John Carlson: Over The Road Truck Driver

Last summer, I spent 12 days traveling with John in his truck. We went from Madison, WI to New Jersey to Central California and back. John was gracious enough to participate in my ongoing personal project documenting over the road truck drivers. He travels with his cat Kota for 5-6 weeks stretches and returns home to Minneapolis for 5-6 days before heading out again. This slideshow is my first attempt at combining an audio interview with images. It lets you here his voice and his story in his own words. I think I will do more of these.

Mikey & Keith - Over The Road Team Truck Drivers

Mikey and Keith stopped in Madison for breakfast after picking up a military fuel truck bound for California. Keith and I have had a few near misses. He's been in the area before, but at times that I wasn't available. I'm happy that it worked out this time, and they let me make some photographs after breakfast.

They have been team driving for over a year, and not long ago started driving for Bear Leather Transport.   A relatively new start-up by Brian and Amos, who have appeared in a previous post.  Driving as a team has the advantage of running the truck around the clock. One drives while the other takes his required 10 hour break to sleep.   They can cover more ground,  make more deliveries, and share expenses of the truck as well as earnings.    They literally stay out on the road full time without a permanent address.   Riding along with them is Mikey's rescue pit bull named Justice. A sweet and happy guy who has taken to the road quite well.

I appreciate them taking the time to stop and have breakfast before heading back out on the road.  It was great to finally meet.

  

John - Over the Road Truck Driver

While on a weekend trip to Minneapolis, I connected with John. He was on home time from a 6 week run in his truck.   He's been driving for over 26 years and is usually out on the road for 5 to 6 week stretches with about 5 days home. For company on the road, he travels with his cat Kota. It was great to meet John and hang with him a bit in the Twin Cities. He's also open to a possible ride-along as subject in my ongoing project documenting life on the road of over the road truck drivers so stay tuned!

Jerry - Over The Road Trucker

Jerry hails from Southern Missouri and lives just off the highway I was traveling on my way to visit my family for Thanksgiving.   He's an independent owner/operator who travels with his very loyal (and well-fed) companion Izzy, a miniature pinscher.

Chad - Over The Road Trucker

I met Chad at his company's terminal outside of East Saint Louis since I was passing through the area on my way to visit family in Missouri for Thanksgiving.  He had expressed an interest in being part of my 2015 calendar project, so I decided make the meeting happen.   I arrived as the sun was setting and knew I had a short window of time before I lost all available light.   I got my single speed-lite set up and went to work.   Traditionally, I convert the images from my ongoing trucker project to black and white, but I really like the saturated colors in these images.  I'm making an exception this time.

David - Over The Road Trucker

Finally met David in person after communicating for a couple of years.  He runs primarily regional out of Upstate New York, but this time he was coming to the Chicago area for a night so I drove down from Madison to meet up with him.   It was the first cold snap of the winter which was a little uncomfortable for making portraits, but the crisp clear morning made for some nice light.   David is a great guy.   Laughs a lot and he was quite comfortable in front of the camera.

Gene - Over The Road (Super) Trucker

While in St. Louis for daycare portraits, my trucker friend Gene stopped in over the weekend for a visit.    Before he left, he decided to jump up on the hood of his truck for a few portraits. 

A Trucking Life - Photography Exhibit Opening Reception

Tonight was the opening reception for my photography exhibit, A Trucking Life, at the Madison Public Library Sequoya Branch. The exhibit is on display for the months of July and August.   It's a collection of prints from my ongoing over the road trucker project.  I had a spread of snacks and refreshment (truck stop food), a slideshow of additional images and a Q&A session.   There was a nice showing and plenty of interest in this relatively obscure (to most of us) profession.

A big thank you to Max Wendt Photography for making the images and giving permission to use them.

Over the Road Truckers - Brian and Amos Bickel

Got a call from Amos and Brian, a trucking couple who have stopped in Madison for the night at the TA.  They drive for separate companies with the goal of team driving flatbed trailer in Brian's truck.  It's been a long road trying to make it happen, but they hope to be together in the truck by Fall.  They are even more anxious to team now that they got married last month in Minneapolis.

I met them for breakfast at the TA Truckstop north of Madison for visit and some photos before they hit the road in separate directions again.   I always enjoy it when they take the time to stop for a visit.

Gene - Over The Road Trucker

Gene is an Orlando based over the road truck driver for a small trucking company out of Marshfield, WI. Gene stopped in at the TA Truck Stop for a quick visit on his way to Kansas City from his company's home office in Marshfield, WI.

Amos - Over the Road Trucker

Amos stopped to have lunch with me at the TA Truck Stop while on his way to Minnesota from Indiana.   I've been chatting him about doing some work together for my trucker photo project.   Connecting with these guys is difficult given their transient and constantly changing schedule.   It's kind of like fishing, I keep casting out my line, wait, get a few nibbles and finally get a bite. I'm itchin' to get out on the road again.

Charleston - Over The Road Tanker Truck Driver

Another installment of my personal photo project documenting life on the road of over the road truck drivers.

I rode with Charleston, a Milwaukee, WI based driver. He drives tanker truck for Klemm on a dedicated route between Milwaukee and St. Louis, Mo delivering 4,000 gallons of laundry detergent 3 nights a week.

I met up with Charleston at the terminal in Milwaukee on a Friday afternoon, jumped in the truck and hit the road to St. Louis. It took a little getting used to how the truck handles with a tank full of a liquid. Unlike box trailers, this product moves and shifts and can pull and jerk the truck when stopping and starting.   Being with a tank driver also gave me something new to work with visually. 

Charleston is a great guy. He welcomed me in his truck and was quite comfortable with having a personal paparazzi on board.  He's been driving truck since 2005, first as a long haul and now with a dedicate run. For some, dedicated runs can get a bit boring and mundane, but the advantage is that you are home in your own bed on a regular basis. It also helps to have a great soundtrack of disco and R&B on the iPhone as Charleston does. 

Since this was a short overnight trip, I didn't feel I had the opportunity to get a variety of images and situations. It didn't help that the company we delivered to would not let me out of the truck with the camera. It's not unusual given security and company secrets, but it's typically where the more interesting things happen visually.  I do felt like I came away with some keepers for both myself and Charleston.

It was great to finally meet Charleston in person and get to document a bit of his world. I'm always grateful when drivers such as Charleston take the chance to have a stranger in their truck in support of my project.