at home raising the kids, working a 9-to-5 job, paying bills and all the while eagerly awaiting the return of the trucker they love so much. The ladies who give up their home life to live in a 72-inch box for months at a time to be with their trucker.

The ones who cook and clean both at home and in the truck, wash clothes at home and at truck stops, and the ones with that shower bag on hand, ready to run into a truck stop shower whenever the constantly ticking clock allows. No more soaking in a hot bath. No more stretching out on a large bed. This is life on the road.

The ladies who support their trucker are more valuable than diamonds, and tougher than diamonds, too. It can be a lonely, heart-tiring time sitting at home waiting for the sound of that diesel engine to pull up or longing to hear from the one you love when they are hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

Many moons ago I was a military wife. While the men were out to sea or abroad, the women held the proverbial camp back home. The trucker wife is the same.

They say that behind every good, hard-working man is a strong woman.

While the driver is busy planning routes and dealing with brokers, dispatchers, shippers and receivers, the ladies help by keeping an eye on the weather. They keep up with the news in case there is trouble in an upcoming city.

In addition, they remind their trucker to sleep, eat, shower, drink enough water, take his medicine and get out and walk. They take care of the bills at home, the kids and the house. While he is busy working (and make no mistake, it is no small task to drive a truck) the ladies are busy getting things done that need doing every day.

These ladies are mom, grandmother, wife, chef, maid, secretary, navigator, organizer, planner, nurse, commander, lover, companion, comedian, employee, boss, chauffeur, teacher, inspector, seamstress, therapist and much more. On any given day they wear multiple hats, sometimes at the same time. These are the ladies who sacrifice themselves so that their driver is healthy, clean, full and safe. Only then, when everything else is taken care of, do these women seek to indulge themselves, if they have the energy.

We don’t deny the men who take care of their truck driving ladies deserve credit, too.

But today, it is about recognizing the love and dedication of the women who support their truck driver. These are the ladies behind the scene, whose everyday tasks often are taken for granted. I want you all to know, we see you, and we appreciate all you do.

Sierra Sugar is a blogger who rides along with her fiance, truck driver Allen Wilcher. Follow her blog, Sweet Life of Sierra Sugar, or catch her on Twitter here.

March is Women’s History Month. Drive My Way is proud to highlight women in the trucking industry who inspire and lead by their example. Join our community here to get these and all of Drive My Way’s stories in your newsfeed.

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Trucking as a Treatment

According to The Road Blog, depression impacts 15 to 20 percent of professional truck drivers. That rate is much higher than the national average for depression in general (about 6 percent).

With the high rate of depression among people with CDL trucking jobs, Drive My Way decided to explore the issue more deeply and get to the heart of what helps truck drivers overcome their depression. Here, we highlight two truck drivers who found that trucking itself cured their depression.

treatmentBrian Sparks wanted out in the worst possible way.

Not out of his relationship (he already was out of that). No, he wanted out of life. He worked in a factory, had just endured an ugly divorce, was struggling to raise his son and felt like he wasn’t doing enough for anyone.

He lost custody of his son to his ex-wife and later got booted from his apartment. That’s when “I went off the deep end a bit,” he recalls. “It seemed like there was a stretch where I was losing everything around me. I didn’t feel like sticking around.”

With his back against the wall, Sparks was at a crossroads. He had to make a decision. He thought of his dad, who worked as a truck driver. “I remembered the pride he took in his job,” Sparks says. “So I obtained my CDL and started driving.”

Turning Point

It was a decision that changed Sparks’ life.

In the factory, Sparks was working 12-hour days and missing visitations with his son, who lives about six hours away from him. When he began driving for DST, LLC one year ago, however, he noticed a marked change in himself. For once, he felt empowered.

“DST definitely boosted me up,” Sparks says. Sparks rose quickly in his job, which spurred him on all the more. Today, he not only drives for DST, he also interviews drivers whom DST is considering hiring.

“I’m the one who comes in and tells them how it is,” he says. “I go above and beyond in my job. I like to help people. My manager sees I have a desire to do the job and represent the company in a positive manner. I’m solving problems and using common sense. My opinion matters. It’s built up my sense of self worth. It’s made me feel important.”

The empowerment Sparks has gleaned from his CDL trucking job has buoyed his relationships. He and his ex-wife are great friends now as they work together to raise their son. And his son looks up to him. Sparks says it’s all because his outlook has changed. “I notice a big difference in myself,” he says. “A lot of it was my own attitude, I have to admit.”

Samantha Rohweder, an expedited dry van team driver, also says driving empowered her to overcome her depression.

Until she landed her high paying trucking job, Rohweder’s life had been racked by financial hardship and bad credit. It put her in a hole for years and thrust her into the depths of despair that for a time drove her to turn to alcohol and drugs.

But Rohweder began to notice positive, lasting change about a year into her CDL trucking job. Bit by bit, she was able to start repairing her credit. As the cloud of financial hardship lifted, she started to see that she was actually happy.

Having a high paying trucking job turned Rohweder’s life around so much that she no longer needs to take antidepressants.

Every aspect of her life has improved, actually. “After six years on the road, I’m still eager to face the day,” she says. “I don’t drink alcohol anymore. No thoughts of illicit drug use. I have better relations with my kids. I’m now engaged to an awesome man and am just an all-around happier person. And because trucking is not the same old daily grind, I don’t get bored.”

For a long time, Rohweder, mom to three grown kids, didn’t have a relationship with her oldest daughter due to her depression. Today, however, the two have a normal parent-child relationship and share in life’s special moments.

“It was the freedom and confidence of driving that empowered me to change,” she says.

Sometimes truck driving is so much more than just a job. For more great content on how trucking jobs change lives, follow us on Facebook here.

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Does your back ache from sitting in the driver’s seat too long? Before it gets worse and you have to take time off to fix it, consider the advice of Matt D’Aquino of the Healthy Trucker blog.

Take advantage of the breaks in your day to complete some stretches and exercise. It will eliminate back pain and save money and time in the future. Plus, no equipment is required.

1. Place your hips behind your back and lean backwards.

Hold this for up to 10 seconds, and repeat 5 times to decompress spinal fluid that can build up.

2. Repeat the position but go forward.

This can help your hamstrings too.

3. Place your left hand on your left leg, and your right hand upwards.

Then, stretch your hand down as far as it can to relieve some of the muscles around the torso. Repeat on the other side. Do each set five times.

4. Place your hands on a flat surface shoulder-width apart.

Then, bring each knee toward the opposite side as high as it can go. Doing as many as possible can relieve and strengthen the gluten and surrounding areas.

We hope these back exercises will keep you on the road pain-free.

Do you have a favorite tip to share about how you stay pain free? Want to continue to get health tips to make your life better? Follow Drive My Way on social media here.

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