FIXTITLE Gahl Shaffer.docx

THE IMPACT OF LOVE

Legends nominee:

Gahl Shaffer

A person will subject themselves to possible grief and endure sadness to the expense of their own heartache, to simply be loved. To find love and adoration for another is sometimes unpredictable, limited and often short lived. When you do come across genuine love, there is nothing like it. Expectations of love are not always equally balanced in relationships. However, defining a mother’s love is stated to be unconditional and whole. Though a father’s heart in comparison can be rigid; emotion may seem harder to express. Through actions of labor as a provider love can go unseen, but is very much as definite as the strongest love imaginable. A man will go to great lengths to support the ones he loves. A parent’s bond with their child is unlike any other. They will spend their lifetime supporting, worrying, caring and providing with no restraints.

This Legends nominee has experienced this type of abiding love that withstood 56 wonderful years, until his late wife’s passing. Together they have six children, in which he sacrificed many years of his home-time, holidays, birthdays, and endless nights away, to furnish a good life for all of them. But his love never ceased no matter the distance in-between. In fact, during our entire interview his love for his family was very evident. Although his career as a truck driver may have steered him away from his loved ones, he was always eager for that ride returning him home. In this story, the impact of love had granted a man a beautiful life with his wife and large family, while also allowing his love for an industry the opportunity to support those dearest to him. In what he describes as a time of “making ends meet” to me meant, there was nothing that he wouldn’t do to see to it that his family had what they needed to live a happy life. Even if that meant they were to live their lives with less of him in it…

Gahl Shaffer was raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana the middle child, with an older brother and younger sister. He was born in the late 1930’s, during that time his mother stayed home as a full-time housewife and his father worked for at General Electric. Their family resided out in the provincial area of Fort Wayne, surrounded by property owned by his grandfather. On their eighty acres of country land was a pig lot that Gahl mentioned throughout our conversation, marking it as his introduction to the different avenues his life would later take on.

As a young boy, the walls of a classroom couldn’t contain his concentration. Instead, it was focused on the family farm and all of the potential toys he dreamed of having access to. He states, “I remember thinking, I’d rather be outside running a tractor or bailing hay. At eleven years old, my grandpa finally let me drive the tractor. I thought, ‘Boy look at me!’ I will never forget that feeling.” It wasn’t until he was sixteen and licensed before he was granted permission to operate any other piece of equipment or vehicle. Once Gahl was turned loose, he became a workhorse.

Living in farm country, there was ample work available. After school, on the weekends, and during the summers if Gahl was not at his grandfather’s place he found work at the neighbors’ bailing hay and tending to crops. Other jobs consisted of cleaning out barns, gathering eggs and catching chicken.

By eighteen, Gahl had settled down and got married. He and his wife, Janet lived in a trailer house and started a family. “That’s when things got really tight. I worked in different factories when I could, then farm when I wasn’t working. I had to do things… anything, to keep things lined up,” he explained. About that time is when trucking entered the picture.

The Trucking Fever

Gahl never went a day without work, many times managing more than one job at a time. By age twenty-one, he landed a position driving a straight truck delivering crates of chicken to various processing plants. At night and on the weekends when he was not driving, he worked on the loading dock or in the shop patching crates. The trucking company where he was able to drive a semi-truck for the first time came at the age of twenty-four. A local gentleman running three trucks needed one more driver. Gahl says, “I was glad to get that job. I was in a white, long nose Conventional; single axle that had a gas motor in it with a 5-speed transmission. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it got up and down the road. The top speed was 42 miles an hour.” He speaks with a kind voice, accompanied by soft laughter that revealed true authenticity when sharing his memories. He then added, “That truck was extremely cold in the winter and hot in the summer!”

Business began to decline, forcing Gahl again to take on a part-time job to make up for the difference. He continued trucking, and when he was home he did maintenance work. His father-in-law ran a body shop; there, he trained Gahl along with the help of the remaining work staff. A quick study and fast learner, repair work became second nature to him. For thirteen years Gahl juggled both schedules, running regional hauling grain and fixing damaged vehicles.

At thirty-two, Gahl went to work for his brother moving farm machinery. He had five trucks, all running over the road. At first, he stayed out a couple of weeks at a time. Once familiar with the system, he learned the art of planning routes and found a routine that allowed him time to pass by his house. He was able to keep driving from East to West, across the country and back again, while also getting to visit with his family every so often. His plans typically worked out well and he stayed on with his brother for almost eight years.

His biggest accomplishment, career wise was the day he purchased his own truck. Granted it was previously owned by his brother, when he took it over and began hauling machinery with his ‘own’ truck it was as if his passion for the trade had been rekindled. He leased on to a trucking company that provided a step deck trailer and off he went. Gahl ran for that company up to two months shy of ten years before retiring.

Over his course of fifty-two years driving a truck professionally, he has a total of four million lifetime miles. Gahl started his career working the shipping docks, to driving local. Next, regional work and then running over the road. He went on to pull dump trailers and 53-foot box trailers. He credits his brother, Lee Shaffer for many reasons. “My brother, Lee was a big influence on my life, not just in trucking but in general. He was the kind of person you called if you had a problem. He could pretty much solve anything. He would service trucks all night and work at International Harvester during the day. It was tough, but he was an extremely hard worker,” Gahl said. He goes on to praise another individual that he respects due to their leadership and dedication to trucking. “Paul Miller, he owns several trucks, but he is the kind of guy that is not afraid to get the job done himself. He will climb in one of his own trucks and drive whatever needs to go wherever. He is that kind of man. We all need to appreciate people with that sort of commitment.”

Highs & Lows

Gahl and Janet have six children, four boys and two girls. When they were all young, Gahl would let them ride along in the truck. Among all the children, only his oldest son and oldest daughter shared his enthusiasm.

Being away from his family was tough, but it was because of the need to provide for them that helped him keep his focus on the bigger picture. “Even though I was gone a lot, I feel that my kids respected me for what I did as a means of work. When I could be home with them, I was. That’s all I did was work and head straight back home. My wife did a good job raising them all. Our boys helped her with things that I normally would need to do. When Janet became ill, my daughters stepped in and took care of her when I was gone. I respect all of them for what they’ve done for our family. I remember being over 500 miles away and getting a call saying, ‘Mom is in the hospital again’ and feeling helpless, thinking what can I do? They all pulled together. It was a tough time, but we got through it.”

On a different run coming home from New York, Gahl received a call from his brother concerning their father. He was extremely sick, unfortunately Gahl did not make it home in time to say goodbye. Another hapless contingency that goes hand in hand with the profession. The sacrifices involved with choosing trucking as a way of life are difficult to accept, hard to forget, and twice as challenging for others to understand. The lows will feel like you’re pinned to the ground, but the highs are just as favorable.

When freight was slow, finding loads was a bit stressful at times. Gahl always found a way to manage. He states that what he learned about the most from being on the road was, people. Being around them; people from across the country, all different in their own way… extending courtesy with everyone in passing is his one suggestion that we take away from his entire testimony. Good manners and exemplifying professionalism can go a long way. By applying those two factors, Gahl’s successful career is a fine example of how rewarding a job well done can be. He gave this piece of advice, “It takes a lot of dedication to succeed as a truck driver out here in this market. You must be on time! You need to be where the shipper needs you to be when they expect you to be there. Also, it helps to have an open mind with everything and updated equipment is a plus. Overall, know that trucking is not an easy life, but if you want it to work keep your nose to the grindstone and you will make it just fine.”

Second Gear

When Gahl was close to turning sixty, he began tossing around the idea of retirement. He describes how the epiphany came to him as he watched his neighbors out enjoying their free time, while he was stuck working under a truck. He says, “I thought about it often, how I was either away driving my truck or repairing my truck. Either way, I thought that I should be playing like my neighbors.” The trucking company based out of Moline, Illinois that he was with for almost ten years sent him on his farewell tour.

Now retired, he passes his time spending it with his two main priorities: family and trucks. He now has fifteen grandchildren and twenty-three great grandchildren. He shares a shop with two of his sons at their farm that sits on 163 acres. One end of the shop serves as a storage unit. The other side of the building contains tools, a maintenance pit to allow access under the trucks and farm equipment, and plenty of room to park a few in the shop area. Several of their trucks are not for road purposes. Many would be considered collector’s items ranging from 1947 to 1986. On special occasions, such as truck shows and parades, Gahl and his family are more than willing to share their trucks.

When he is not around trucks and family, Gahl finds solace in reconstructing old cars. A couple of recent projects was a corvette and a 1975 Sting Ray. Now his attention is on a 1940 2-door Plymouth. His plans include restoring it to the image he remembers as a kid, with mud flaps; the whole nine yards. His pace hasn’t exactly slowed down since retiring. He enjoys having things to do, except now he has shifted into second gear. He can now relax and enjoy life at his own speed. A privilege many don’t have. Nothing is more meaningful than a life well lived.