FIXTITLE Bill & Cathy Owen.docx
BIRDS OF A FEATHER
Legends Nominees:
Bill & Cathy Owen
The proverb stating birds of a feather flock together refers to the fact that birds congregate with other birds of their own species. Meaning; people that share in favor of the same characteristics, ideas, or interests tend to socialize together more often than those who lack in similarities.
This Legends article features two professionals, running team for Interstate Ventures, Inc. based out of Knoxville, Tennessee. With 30 years of experience, Bill Owen has over an astounding 7 million miles under his belt and his wife, Cathy has earned 750,000 since obtaining her CDL in 2011. Though their backgrounds started much the same, both grew up in a small town raised by hard working men, the personalities of each individual are on opposites ends of the spectrum.
Cathy’s father dedicated many years to building a career in the oil field. While Bill’s grandfather worked the fields of their family farm. His grandparents took him in as their own, by the age of eight he was driving tractors and hay wagons. Later, when his grandfather retired, he built a house for them closer into town and Bill quickly adjusted from a young farmer to an athlete. Bill excelled in the realm of athletics, particularly the sports performed outside. After high school, he continued playing in a men’s softball league for another twenty years.
Cathy on the other hand, describes herself as ‘not an outdoor person.’ She says, “I too grew up in a small area. We had a population of maybe 900 people. Kids could play down the road without a worry and people didn’t have to lock their doors. Growing up I was a typical girl that liked to cook. I didn’t like staying outside at all! I don’t like to sweat.” Being a woman that appreciates the benefit of an air-conditioner, I can relate. Their opposite preferences are irrelevant, just as Cathy’s prior disinterest in driving a truck play no part in their success as team drivers today.
She decided to join her husband of 15 years on the road to spend time together. If she had to ride in the passenger’s seat as her husband drove them from state to state, she was fine with the given situation. She often helped with his bookkeeping and kept their small living space tidy. The couple rode together on and off for ten years before Cathy considered attending truck driving school. Bill was comfortable with the idea of her driving the truck from the very beginning. Holding off for her own reasons, once Cathy had her CDL everything else fell into place. Bill explains,
“One of the advantages of running team is that if you spend all day at a shipper, and of course it’s documented on the log book, we can just switch drivers and keep trucking. She prefers driving at night, because there is less traffic and I’ll take the day shift. Plus, you always have someone to share your meals with. Stuff like that…
It can get lonely out here on the road alone, driving for weeks at a time. Of all my years, these last few have been the best trucking I’ve ever done because of Cathy.”
More Than a Team
Interstate Ventures, Inc. is a subsidiary of Visionary Solutions that transport hazardous, non-hazardous, and radioactive material across the country. Bill and Cathy are a part of their long-haul division having pulled dry boxes, flatbed, drop deck, and double drop trailers. Both agree that their relationships with the office personnel and company owner are more than pleasant to work with. “They treat us well! It’s very family-oriented. We feel right at home when we’re here, it’s that kind of environment. They are honestly some of the best people I’ve worked for. I plan on finishing my career here when I retire,” Bill said. Cathy continues, “Yes, it’s a small company, but they take care of their drivers. All the way from the top… our boss has even helped Bill chain and tarp a load down in the rain so I didn’t have to get wet. To me that says a lot! By making me feel like I matter speaks volumes. Here, you feel appreciated as a driver and valued as a person. That alone is special.”
Bill and Cathy understand the responsibility they are trusted with upon every delivery and consider themselves more than just a couple of drivers. In fact, they’re more than just a team. This husband and wife duo are business partners and trained professionals that display a level of excellence through their performance and strive to provide the best customer service on each assignment. Aside from their busy work schedule, they are also proud parents with a large, blended family of 5 children, 9 grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter.
Running as the team we know today, Bill and Cathy started their traveling adventures on the wings of their close friendship first. For no other reason than to keep from being apart, together they learned how to strengthen their marriage to withstand troubles that are bound to develop between two people confined to a small space for over an extended period.
Along the Way
Bill relocated from Illinois to Florida in pursuit of a different avenue for work, but found himself in a warehouse doing the same line of work he was trying to walk away from. He spent forty-hour weeks building conversion vans, in what felt like a dead-end profession. His intensions of seeking an alternative career was risky, being that he was unsure of the direction in which to pursue. A commercial aired on TV, advertising a driving position that presented men and women with the opportunity to take control of their life. The sales pitch marketed a trucking company seeking eager drivers to join their driving team, offering a list of incentives. What peaked Bill’s curiosity was the idea of landing a job that allowed him the freedom from being trapped inside the walls of a distribution center, while still being able to provide for his family.
Immediately, he enrolled at the MTA Truck Driving School located in Orlando, Florida. After graduating with his CDL, he went to work for a company pulling a reefer delivering fresh cut flowers. Next, he switched to dry box, running over the road full-time. Many days being away from his family up to six weeks seemed unbearable. “Sometimes I would be gone so long, I got homesick. Especially when I drove through a little town and saw a dad and son playing catch outside. It made me miss everyone back at home even more, but I had to push past it. I knew that in order to pay the bills for my family, I had to keep going,” he said.
Years later, a couple of Bill’s friends tuned him into a trucking company based out of Indiana that would free up his weekends, allowing him just enough home-time and still make enough money to support his household. The one catch was adjusting to pulling a flatbed trailer. He says, “As soon as I came out of orientation, they sent me to pick up a load of steel. Once I got it all loaded, it took me what felt like all day to get it to where I had to deliver it. I got it there though! Flatbed is totally different than dry van. My friends that helped me get the job ran with me and taught me everything I needed to know about pulling dry van. I started out in a day cab and if I had to stay out overnight, the company put me in a room. As I became more comfortable, I grew to like pulling a flatbed.” Bill stuck with it for five years, then tried his hand at pulling pneumatic tank, but realized early on that he was not a fan and moved over to the company’s reefer division.
On the trips that Cathy joined him, she organized his paperwork while they enjoyed each other’s company. Along the way, they discovered fun places to visit and kept a list of areas in mind to come back to without the truck. They were much like two peas in a pod, both appreciating life on the road and the beautiful sights each different location had to offer. Whether it was the scenery of the open country or the older houses representing the history of a town in passing. Most days are scheduled deliveries, but on an extended vacation trip.
When their tourist perspective runs low and the two need a break, both retreat to their respective areas of space. Cathy explains, “We’re a husband and wife running team, which is now very common. Everyone needs their alone time, even regular couples that aren’t confined to a certain space like us. It’s very normal to enjoy a little breathing room apart. That’s why this job takes a special relationship, one that is solid, because being out here like this for so long will put it to the test. When we have our bad days, neither of us stay mad long, which is extremely important. I’ll go in the back of the truck and he does his own thing at the front of the truck. Just giving each other that small amount of space helps. At first, when I started riding with him, I did it just to be around him. I didn’t think I would like it as a lifestyle. I’ve grown to love what we do and we’ve learned that it takes total commitment to the job and each other to make it work. To do it together and enjoy it, you must truly love your partner. Bill has the biggest heart in this world! He would give you the shirt off his back. He’s just a sweetheart; very loving and caring. That’s why this works for us.”
For Bill, throughout the years he accomplished the required techniques of operating various pieces of equipment, and pulling different types of trailers, along with mastering the art of making work seem more like an adventure shared with his wife. “We have our moments and we have our own system. The way we do things may not work for every other team, but it works well for us. When you have those not-so-good days, you should remind yourself that the person sitting next to you is the most important person to you, besides your kids. Many people forget that. Remembering how much you care for that person when the dust settles always helps get things back on track,” he says.
Off the Beaten Path
Before Cathy had her CDL, she was working at a supported living facility. With all their children grown and raising families of their own, it helped her decision in making trucking her full-time profession. After speaking with another married couple running team, she was convinced that she could hold up her end of the bargain. With Bill as her trainer and guide the pair has formed the perfect working relationship, while maintaining a happy and healthy marriage.
As all trained drivers do, they consider safety as the most imperative factor in their line work. Safety measures are performed while driving, during loading and unloading, in addition to their personal safety. Cathy’s confidence in Bill as a professional proves daily through his experience. She says, “He has been doing this for so long, but it still amazes me the things he can remember at a glance. In just one quick trip, he can return to that same place and remember his way around like it was yesterday. He can tell you about any truck we’ve ever driven or trailer we’ve pulled from A to Z, because he makes it his responsibility to know anything there is to know about everything.”
The couple recently purchased a 40FT fifth wheel camper with plans to visit places they’ve missed out on. Limits to where their truck is permitted are vast, though controlled. Both say they enjoy traveling to places off the beaten path. Those same interests serve as the glue to their partnership as a husband and wife team, as well as their relationship outside of trucking. They just spent the weekend at Vegas and stopped at the Hoover Dam. In the truck, they get the best of both worlds: sightseeing with their spouse and getting paid to do it.
Bill’s mindset as a truck driver ring true, stating that truckers keep the world moving. “Everything anyone has, has been on a truck in some form or fashion. It has been transported by a truck at some point in time. We as drivers make a difference in this world with each successful delivery we complete. I’m helping to provide for other families and businesses across the nation. That makes me proud!”
Three pieces of advice Bill will attest to; always put safety first, never turn down home-time, and try to learn something new every day. He says, “Never think you’ve learned it all.” Cathy simply encourages everyone to put their best effort forward and to do it with pride. “You have to take pride in yourself and your job if you expect others to view you with that same respect. And be the best version of yourself in the process. That’s what my parents always told me… if you try your best at everything you do, then that’s all that matters.”
Until they retire, Bill and Cathy will continue keeping the roads hot and making more memoires wherever the job takes them. Bill finishes our interview, claiming his days of trucking are no longer lonely or even considered work. He says, “I get to make a living out here and experience it all with my soulmate. Cathy is everything to me!” These two love birds could inspire a cat and dog to climb in a box together. …and that’s exactly what we need more of in this world.