Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/769491
Voices 10 | Overdrive | January 2017 In the wake of the elec- tion of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, mainstream news outlets made much of the so-called "alt- right." It's a relatively new blanket term that seems to mean different things to different people. Chief among various constituencies associated with the term, however, is a willingness to do political battle on behalf of a "white race." The most extreme among them advocate a white ethno-state in the manner of neo-Nazi groups. White-grievance or -identity politics, a majority of November/December OverdriveOnline.com poll respondents noted, did play a role among Trump's voters, while a more vocal minority believed it didn't. It's the economy, stupid: Yote Anders summed up that view. "I don't want to be treated different because of my race – I want a fighting chance to make a decent living and keep my paycheck for me. Is that racist?" Craig Vecellio blamed Trump oppo- nents for painting his supporters with a broad brush after mainstream media's fanning the flames of white-racialist politics, engendering a view that such politics played a larger role than it did. One example of how such "media manipulation" was wrong, he said, was the nomination of a respected D.C. insider, Taiwan-born Elaine Chao, for U.S. Transportation Secretary. Readers see racial element in U.S. election What role did 'white-identity' or '-grievance' politics play among Donald Trump's election supporters? A large role 55% A minor role 16% No role at all 21% I don't know 8% Source: Overdriveonline.com poll Hot Buttons POLITICS POLITICS When owner-operator Richard Maxwell started driving professionally, cabovers were common, truck stop amenities were sparse, and Dwight Eisenhower was still president. After 60-plus years of trucking, Maxwell, 77, hopes to retire in May when his plates expire. His first commercial driving expe- rience was in the late 1950s when he was 16, driving a dump. "Around 17 or 18, I got my first tractor-trailer job hauling steel, which I'm still doing," recalls Maxwell, an owner-operator who lives near Philadelphia and is leased to Tryon Trucking, based in Morrisville, Pennsylvania. When he requested that first steel haul and was asked if he had experience, he replied yes, even though he had never driven a tractor-trailer. Maxwell managed to hook up the trailer ("more or less common sense") and survived driving through Manhattan, but he faltered at the steel mill. "It was a wide door, but I couldn't even back it in," he says. Another driver came to his rescue. He continued as a company driver for years and has been an owner-op- erator ever since he bought a B61 Mack some 45 years ago. Other truck brands he's driven include Autocar, Brockway, Peterbilt and International. Maxwell looks forward to part-time seasonal hauling near his home once he retires. Full retirement doesn't appear to be in the cards, as his wife, Marilyn, doesn't "want me hanging around the house, so I've got to find something to do," he explains. "We'll see how it goes." – Max Heine Teen fakes it, then makes it for six decades Search Richard Maxwell's name on OverdriveOnline.com for photos of some of the owner-operator's past trucks over his long career.