Driver of the Month MARCH 2014


JOHNMCKINLEY Hunt Transportation By JenniFer Barnett reed Contributing Writer


McKinley says he isn’t sure what the


secret to his safe driving record is. He thinks a moment. “I’m not in a big hurry,” he says. “I take my time tying down. I take a break every two-and-a half hours to walk around, check my load, maybe read the historical plaque in the rest area. I’m pretty easy going.” He has a 21-speed bicycle that he takes with him in the summer. He likes to ride his bike around small town bike paths and sightsee. When he gets home, his wife, Val, is there to greet him, along with two Jack Russell Terriers. McKinley is also devoted to Val’s grown daughter, Dallas. McKinley says that when he finally retires,


mcKinley


he’ll get his 1957 T-bird running again. And he’d like to take Val and Dallas to California, where he was born, to visit relatives and see the sights. “Maybe I’ll get a small RV and go all the places I haven’t been able to go in a truck,” he muses. Here’s a catchphrase that neatly describes


how John McKinley got into the trucking business: As Seen On TV. McKinley says he was burned out from years of working on cars, including owning his own auto repair shop


for 10 years. “It was hard,” he confesses. “You were working six or seven days a week, plus keeping track of the accounting, and I couldn’t find good help.” McKinley closed his business and was working at a Toyota dealership when he saw an ad for a truck driving school on television. He signed up. Seven months later, he finished the course


in the top 10 percent of his class and hit the road for Builders Transport as a flatbedder. “You always needed to make sure you had a trucker map with you,” McKinley remembers. “We weren’t routed, so you studied the map and made notes about how to get to your location. You had to find your own way. And the customers talked too fast when you called for directions! Now we have GPS. And power steering!” McKinley finished his first million safe


miles while at Builders. He finished his second million since he joined Hunt Transportation three years ago. “Working for Hunt is the best job I’ve had,” he exclaims. “You can walk in to the headquarters in Omaha and talk with anybody. We don’t have to drive in bad weather. I haul Case New Holland farm equipment. I don’t like to tarp and you don’t have to tarp farm equipment. And I get to drive those big tractors on and off the flatbed. Tat’s great, too!” nt


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NEBRASKA TRUCKER — ISSUE 2, 2014 — www.nebtrucking.com


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