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How Richard Brown has His Cake and Eats it Too

At first when one listens to Richard A. Brown talk, you would think he was some young pup who had a few miles under his belt long haul trucking, but wouldn’t be around long.  After all, he’s just spent $2,200 on various “bells and whistles” for a gold colored 2007 conventional Peterbilt – he doesn’t even own!

Big Rig Owner saw Brown and the big rig parked last fall across the street from the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.

Drinking coffee out of a paper cup alongside the big rig, Brown says he wanted to dress up the Pete, so he added some chrome and lights to it.  The truck belongs to Crown Freight Transportation.  His rebuilt 1997 Mack truck is leased to Crown.  The trucking company is part of Crown Jewels Marketing & Distribution, a large produce growing and shipping operation based in Fresno, CA.  Crown has five trucks, plus leases the equipment of about 15 owner operators.

Brown, who lives in Indianapolis, is 70 years old and has been trucking for 42 years.  He had just delivered a load of fresh chicken wings from Live Oak, FL to Houston.  He had a little time to kill before picking up his next load in Lafayette, LA so the time was being used to get some free publicity for Crown Jewel since the produce industry’s largest trade show of the year was being held across the street.  The trailer hooked to the Pete had beautiful Crown Jewel graphics on it.

In Lafayette Brown would pick up a load of hot sauce destined for New Jersey, before he made a run to Springfield, MA and upstate Vermont.  From Vermont he’d be hauling dairy products to either Denver or Phoenix, before picking up some produce on the West Coast.  Keeping his rig rolling is part of the key to Brown’s success.  After all, affording those “bells and whistles” didn’t come without earning it.  Here are some of the reasons Brown has had a long, successful career in trucking.

• “The main problem today with the trucking industry is a lot of guys think it’s all glory.  They don’t want to stay out here on the road.  They can’t make it,” Brown states.  Trucking is not a nine to five job, with weekends off.

• He believes in finding good carriers and shippers with which to work. Brown points to all the added costs faced by trucking companies ranging from drug testing to driver training.  If you keep job-hopping from carrier to carrier no one wants to hire you.  He was driving for a trucking company when it was acquired by Crown Jewels.  The trucker has stuck with the new ownership because “they are real good people to work for.”

• Toughness is part of being successful in trucking because driving is not an easy job.  Besides logging the miles, delivering on time, and protecting his perishable loads, Brown has overcome his share of physical challenges during his career.  He has survived prostate cancer, as well as triple bypass heart surgery.

• Driving good equipment and keep it up to snuff is important.  The Pete he is driving has a 475 horsepower Cat engine and 13-speed transmission. Proper maintenance is a must, he says. As for the 1997 Mack he owns, $13,000 was spent on rebuilding the engine and the truck is running good.  Of course, working hard, and smart, allows Brown to be debt free and have the finances to do preventative maintenance.

When talking about good equipment, the trucker also is referring to some accessories he views as necessary.  “I’ve got the worst sense of direction,” he confides.  “I can get lost in a shoe box with the lid off.”  That has resulted in Brown having a GPS system.  Prior to the invention of Global Positioning Satellite systems he wasn’t afraid to ask his dispatchers for directions.

He also has a camera monitor on his passenger side view mirror, which is particularly helpful when making right hand turns.

Another piece of equipment Brown has high praise for is his Thermo King TriPac, which he uses to cool the cab of his truck.  He agrees the $10,000 price tag is expensive, but sees it paying for itself due to fuel efficiency and the increasing number of cities with idling laws, where fines can be very costly.

Spending so much time on the road, Brown relies on satellite radio, not only for entertainment, but to stay informed.  “I can put on Fox News in Vermont and listen to it traveling across the whole country,” he says.

Brown obviously loves his profession, but doesn’t even talk about retirement even though eligibility for Social Security came eight years ago.

“My wife says, `you’re going to die driving that truck.’  Then she adds, `I don’t worry about you, I worry about everyone else!” he concludes with a chuckle.

January Hauling Outlook
Table grapes from Chile hit good volume this month and will arrive by boat at ports on the East and West Coasts in heavy volume through March.  There also will be imports from other South American countries, as well as Central America.  Much of this volume arrives at ports in Florida.  In North Carolina, which is the country’s leading shipper of sweet potatoes, volume is expected to be off 15 to 25% this season, which will extend into summer.