FIXTITLE Randy Meadows.docx

DESIRING SUCCESS

The Story

Of

Randy Meadows

Have you ever met a successful individual and stopped to wonder how their life got to that point? Outside looking in, the picture seems rosy and pleasant, but we all know that everyone has to start somewhere. If being born with a silver spoon was attainable in every case, how else would we earn our stripes? You can stand in a rose garden and be surrounded by the beauty, but how will you learn of the thorns if you’re not taught? Or if you’re like me and a bit on the stubborn side, it might take getting stuck by a few to find your way through. Like a rose, it must have time to grow and flourish before you see it at its best. That goes for anything in life. In order to reach success you must be ready to endure the wait. During that time is when a person’s characteristics begin to surface. When it seems as if you have nothing to show, how you remain mentally and in your heart is everything that you need. Many times failure comes first to test the strong-willed. With combined persistent ambition driven by determination, it will deliver an outcome in your favor every time. How could it not? Throwing in the towel, followed by negative thoughts will lead you directly to a dead end. By doing the complete opposite isn’t easy, but it is one step closer to achieving your goal.

Forty one year old, Randy Meadows from West Virginia, was basically born fighting for his life. Arriving premature, he was given a low survival rate due to complications of his throat not being fully developed at birth. Randy’s parents were advised to move their family of two sons to a warmer climate that was more convenient for Randy’s health. At the time, Randy’s father was a second generation truck driver. While his mother remained home to raise their children. The family of four settled into a suburb of Tampa until Randy’s condition was under control. By the age of five, his youngest brother came along and they returned to West Virginia. With a house full of boys, there was never a dull moment in the house. A few years later, the Meadows made one last trip to Florida to a small town called Auburndale. Growing up in the 70’s, Randy looks back at his childhood as being ordinary and nothing out of the norm. Stating that in elementary school he was the typical ‘book nerd’ but by high school he traded his books in for street racing. Strongly influenced by their father, Randy’s dad made sure his sons owned the fastest cars in town. At 16, Randy had his own hot rod. A 1977 Grand Prix, black with T-tops. His father would test drive each of his sons’ vehicles to see exactly how fast they could go. This of course resulted in all of the boys becoming street racers. “We raced after school. Sometimes we’d skip school to go race. It was an everyday thing. We would race for bragging rights or even money. It didn’t matter, we just wanted to race.” Everyone would meet up in a city outside of town about ten miles from where they lived and drove out to a secluded part of the country to put their cars to the test.

After high school, Randy landed a job as an auto mechanic at a general auto store one town over. In 1992, Randy was on his way home from a night of racing with three other people in his car. A truck driver ran a stop sign, coming completely off the interstate and ripped off the top to Randy’s car. He was ejected from the driver’s seat and found wrapped around a guard rail. Resulting in ending Randy’s days of racing at the age of 19. He then began debating which direction to take his next step. Being an architect was his first choice, but things didn’t work out that way. With his family having so much history in the trucking industry, he knew it was inevitable. The only thing holding Randy back was the simple fact that he almost died at the hands of a truck driver. The anxiety and horror from the wreck clouded his judgment. In his heart he knew that he couldn’t live that way, since trucks have always been a part of his life. It was his father that pulled him through once again, “He told me that I needed to overcome my fear of trucks and the only way to do it was to get in one. So he taught me how to drive a truck. I was 20 at the time and by 21 I started driving on my own professionally, all thanks to my dad.”

Once Randy was comfortable behind the wheel, he joined his father with a trucking company out of Dallas pulling dry box. With his father being an owner operator, he can recall the truck that he was taught to drive in like it was yesterday. It was a red 1987 Freightliner Cabover with black and gold stripes. On the side it read, ‘Driving For Miss Daisy’ after his mother, Daisy. “It had no power steering, spring ride suspension… it was a rough truck!” Before coming on, the company was strictly owner operators, but was starting up with company drivers, bringing 20 new ones in. Randy was the youngest. Just because Randy’s father had been with the company for many years, they didn’t cut him any slack. “They were hard on me in the beginning. For my first test drive I had to pull a 57ft trailer with the tandem slid all the way to the back through downtown Dallas. I was told if I hit a curb, then I was going home. When I returned they said that my driving results were better than most three year veterans.” By 23, Randy was an owner operator driving for a major refrigeration company. After one year he transferred over to their LTL department for another three years. In 1997, while living in Florida he went back to the trucking company his father was with as an owner operator. Two years later his dad switched over to regional and began driving for a major department store in the Florida and Georgia area. Randy also came on board and continued with this fit for about three years.

At the age of 30, Randy’s life took a turn in events. He packed up everything and headed back to West Virginia to be closer to his family. He then went into the oil field, traveling the country in a frac crew as a liquid nitrogen pump operator for almost four years. Unfortunately, a bad accident occurred leaving Randy unable to work for a few months. While on a work site in the mountains of West Virginia, Randy was trying to vent some pressure on a gas wellhead and another employee took it upon himself to help Randy loosen it up. The wellhead then opened all the way and steel began whipping around like spaghetti. One strand hit Randy like a baseball bat, throwing him about 100 feet. After a full recovery, Randy was back on the road hauling cars out of a port in Baltimore. He delivered mainly high end vehicles such as, Mercedes and BMWs to car dealers across the north. In 2006, Randy found his way back to the trucking company that gave him his first shot when he was 21. Through a lease purchase program he bought his third truck. It was a brand, new Freightliner Century pulling dry freight to all 48 states.

In 2009, after moving back to Florida he met his wife, Kari. It was during the Thanksgiving holiday and they later wed that following February on the 15th. She was a bill collector, while he was in between jobs still trying to find his niche in trucking. In 2011, Randy finally found a match with a company out of Indiana, Enterprise Truck Lines. He speaks only high praises of his current carrier, “I’ve been out here driving for 20 years and I’ve never been treated the way they treat me! They don’t just know me. They’ve learned my voice. Here the people treat you like family, not a number.” He calls out the entire personnel, from the office manager, safety, the dispatcher and payroll. Stating that all of the staff go out of their way to make him happy. “I’ve learned that as long as I work hard for them, in return, they are 100% dedicated to me.” Soon after being approved to work with Enterprise Truck Lines, Randy and Kari purchased a 1999 W900L. It has a long hood, studio 86 inch sleeper, teal with silver metallic and 6 inch bull horn stacks. In it you’ll find a 12.7 liter Detroit Diesel Series 60 motor, 13 speed transmission with 355 rear ends, up to 430 hp. Kari recently got her CDL in July of 2013 and has since then racked up 120,000 miles to her name. Randy has achieved well over 3 million miles of his own. Together they relocate trailers to all 48 states. While on the road, they like to visit Randy’s mother that resides in Florida and Kari’s family that lives in Iowa. When they’re not sightseeing, they’re keeping the roads hot and adding the miles by the minute.