‘It's a nice day for a drive’

It's where the rubber hits the road. That's the life of a truck driver.
"It's a nice day for a drive," says Craig Mowers of Albert Lea as he begins another long day as a truck driver. It just so happens that Craig is my brother-in-law and drives truck for a living.
Within my early days of retirement, Craig said I now had time to see how the working world spends its day. He invited me to accompany him on two days of hauling freight for a private carrier, Damel Transportation and Logistics of Austin.
Our ride for the day was a 2013 Peterbilt tractor and a 48-foot trailer.
Craig's day starts early, sometimes in darkness as early as 4 a.m. The work day sometimes lasts into the evening hours of darkness.
Highlight of the first day riding with Craig was to pick up fertilizer in a cave located on the banks of the Mississippi River. Yes, I did say CAVE.
The cave is the property of Consolidated Grain & Barge. The grain terminal is located near the Mississippi.
We entered the terminal gates on a high grade and wound our way toward the area where grain and fertilizers are unloaded from barges and then moved into caves for distribution.
"I didn't know what I was getting into," Craig said about his first trip to the caves. It was kind of scary as Craig piloted his semi-trailer through the darkness and to a point where the product was placed in the truck.
As we left the cave with our 80,000 pounds of additional weight, we kept an eye on an opening, which proved to be the opening for us to exit the cave.
We were now loaded and ready to depart for our drop-off point at Stacyville, Iowa. The challenge begins as Craig takes the 48-foot trailer on its way up a curving trajectory.
Thanks to a 13-speed transmission, powered by a splitter, our truck groaned a bit as it chugged up the winding road. To be honest, I could see us rolling back down the steep hill toward the river. Craig wasn't worried, however, and successfully brought us to ground level.
This was our big challenge for the day but our day also included a delivery of wheat to an organic farm near Calmar, Iowa.
A highlight of the second day with Craig was traveling across a very narrow bridge going from Lansing, Iowa into Crawford County, Wis. The bridge is called the Black Hawk Bridge, named for Chief Black Hawk.
This riveted cantilever through truss bridge has one of the more unusual designs of any Mississippi River bridge.  Construction started in 1929 and was completed in 1931.
This time of year, Craig is doing most deliveries of animal food. In the summer time, he often drives a dump truck, oftentimes delivering road construction materials.
"I really like my job and I go to towns that I have never heard of," Craig says.
Trucking down the roadway, Craig said cars following him always want to get ahead of him. "I get a lot of fingers waved at me but it's something you get used to," he says.
Driving a truck is not as simple as hanging tightly to a steering wheel.
It includes mastering the shifting of gears, becoming familiar with the truck GPS (which records weight loads and height of bridges) monitoring of the various air gauges and constantly checking water temperatures. "I have made sure my brakes are working at all times," he insists.
Damel Transportation is a family operation, the name coming from owners Dan and Mel Morium. The company has a fleet of 30-plus trucks. Damel also owns the Austin Tree Service and does snow removal in the winter time.
Craig's day often totals over 600 miles on the road. He also burns about 300 gallons of fuel on an average day.
Craig's day is not over until he has delivered or picked up his cargo. He then plans his itinerary for the next day.
Just riding along with Craig tired me out. I'm sure glad I am retired.