Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/708036
Spotlight 34 August 2016 BestDriverJOBS www.bestdriverjobs.com Adventures in Trucking Crete driver Charlie Cur s loves the trucking life and the opportunity to explore America. T wenty-three- year-old Charlie Cur- tis was working a dead-end job at a cannery in Oregon when he stumbled into the career he has come to cher- ish. "I saw an ad for a trucking company looking for drivers," Curtis says. "I had never considered becoming a truck driver, but the contract was guaranteed for a year. I figured, if nothing else, it was employ- ment. Once I came out on the road, I ended up loving it." Curtis has been driving since No- vember 2013, and joined Crete Carrier Corporation in November 2015. The over-the-road trucker is based in Yuma, Arizona, and his home terminal is in Phoenix. Growing up, Curtis moved all over the Southwest with his single father, who worked in copper and gold mines and was frequently transferred. "I learned that if you wanted some- thing, you had to be willing to work hard for it," he says. By age 16, Curtis started working at age 16 in order to help out and to have extra spending money. Even back then, he wanted to be independent. "I never really liked asking people for stuff," he says. Here's more of our conversation with Charlie Curtis: spotlight-crete 0816.indd 1 7/12/16 2:10 PM