Million-mile marker

A million miles.

That’s 40 times around the Earth. Or a trip to the moon and back — twice. Bill Jefferson hasn’t joined any lunar missions. But in November he did reach a memorable mark: 1 million accident-free miles as a commercial trucker.

It’s not unheard of: The company he drives for, Werner Enterprises, has nearly 800 truckers who have reached the accident-free million-mile mark, as well as several who have gone well beyond that. There’s even one Werner driver at 4 million miles.

Still, it’s a mark any trucker would be proud of — and one Jefferson has looked forward to since he joined the company nearly 10 years ago.

“I had seen all these million-mile stickers and I said to myself, if I could hit that, I’ve accomplished something,” Jefferson said on a recent Monday morning in the basement of his Ellicott home. On a far wall was a plaque in honor of the feat; Jefferson also received patches, stickers and a gold watch.

He doesn’t get much time to sit at home and reflect on those million miles, though. Typically he’s on the road for three to four weeks, then home for only a few days with wife Mara and his three stepkids before heading out again. He also has two children from a previous marriage.

Jefferson, who learned to drive big trucks during 16 years in the Army, relishes life on the road.

“When I was in the military, that’s all I did was drive military vehicles,” he said. “It was like in my blood. I just had to drive. I tried other jobs when I retired in ’95, but it wasn’t me. Four walls, somebody looking over you. Out there, you do what you want to do, when you want, how you want, as long as you get from point A to point B in time.”

The life of a trucker is far from routine. Jefferson’s routes vary, and he never knows where he’s headed before he lets his dispatcher know he’s available. He’s driven through all 48 lower states, from icy mountain passes to the desert, from crowded California freeways to lonely twolane roads.

“It’s an experience,” he said.

There’s often a student in the driver’s seat of his rig; Jefferson, 46, has been a trainer for several years. But only miles he drove counted toward his million mark, he stressed.

Those million accident-free miles — ticket-free, too, he said — have included some close calls. Jefferson pointed to an ice storm in New Jersey as a recent example; he ended up stopping just two feet from a car that did a 360-degree spin in front of him.

Being a teacher has had its interesting moments, too, such as racing down a snowslickened mountain road in Nevada with a trainee at the wheel who didn’t brake soon enough.

“He finally pulled over to the side of the road, and I had to get a crowbar to get his hands off the wheel,” Jefferson recalled. “This guy was scared.”

The student, though, stuck with it once Jefferson got him calmed down.

“There are a lot of trainers out there that treat the student like a kid, yell at them, tell them you do it my way or no way at all,” he said. “I’m not like that.”

Many accidents and nearaccidents result from motorists cutting in front of a trucker, he said.

In Tennessee, Jefferson saw a family of four killed when their car zipped in front of him on a hairpin turn and ended up under the back of another truck.

Animals on the road also pose a danger.

“You can’t stop on a dime in these trucks,” Jefferson said. And if you swerve to avoid a dog or deer or whatever and roll your truck over, “you might as well go get a warehouse job,” he said. “No other company will hire you.”

Since there’s often no time to stop for a hot meal, Jefferson loads his cooler before heading out — “bread, bologna, cheese, stuff like that.” The one essential on the road: coffee, strong as he can get it. When it’s time for bed, he sleeps in a bunk in the truck.

Listening to his satellite radio helps the miles go by: “I basically listen to sports, the hockey games and stuff like that, or old classic radio like ‘The Lone Ranger.’”

Despite his love of life on the road, it can get lonely, he acknowledges, and there are times he longs to be home. He and his wife have talked about him finding a new line of work by this fall.

So does that mean there’s no hope of reaching the 2 million-mile mark?

“I don’t know,” he said with a laugh. “That’s down the road. Being away from the family is kind of hard for any trucker.”

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0272 or bill.radford@gazette.com

TRUCKING FACTS

Professional truck drivers in the U.S. drove 338 billion miles in 2004. Most individual long-haul drivers average 100,000 to 110,000 miles per year.

- There are more than 2.7 million large tractor-trailers on the road in the U.S. and about 3.3 million truck drivers.

- In 2005, the trucking industry hauled 10.7 billion tons of freight, or 68.9 percent of total U.S. freight tonnage. Rail was the next busiest mode, moving 13.2 percent.

- More than 80 percent of U.S. communities depend solely on trucking for delivery of their goods and commodities.

- The trucking industry uses 51.4 billion gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline annually.

American Trucking Associations (www.truckline.com)

ARE YOU READY?

From www.gettrucking.com, here are the top 10 signs that you’re ready to be a trucker:

1. You hate fluorescent lighting.

2. The sound of a time clock makes you itch.

3. Your supervisor reminds you of a mosquito buzzing in your ear.

4. You know all your co-workers’ stories by heart.

5. Your commute to your job is more interesting than your job.

6. You consider Ohio to be “just down the road” from Colorado.

7. On vacations, no one gets to drive but you.

8. You know four different routes to get to work. And five to get home.

9. You installed a rear-view mirror at your work station.

10. You honk your horn at kids just for fun.