2012_TTJM_AllPages

ON THE
ROAD
with Ken Armstrong
Photo courtesy of Ken Armstrong
Interview by Sarah DeClerk
Q. How long have you been a truck driver?
A. Almost 20 years
Q. What do you like most about your career?
A. You’re not micromanaged; you don’t have a manager looking at
you every day. They get up, and they see that you’re rolling to your
destination, or you’re at a shipper, getting loaded. You’re doing what
is asked. That’s one thing I really like about this job. There are very
few jobs left in America where you don’t have a manager overseeing
you day in, day out.
Q. What do you haul and where?
A. We specialize in handling sensitive, high-security loads from
a broad range of customers. [We go] all across the U.S. and into
Canada.
Q. Why did you seek a career as a truck driver?
A. I was looking for a second career after I retired, so I had to learn
how to drive a truck — and that I did. It’s the best office window in the
world, really, and the industry needs people that are motivated and
self-starting. They don’t need to be told that they need to go to work
every day. I get up and I go to work. That’s part of the job out here,
and there’s an expectation of doing it safely and being on time — and
that’s what we do.
Q. What’s your advice to anyone looking to become a driver?
A. Be patient. Learn something every day. When you stop learning
out here, that’s when you need to hang it up. Generally, consider
yourself to be a lifelong student of the transportation industry.
Q. As a driver, what do you look for in a company?
A. I look for equipment more than anything. I look for their management
culture. I look for what they want to do as far as business. …
Tri-State is all about driver support, and they show it from start to
finish every day. Weekends, nights, days — there’s always somebody
here to help you.
14 the trucker jobs magazine | DECEMBER 2020/JANUARY 2021 www.TheTruckerjobs.com