Every trip is different. Phillip Koeller never knows exactly what he'll be hauling next, and that surprise is one of the things he enjoys about truck driving.
His interest in the job started with family. "I was inspired by my dad and grandpa to start my truck driving career”, he said. His father drove trucks, and that example helped him imagine a future behind the wheel. My dad grew up on a small farm near Beetown, Wisconsin, where his family raised beef cattle and hogs. From a young age, Phillip was interested in becoming a truck driver. His first job as a truck driver was with Schneider, a trucking company that specializes in transporting glass on flatbed trailers. This was the beginning of his career on the road and gave him the chance to turn an early interest into a profession. After he quit his first job, he started working for Artpape, hauling heavy equipment to dealerships.
ATA states, “Truck drivers play a major role in moving goods across the country. In 2024, trucks carried an estimated 11.27 billion tons of freight in the United States, about 72.7% of domestic freight by weight”. For my dad, Philip, that work means taking on different loads and traveling to destinations he may not have seen before.
Life on the road has its difficult moments. He has encountered unsafe drivers and witnessed vehicle crashes. One especially frightening incident happened in Iowa. “It was raining heavily, and strong winds were blowing as I drove behind a semi hauling a van trailer full of cardboard. The wind began pushing the trailer sideways, and the driver eventually lost control and crashed into the median.” Finding meals can also be a challenge; sometimes he packs leftovers from home, but he often eats at gas stations. When he has extra time, he goes out to a restaurant.
The average routine Phillip goes through to get on the road is something called a pre-trip. A pre-trip means he has to check that everything on his truck is functional and to see if there are any flaws that could mess up the drive. One story he told about his pre-trip was, “Back when I worked for Walmart, my truck was sitting over the weekend at the yard, and when I did my pre-trip before I hit the road, there was a homeless guy sleeping underneath my semi trailer”. This shows the importance of doing the pre-trip before he gets in his truck and hits the road.
Even with those challenges, he looks forward to every load he'll haul next. For him, every delivery brings a destination and another story from the road.