Over the Road with Trucker Todd

Cousin Todd cruisin' the open road!

So last week I get the following text:

Hey cuz, I'm in town and heading to Cooperstown right now.  Join me if you can.

And with that, I changed my plans and made my way to downtown Phoenix to catch up with my cousin, Trucker Todd, no way I would miss this chance, it's always a good time.

Growing up in Michigan, my dad's brother, my Uncle Fred and his family, lived in Southern California and so I only saw Todd a handful of times in my life.  But since I've been in Arizona, Todd has passed through town a number of times and he and I have had a chance to get together more this last year, than probably our whole lives combined.  The first time he came through last fall I suggested we meet at Alice Cooper's Sports Bar, Cooperstown, and ever since then it has become our regular meeting point.

As an over the road long haul truck driver for 7 years, Todd is based out of Southern California, but on any given day, armed with satellite radio and a gps, he could be in Dallas, Texas or New York City and along the way he often passes through Arizona.  Having heard a ton of stories from him about traveling across our country non-stop, I thought it might be fun to share what its really like to live out of a truck, drive hundreds of miles every day and be privileged to see some of the greatest scenery our country has to offer on a regular basis.

If you are friends with Todd on Facebook, you'll see your share of bug guts.

First some specs for those interested in the mechanical aspects.  Todd drives a 2013 Peterbilt 18 wheel Truck, with a Cummings 450 horsepower engine, when pulling a trailer he's hauling 70+ feet and can carry up to nearly 50,000 pounds of load bearing weight (insert Tim Allen man grunting here).  He gets anywhere from 6-9 miles per gallon depending on his load and even though the truck can certainly go faster than 65 mph, his truck has a governor set at 65 and apparently this is common for trucking companies as it saves on fuel not driving any faster.  For every 11 hours in a row that he drives, he has to take a 10 hour break so on average he drives anywhere from 500-700 miles a day.

Todd's truck/home.

Outside of Cooperstown, taking up two spots.  Parking's a bitch.

Step inside and get ready to drive. Can you handle a big rig?

As you can only imagine, Todd has a million stories of things he's seen as he's traveled to nearly every state, having only missed a few in New England and besides they're so small they don't really count anyways.  But more interesting is the scenery that he gets to see every day and if you are friends with him on Facebook, you'll see the fantastic pictures he takes on daily basis, besides the bug guts.

Utah canyons, the beauty of Utah is still a mystery to many.

Fall foliage in Ohio.

Driving through the Rocky Mountains.

Near the Bonneville Salt Flats, west of Salt Lake City.

Through any driving conditions, the truck must keep going.

A train lift bridge in Oregon along Highway 84, Todd's favorite drive.

But of course it's not all fun and games, living out of your vehicle has its own challenges.  One of which is how would you get your mail?  Well for Todd, he has a P.O. Box in California and he gets to it every month or so.  With the online world we live in, he can pay any bills and do almost anything online and not really need conventional mail.  He used to have his own place in California and for a while in Las Vegas, but realized it wasn't worth the rent when you're literally never there, so he does indeed, live out of his truck.  With truck stops across the country, he's always close to somewhere he can stop for the night and he's no traditional trucker as he travels with a bbq grill and often times makes his own meals that would rival anything you might make at home, as he's determined to try and stay healthy while out on the road.

Home sweet home.

Every trucker has milk jugs.  If you don't know why, you won't want to.

A daily meal by Chef Todd.

Having seen some of the best parts of the USA, I asked him what the worst areas were for him and he said as a trucker, NYC is awful, as you can imagine the streets weren't built for 18 wheelers, but without hesitation he says the worst two places to ever go are Gary, Indiana and Ontario, California(outside of Los Angeles).  Ontario is the only place he's every had anyone break into his truck.  He was hauling boxes of lunchmeat and they stole a few of them.  Often times he has to go the Mexico border and pick up a trailer, as no US trucks ever cross over the border, but you are then definitely inspected at every possible stop for "passengers". 

If you are near Mexico, above the cab is a common place for "hitchhikers".

One of the interesting things is what he may be hauling on any given day.  Since he doesn't work for a specific company like Coke, he hauls anything and everything including hauling garbage out of NYC and taking it to Ohio to be dumped; going directly to farms for potatoes in Idaho; peanuts to the Oakland Raiders Stadium; office furniture(which he often picks up here in Arizona); beer; and even bales of hay that he will take to Long Beach, CA to be shipped overseas.  So he really never knows what he will get and where he is going until a day before. That certainly would make things interesting on a day to day basis.

The hazzards of driving every day, bad accidents.

Another day, another sunrise.

As for some of the crazier stuff that's happened, I'm sure you can imagine that anything and everything debaucherous can happen if you want. But Todd says they have really cleaned up the truck stops and stuff probably still goes on, but its not out in the open at all, like it used to be.  But out on the road, well he's seen plenty of random nakedness, once had a girl roll down her window and ask him for his number while they were both driving, he's seen every type of animal you can imagine and been fortunate to never hit one, too many accidents and some stuff that's better left to hear about in person and not in a quasi-public blog.  He did have a weird day on an actual Friday the 13th a few years ago as he went from Las Vegas to Los Angeles to northern California, he saw a series of fatal accidents, another trucker plowed into his truck while he was unloading and a huge office building fire, all within a few hours; enough to make you maybe stop for the night.  But as a trucker, that's not an option, you always have to keep going.

No doubt our Grandparents, Fred and Jo Studenka, are looking down on us.  Family was really important to them and they'd be so happy that as cousins we are still in touch with each other.

As for me meeting up with Todd, I once had him text me late at night saying he'd be in Phoenix for only a few hours and I met him at a Waffle House at 3 a.m.  Certainly an interesting crowd in there at that hour; a passed out hooker, a guy in a wheelchair, a few thugs and us.  But I'd never miss a chance to hang out with cousin Todd because I know when I do it will always be a good time, so I'm always ready for the random text.  Besides he's no cousin Oliver, quite the opposite actually.  Wait, does that make me cousin Oliver? I hope not.  Anyway, stay safe out there Todd and Keep on Trucking!

The Studenka Cousins, making it happen at Cooperstown! Big Unit!!!!