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trip inspection and successfully complete a road test with a didn’t pan out and now they’re looking for something different
state examiner,” he said. backing skills include, “a straight 90 that won’t leave them. In a sense that’s kinda what I was looking
alley dock, a corner alley dock and s backing,” he said to the for, an industry that wasn’t going anywhere. trucking’s not going
interviewer, who nodded in acknowledgement, not quite sure anywhere.”
what those skills actually are. “I also teach them how to slide carroll’s work life is proof that there’s always opportunity for
tandems for weight distribution.” a licensed truck driver. In addition to his weekday job teaching
carroll’s route to truck driving was not direct. truck driving, on the weekends he earns “a little extra” money
he was raised in shelbyville, graduating high school in 1994. on weekends working as a “yard dog.” A yard dog, he explained,
like many young people, fresh out of high school he wasn’t sure is a driver who hooks and unhooks trailers and moves trailers
what he wanted to do. “I tried a string of jobs to see what would around in a warehouse parking area. “I’ve got to stay busy,” he
fit,” he said. After working at various jobs, carroll signed up for said. “my kids are out of the house and I’ve got to find something
the welding program at tcAt. once he got a welding certificate to occupy my time.”
he looked for work but couldn’t find exactly what he wanted. carroll has three children but he’s not encouraged them to
good paying welding jobs, he said, usually involved extensive follow in his tire tracks.
travel, being out of town for up to six months at a time, and with “I’ve always told them that it’s fine that I’m a blue collar
a new child at home that didn’t suit him. worker; I’m happy to be one. but I’ve always pushed higher
his inspiration to become a truck driver came from a chance education, pushed them to be the people that tells a guy like me
encounter on a road in shelbyville. “ I was on a back road and what to do.”
a guy driving a big truck was lost. I stopped and gave him one of the obvious challenges that truck drivers must
directions. when I was pulling away, there was just something overcome is fatigue from driving 11 hours a day. with loading
that struck me: ‘I could do that.’ I came up here (to tcAt) and and unloading time and stops for fuel, a trucker’s day can be
registered for the class and I’ve never looked back.” 14 hours. carroll’s secret is audio books. “Audio books kept me
carroll started driving in 2000. for his first six years of truck awake. I’ve done that for years,” he said. “I can put in a book and
driving, carroll drove long distance hauls, called “over the road” it’s like a movie in my head.”
in the trucking world. when he was asked if it was fun to just get carroll also finds that just getting into a truck is enough to
in a truck and go, he said “that was part of it when I started. It wake him up. “to me, and I guess it’s just all of the years driving,
wasn’t just the money it was a little bit of an adventure. most of I could be tired but when I get in that truck I’m wide awake.” H
it’s just mile markers going down the interstate but I also got to
see parts of the country that I never would
have gotten to see.” carroll says in those
years of over the road trucking he visited
most of the states. DS C
After 17 years of truck driving, carroll
was glad when the opportunity to teach came
along. teaching, he explained, “was always in
the back of my mind. for me that was the SANITATION
end goal. I feel good about it.”
part of carroll’s efforts in running tcAt’s
truck driving program is recruitment through
community outreach. “I’m always talking
about the program especially to young men SERVING BEDFORD AND
who seem kind of directionless,” he said. SURROUNDING COUNTIES
“you will always have a job as long as you
keep your mvr (motor vehicle record) clean.
there’s always a trucking job somewhere.
there’s coke, pepsi and budweiser and
over-the-road there’s countless companies.
Around here there’s nationwide express, Commercial & Residential
huff and puff trucking. they will recruit our
students because they know we don’t just Recycling DRop off
push people through.” 24 Hours a day
not all carroll’s students are fresh out of Locally Owned and Operated Since 1994
high school. In the class that started at the
end of february the youngest student was
25. the other four were in their 30s. “some 210 Cedar King Road TOMMY and GAIL DOLLAR
people do it to change their whole career,” he 931-684-5635
said. “maybe they were doing something that

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