Grabbing Another Gear

By Jae Bing, Marketing Intern

“Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June in a Kenworth pullin’ logs, Cab-over Pete with a reefer on and a Jimmy haulin’ hogs, we is headin’ for bear on I-one-oh, ‘Bout a mile outta Shaky Town, I says, “Pig Pen, this here’s the Rubber Duck and I’m about to put the hammer down.” – C.W. McCall

It was right around 4 in the morning when I approached the passenger door of a CarterEnergy fleet truck.  The morning air was thick with its own dew, yet the stainless steel door handle felt cold and crisp in my hand.  As I went to open the door I couldn’t stop humming the melody of the song “Convoy” by C.W. McCall.  The images of Kurt Russell from Roadhouse kept swamping my head, I took nearly so long feeling the nostalgia of the truck the driver asked if I was ever going to climb inside.  As I climbed into the diesel behemoth, I stopped once again as the flickering lights of the dash caught my attention.  It was as if I was a fighter pilot, well co-pilot, climbing into a stealth bomber.  The sheer number of gauges and toggle switches was simply astounding and just as confusing.  There were toggles for headlights, cab lights, running lights, load lights, differential locks, fifth wheel lock, tractor air suspension dump, and just as many gauges monitoring the ins and outs of the truck itself.  I felt like I had just climbed into a Dr. Suess book.  I asked the driver if he knew what each gauge monitored, and he simply replied, “yep”.  I suppose the novelty of all the gauges and switches wears off after spending 12 hours a day, 5 days week staring at them. 

After performing the mandatory pre-trip inspection, in essence a high octane walk around the truck to make sure that everything is in proper working order, we pulled out of the trucking yard and off to a fuel terminal.  Here the driver filled his tanker with assorted product to deliver to the awaiting customer.  As we pulled into the station and started to unload, I could see the driver’s knowledge and experience at work.  Staring at the driver I was simply mesmerized, it was as though Beethoven was playing “Fur Elise” right in front of me, if Beethoven were wearing a fire retardant jumpsuit and steel toed boots.  However, the act of him delivering fuel was truly graceful.  He knew exactly what fitting to use, where it was, which hose was just the right length, and he did it seamlessly without lacking confidence or haste.  After what seemed to be a blink, I must have had an astonished look on my face because the driver looked at me and said smiling, “I bet they don’t teach that in college”.  I shook my head and gave a little giggle as we drove off the customer’s lot.

Admittedly I was a little delirious at this point; to be quite honest I am not a morning person especially at 4 in the morning, but we pulled into another terminal and a realization hit me like a flying elephant with a bad wing.   I couldn’t believe I hadn’t noticed.  Personally I have had experience driving a semi which should have made my realization come to me much quicker than it actually had.  We had already been driving for hours without even shifting a gear—the semi was an automatic.  This was stupendous, maybe even horrendous, how could a driver climb into a truck that isn’t a manual?  The difference between a manual truck and a manual semi is that an experienced truck driver can shift through all the gears without even touching the clutch.  The truck driver matches the engine, transmission, and ground speed in order to shift his truck which takes an ample amount of skill and even more grace.  However, as the reader, the important aspect of this isn’t to understand how to shift a semi-truck, but to see what this represents to a driver.  If there was any kind of personified trait to a semi, it would be how it shifts.  A manual semi, which is the same model, same year, same engine, same transmission, and could have been built within minutes of each other, tends to shift in a different manner.  Drivers take weeks, maybe even months, getting to know their truck and how it shifts.  In Carter trucks, this is a nonexistent bond that the driver and truck cannot share.  I didn’t say a word to the driver.

As the day went on, the heat became more intense; it was hotter than two rats running around inside of a wool sock.  However hot I was, I could not shake the thought of the truck being an automatic.  The idea of the loss of connection with the machine truly bothered me as we were driving down the road.  The driver received a call which he then answered with his blue tooth headset, as mandated by Carter’s safety regulations.  The flying elephant came back around and hit me again.  The sudden realization, of who CarterEnergy was as a company came into view.  Company culture is something self-described within the word, its companywide culture, including and not limited to the drivers.  The culture that Carter tries to tirelessly build is an ever dynamic, not stagnate environment.  A culture that not only embraces change but constantly seeks it, and with change comes innovation, and with innovation comes efficiency which assures that Carter is at the upper echelon of fuel marketing.  Considering the driver and the case of the automatic truck, this is a shining example of who Carter is and how its associates handle change.  The driver, I am sure, was weary of the change, however instead of shunning the idea, he embraced it.  The driver soon realized that he could take one hand off the shifter and apply both of them to wheel.  He no longer had to think about his next shift, and could focus on the next lane change.  So did the driver lose touch with the tractor’s soul?  I’ll admit that he may have lost a little connection with the truck, however in exchange for that, he gained a new relationship with the road, and after all, isn’t that what we all have to go down?