Don Lord had never left the state of Florida until he found himself behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer, knuckles white and sweat pouring.
Nearly 30 years later, Lord is being celebrated by Tennessee-based Covenant Logistics for driving 3 million miles with no safety incidents or crashes. He is only the second driver in company history to achieve the feat, which is equal to circling the globe 120 times.
Speaking on the road from Texas, Lord, 73, said he had spent his career as a commercial fisherman in the Sunshine State until regulations “forced me out of that lifestyle … truck driving was the quickest way I could get to making money and providing for my family.”
The transition came with sacrifice. Lord, an over-the-road driver primarily hauling shipper-to-shipper goods, missed everyday moments with his wife and four children along with celebrations and holidays at his home in Grant, a small town on the coast.
“I missed 23 of my wife’s birthdays. I missed 23 of our anniversaries. I missed 23 Thanksgivings, 23 Christmases,” he said.
Now, Lord is able to come home weekly to be with his wife, but even behind the wheel, he only needs to look toward the passenger seat to remind him of home; his son Jason team-drives with him and recently celebrated 2 million accident-free miles.
“We sit and talk under the shade,” he said. “We drink coffee in the mornings.”
Covenant Logistics, which has over 1,900 drivers, celebrated Lord’s achievement with a $7,500 check. The company also customized his truck and hunted down the exact color of a blue Peterbilt that Lord previously drove, said Misti Olszewski, vice president of safety for Covenant, who lauded Lord as the “top echelon” of drivers.
“I think Don is just an employee anyone would want to have,” she said. “It’s his spirit; you can just feel how much he cares about people, his family, his job. He takes such pride in his work every single day. I wish I had a hundred of him.”
Lord’s accomplishment was for consecutive miles. Any incidents – and Lord said he had close calls, as do most drivers – and he would have started from scratch.
A shift in mindset
Becoming a professional driver in 1996 shifted Lord’s mindset. Working as a fisherman made him happy, but trucking was about providing for his family, he said.
“There were times I didn’t want to come back out here,” he said. “Even though I enjoyed the job, I hated being gone so long.”
Lord’s dedicated run affords him more time at home with his family – and on the water. He finds time to fish when he’s home, and he’s known to cook up fried fish and hushpuppies several times a month.
It was his career as a fisherman that primed him to get behind the wheel of a big rig. Hauling a fishing boat on the back of his pickup gave him a basic understanding of maneuvering a large tractor-trailer, he said.
“You stay on your toes and watch what you do and put to work what you’ve learned,” he said.
That approach is what Olszewski said has helped Lord stay safe on the road. A healthy dose of caution is beneficial, she said.
Asked if he plans to retire soon, Lord said: “I’m going to drive for a little while longer.”