FIXTITLE Johnny Sanders.docx
IN DUE TIME
The Story
Of
Johnny Sanders
During this month of October marks a very rewarding moment for BR Williams million mile driver, Johnny Sanders. He has devoted over 22 years to the transportation industry. As well as, dedicating 20 additional years as a fireman for the Vinemont-Providence Fire Department located in Cullman County, Alabama. Twelve of which he served the force as their Fire Chief. With a lifetime career of an unprecedented 2 ½ million safe miles, Johnny has finally put in for his retirement. What started as a side job for extra cash substituting as a school bus driver his junior year in high school, a seed was planted that continued to grow over a span of 40 plus years. As luck would have it at the height of his trucking career driving as an owner operator in the late 70’s, Johnny took a bad spill shattering his tailbone. Taking a break from the seat, he joined his local fire station. Retiring in 1998 after 20 years with the fire department, he immediately went back to his first love: trucking.
For many professional truckers, life behind the wheel provides a sense of peace to their life only found over the road. I’ve been told that once trucking is in your blood, you can never really leave it behind.
Born in 1950, Johnny grew up on a small farm a couple of hours from where he resides now. He has one brother, five years younger. Their family lived on 20 acres of country land raising chickens. Johnny’s easy going personality is very relaxed as he paints a picture of his entire life for me. He describes his childhood with a bit of humor and I pick up quick on his charismatic nature. He said, “My mother wanted a girl, but she got me. She told me that I would be more useful in the house than in the chicken coops.” He laughs and I could tell that he wasn’t the least bit upset about what he was missing out on. By the age of seven, Johnny was doing the laundry; washing, ironing and sewing. He helped with the cooking and after school he tended to the garden. By the time his brother came along, he added babysitting to his list of responsibilities. His parents’ health began to deteriorate, leaving Johnny accountable for more than what a typical teenager is trusted with.
At 15, Johnny was hired at a cannery plant unloading produce. He became familiar with a pitchfork and operating forklifts. Over a period of three years, after school and during the summers Johnny worked a series of labor positions at the factory. When he turned 16, his mother bought him a 1953 burgundy and white four-door sedan. “Of course I had to pay her back and keep up the maintenance on it. After six months I traded it in… as soon as I could!” He stops and chuckles again as he explains that the vehicle his mother picked out was more like a mom and pop car, not exactly his style at the time. Instead he scored a 1956 Chevrolet.
About this time is when the open bus routes provided him with another source of money. Not many students were given the opportunity, or even qualified to drive the school buses. However, Johnny jumped at the chance. This short time frame of shuttling kids around different neighborhoods was basically his invitation into trucking. Learning how to maneuver such a large vehicle led to the next big thing. But not quite yet…
August of 1969 during the Vietnam era, Johnny was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was only 19 years old and already lost a close friend whose fate had been called before him. Johnny was sent to Fort Benning, Georgia for eight weeks of boot camp. Next, he spent fourteen weeks at Redstone Arsenal located in Huntsville, Alabama training as a field ammunition specialist. The following February he was deployed to Germany. While overseas, Johnny was advised to return home. His father was extremely sick and rheumatoid arthritis had nearly taken complete control over his mother’s fragile body. He was granted a hardship discharge and released April 1971, right before his unit was sent to Vietnam. Unfortunately, his father passed away not too long after he arrived back home.
Just 22 years old, with his disabled mom and teenage brother to raise, what might have been deemed as an obligation to his family was nothing that he hadn’t handled before. He quickly landed a job at a local plant. The transition from spending 90% of his time outside while in the military, to being surrounded by four walls wasn’t appealing to him. In March of 1972, he went to work for the United Parcel Service.
When Johnny initially started at UPS, he was given a local route in town making deliveries in a package car. Within a year he had worked his way up to driving tractor trailers. Four years later, he felt that he was ready to branch out on his own. In 1976, he purchased his first truck and became an owner operator. It was a Peterbilt that he leased on with a trucking company based out of Cullman, Alabama running over the road. He was gone a week to ten days at a time and home for a day or two before leaving out again. After two years, he sold his truck and was in the process of finding another one. In-between trucks he filled in for an owner operator that was shorthanded. While out on a job unloading a truck he slipped and fell on the concrete damaging his tailbone, making it hard to sit for long periods of time.
Once released to work again, Johnny decided to take a break from trucking. He went to work at a fire station for a town outside of Cullman known as, Vinemont. In 1982, he earned his license to be an adjunct instructor from the state of Alabama Fire College, based in Tuscaloosa. He taught classes for a large number of fire colleges and various fire departments throughout Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. After serving a total of 20 years with the fire crew, he retired in 1998.
At the end of that year he realized that he wasn’t ready to slow down yet. He explains, “I wanted to get back to what I loved. I wanted to truck again, but things had changed in the trucking industry over the span of 20 years. Now you must obtain a CDL in order to drive. So I enrolled in trucking school and by the first of 1999, I was hauling for an owner operator.” He stayed on as a driver until 2003 when another offer came available.
A mutual friend had been trying for some time to get Johnny to come drive with him at an automotive parts store located in Gadsden, Alabama. When Johnny was ready to come onboard, the company was no longer taking drivers at that given location. Instead he would have to relocate to Jackson, Mississippi. If agreed to join their team they estimated that in about six months there would be a possibility that the Gadsden branch would have an opening for his transfer. Oddly enough, after Johnny moved to Mississippi the distribution center in Alabama had closed. As a result, Johnny and his wife, Debbie were left in Mississippi. On jobs prior, Johnny had always been able to bring his wife alongside him in the truck, but this company held strict regulations against it. In a new state, with her husband gone quite often Debbie opened herself a small catering business in town. The two settled in and decided to make the best of it.
For three years they were away from all of their family and friends until 2006. Debbie and Johnny both saw it fit to return home because of health problems with her daughter. Back in Alabama, Johnny began his search for a reliable trucking company. This time he knew that he was close to hanging up his hat. He wanted to put in his last few years as a professional truck driver with the right company. With his list of expectations, Johnny was able to find the perfect fit at BR Williams. He was hired on January 10th, 2007 and is scheduled to retire the first of this month. This past August he was presented with a plaque, rewarding him for reaching his 1 million mile mark with the company. He currently runs exclusively on the Honda fleet out of the Anniston, Alabama terminal. Johnny speaks highly of BR Williams and the entire office staff. He continues, “Our home time is better than most companies, the people are always friendly and they keep their equipment up to date. Plus, we have a local division, an over the road, and two regionals. Whichever division works best for your situation, you have that choice here at BR Williams.”
His future plans still involve driving and working, but more on the terms of riding his Harley Davidson and woodworking projects. With their blended family of 4 children and six grand babies, Johnny and Debbie never have an issue finding something to get into. The majority of the immediate family lives in Alabama, with the exception on Debbie’s son and his family that are in Kentucky. Also, they enjoy being entertained by their five rescue cats. He has modeled his work behavior and personal life to somewhat resemble his favorite television character, Burt Reynolds from the hit comedy film, Smokey and the Bandit. Johnny says, “That’s me right there! I’m a happy go lucky person and I try to get along with everybody. In that movie they’re always having a blast. That is exactly how I like to try and live my life.” Looking back at his successful career he stresses the importance of safety to all drivers, new and old. Awareness and knowledge have played a key role in how he has remained accident-free. He expresses how necessary it is to stay alert behind the wheel and attentive to your environment at all times. He closes our interview with a few simple words for his fellow truckers. “Be safe out there. Always remember there is more than you on the road.”