Two weeks ago, my wife volunteered me to drive my mother-in-law back to her home in Florida from her temporary home here in Minnesota. I like to drive, so I agreed. Then she mentioned that we would need to tow a rental trailer loaded with her belongings. I had never towed anything before, but I thought: How tough could it be? People tow things all the time: My neighbors, for example, haul their aircraft carriers up to their lake home every weekend during the summer and two snowmobiles and ice houses every winter. I told myself this will indeed be a great adventure—kind of like being a real truck driver.

In preparation for my “truck driving” experience, I laid out my comfortable driving clothes, gave myself a cool handle, studied up on driver lingo, and bought a Johnny Cash CD for the car. I was ready.

My first experience with the physical dynamics of being a driver of a semi-articulated vehicle came when I had to back into my driveway for loading. I was told to think in terms of doing everything opposite of what you would normally think of doing for the back half of the unit, then opposite again for the front half. Although I understood what I had to do, my brain just couldn't execute that plan.

After an embarrassing half hour entertaining my neighbors, I finally got it into position. Now I had to load it, keeping in mind that I needed to achieve proper weight distribution over the axels and keep it a tad heavier in the nose to maintain proper pressure to the coupling forces of the hitch.

I was told that when my trailer is empty my braking effort—and therefore my stopping distance—will be a great deal shorter than when loaded. I was instructed to be careful and realize that when I have to slow down suddenly or stop quickly, it's going to take more distance and a great deal more effort to do it.

Fully loaded, with a full tank of gas, and more importantly, heading straight ahead, I began my adventure. I made it all the way into Iowa before I needed another $64 worth of gas. Heading east, I doffed my cap to my friend Russ as I passed the corporate headquarters of Heartland Express—maybe he saw me driving a big trailer and was impressed.

At the end of each day my arms ached from fighting the sway of the trailer. We dealt with high winds and torrential rain storms and states where vehicles with more than six wheels (we fit that category) couldn't use outer passing lanes. We did a slow climb to the top of the mountain pass separating Tennessee and Georgia, and then the frightening ride down in low gear. We noticed the emergency truck ramps along the sides and wondered how often trucks actually had to use them. Then we came to the perpetual traffic jam on the outer rim of Atlanta and cruised at no more than four miles per hour.

I made it to Florida and returned the trailer to the local rental agency. I was finished, done. My back hurt, my arms ached, my butt was numb, my wallet empty, and I was in dire need of a nice meal. Never, in my more than 30 years in the transportation industry—all served, I might add, behind a cushy desk—did I ever really understand the talent, experience, and quality of life of a “real” driving professional.

Now, obviously I was not driving a “cab over pete,” and I was certainly not hauling a 53-foot trailer, and I'm not saying that I replicated the experience fully. But, I did drive through the same rain and wind, bought extra trailer insurance, ate bad food, and generally endured the significant physical and mental tensions of being out on the road.

This is a much tougher job than I ever imagined, and although I have always known about the long hours, the low pay, the insurance issues, and fuel costs, it's more than that. It's about the individual dedication the professional driver has to acquire the skills, and therefore the experience, necessary to operate their trucks safely.

I have a far greater perspective of a driver's life on the road, and it seems to me there's little wonder why the industry repeatedly fights the driver shortage. Year after year drivers hang it up by the thousands and the new replacements don't fill the gap. The driver retention issue is not going away anytime soon; so it's incumbent for everyone, shipper and carrier alike, to start paying closer attention to the driver's quality of life and to concentrate on new ways of showing appreciation to the actual link between you and your customers.