BREAKING BARRIERS - Mike Lawrence

BREAKING BARRIERS

Legend Nominee: Mike Lawrence

A large amount of all communities in America rely entirely on trucks to deliver high demand consumer goods, such as fuel, medicine, and most other items transported over land. The trucking industry is responsible for the productivity of our nation’s economy. If you eat it, wear it, need it or bought it – IT presumably was delivered by a truck. And inside each of these big rigs sit the heroes of our highways; men and women that see to it that our daily necessities for survival are made available.

Through continued advancement, semi-trucks have become more equipped to benefit the drivers with communication, functionality and overall, cost-efficiency. In the manner of trucks varying in classifications based upon the freight, as does the drivers that operate them. Truckers: male and female from different ethnicities, religion and age. Each with their own life story that led them into the trucking industry, nevertheless, all share one love… a passion to drive a truck.

My role, as I interview each Legend driver is to translate the narrative by allowing their words to come alive through the eyes of each reader. Every detail of their life represents a part of their journey thus far. By the time you reach the last sentence, you should truly know and understand the Legend driver for who he or she is as a person. Because each truck has a driver and that driver is someone’s son or daughter, brother or sister, maybe a parent or a grandparent; they are more than a truck driver. They are someone special to another.

By speaking with me, a driver is sharing a piece of themselves with our entire reading audience, nationwide. This driver nominee expressed a more vulnerable side. Very soft-spoken and friendly, candid and humble, yet introvertedly witty without the need to entertain. However, don’t be misled simply because he is an old school trucker. He is quite sharp and knows it! Definitely more below the surface than what is seen. Observing his photos, one wouldn’t match his level of sensitivity with his image. Luckily, he has allowed us this one-time pass into his background, and ultimately, his individuality. Giving one word to best describe himself, he used: different.

With 46 years of experience as a professional truck driver, this upstate New York native has pulled everything from tankers, dry van and flatbed, to hauling steel, milk and hazmat. He has one particular niche of business that he stays clear of: hauling livestock. A pioneer in his own right, with thick skin but a tender heart. Stating, “I’ll admit it. When it comes to transportation, I can move anything to anywhere, but not cows to the slaughter. Or pigs either! I can’t even look at them, they have the saddest eyes.” The longer he and I talk, the layers begin to wear away and I’m reminded why I absolutely love my job. This is the story of Mike Lawrence.

Born and raised in the small town of New Berlin, New York the youngest of his siblings, Mike recalls his parents as hard-working people and very caring. His mother found work in restaurants, to add to the family’s income, while also raising 3 children. His father spent some time driving log trucks and transporting gasoline in the 50’s before landing a full-time job with a local telephone company as a cable splicer. Unfortunately, due to the dangerous nature of work, he lost his life on the job before Mike turned 21.

As young as 10 years old, friends of his father allowed Mike to join them in their dump trucks for short runs, back when the roads were nothing but dirt or gravel. He was hooked! There was nothing else that would suffice. He knew then, even as a kid that he was going to be a truck driver.

At age 18, with his chauffeurs license in his pocket, Mike relocated to Florida and started working at a mattress company delivering mattresses to condos within the area. A year later, he landed an A & P assistant position at a major manufacturer known for its line of business jets. He says, “It was a job of a lifetime. I was making $13 an hour at just 19 years old and that was over 35 years ago. I stayed with them for 4 years and should’ve never left, but I wanted to come back to the hills. So, I moved away from Florida and returned home.”

Mike went on to haul milk for a few years throughout New York City and Long Island. A close friend and truck driver introduced Mike to a trucking company based out of New Jersey, known as Hermann Transportation Services; one of the country's premier asset-based logistic providers. Established in 1927, by Fred J. Hermann and his wife, Myrtle, the company initially started when Fred purchased his first truck and began hauling watermelons for a supermarket. As a successful entrepreneur, Fred was later elected mayor of North Brunswick, New Jersey in 1946, which he remains the longest-serving mayor to date with a total of 18 years. Hermann Transportation Services celebrates over 90 years in business, with their fourth generation of family in procession. Mike continues,

“At Hermann, it’s a family-oriented atmosphere. I’ve known Dennis Hermann (third generation), a long time, I knew his parents. He is going to be retiring soon and I’m going to miss that man so much. We have an open-door policy, and with Dennis anyone can walk upstairs to his office and say, hey Dennis… and he’s more than ready to talk with you. He’s a solid guy, the boss of all bosses. I consider him a friend and that says a lot about a company.”

The following thirty years, Mike has dedicated his trucking career to the Hermann family while paving his own path along the way.

Mike touches on his experience as an owner operator versus now, as a company driver. Stating, the independence of operating a trucking business as an independent contractor came with its advantages; while having less stress running as a company driver fares well with the current stage of his trucking career. With the freedom to call the shots as a business owner, also came the responsibilities of truck maintenance, etc. As a company driver at Hermann Transportation Services, Mike states that the respect he receives from dispatching makes all the difference. Saying, “They don’t have forced dispatch, we communicate well together, that’s the key. They let me do my own thing and I go everywhere.”

In a 2015 Freightliner, Mike still prefers trucking over the road, then regional or local work. He has traveled to most all states, with the exception of Alaska and Hawaii. Mike’s wife, Sicilian beauty, Pena have been married for 28 years. Together they have one son, Kameron -who has also visited almost every corner of the country. Mike continues, “Up until Kameron reached the age of 12, he would jump in the truck and go everywhere with me. A long time ago, when he was around two, I talked Pena into going to New Orleans with me, all three of us. It was during the summer and the air conditioner in the truck went out. We rode in it for a week and about roasted to death. Let’s just say, she hasn’t been on another trip since.”

Pena claims the balance of their marriage hinges on her understanding of Mike’s love for trucks and meeting new people from all over the country. Adding, that despite his absence from home 3 to 4 weeks at a time, his commitment to providing for her and their son means the world to them both. “My husband is loving, caring and giving. He works so hard to earn a decent living to support us back at home. He is a good man, and we’re thankful,” Pena says. Her high praises for Mike is met with equal admiration. He adds, “I miss my wife terribly when I’m out for so long. In the summers I choose to stay home a bit more often and we spend our days together relaxing, enjoying our time doing whatever we feel like. The winters up there are awful, plus we live on a mountain, so I stay out longer during that time of the year. Our driveway is horrendous when it snows, and my wife gets out there and clears it like it’s nothing. She’s a very beautiful woman, works full-time, has raised our son… she’s everything and more.”

Last year, Mike stayed out on the road more than usual. Dunkin, their 10-year old Golden Retriever fell ill. Over time, his health declined. As his heart conditions worsened, the medical expenses increased. Mike put in the hours driving to offset the bills. “Dunkin was a big part of all our lives. We tried everything to keep him alive,” he said. Heartbroken, they laid Dunkin to rest on March 7th. With a heart of kindness and a contagious optimism, it’s not uncommon to catch Mike shaking a stranger’s hand, exchanging pleasantries. Or complimenting people in passing, leaving traces of good will here and there.

As for mentors, Mike credits two truckers, brothers Rick and Mike Harris. Combined between them, they have close to 80 years’ experience in the business. Mike says, “They’re older than me and are still out here running the roads. They have been with me for most of my trucking career, I look up to both of them. They’re always there for me anytime I need them. I live a mile and a half up a mountain and in the middle of a winter in New Jersey it can get ugly. I can call Rick, with it being ten below zero, saying that I’m having trouble starting my truck and his response would be, ‘On my way, be there in a minute.’ They’re just great people and have impacted my career in ways they’ll never know.”

Off and on, Mike has ventured out to see what other lanes of hauling freight he could gain experience from. For 4 years, he worked part-time filling in as a driver for a company that had 13 trucks on an exclusive account running for NASCAR, transporting equipment from track to track during race seasons. He explains that in the trucking industry, nothing is the same. Meaning, to succeed in the business a driver must continue to evolve too. Never stop learning. Of all his years on the road, he says that he steadily gains knowledge daily. Even when he least expects it. Affirming how our industry is an endless learning process, forever developing.

Mike is today’s example for our generation to model honesty and hard work. When speaking with veteran truckers, keep in mind that they too were all new drivers at one point; their eyes and ears have witnessed days of trucking that some of us can’t even fathom. To the millennials, tread lightly and with due respect. Who knows, you may learn that you both share more in common than anticipated.

“I like humor, I like being nice. Maybe it’s because I’m old, but I don’t like rudeness. People invest too much energy into being rude. Why be that way when a smile can brighten someone’s day?

The industry has changed, but what hasn’t? Trucks aren’t what they used to be fifty years ago, and drivers today are trainers with only a couple of months under their belt. It is what it is, but if the younger guys aren’t careful, they’ll blink and be in my shoes soon. You know, you can’t have everyone like you, but it’s nice when somebody does!

I’m still doing this almost 50 years later and people never cease to amaze me. We’re all the same, just trying to make a buck and keep our families happy.”

-Mike Lawrence