After close to 40 years in the trucking business, 32 of them as a driver with Yellow Freight, John Waalk has seen it all – from deadly accidents to women changing clothes behind the wheel – and driven through it all – from blistering heat to blinding snowstorms. And amazingly, he’s logged 2 million accident-free miles during those years, earning a pat on the back and a ring from the company he has been so dedicated to. He’s recorded seven-day workweeks and 15-hour days, often filled with long hours on the road and tough manual labor on the loading docks, which he said keeps him in good health. He makes time for his wife and two grown daughters, as well as golf, fishing and riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle. His years on the road, though often tiresome, have taught him a great deal about being a responsible driver and how to live life to the fullest.

What sparked your interest in trucking?

I worked in Stuart maintaining trucks and saw the money that drivers were making. It was hard work back then, but I thought I could do that. I kind of got hooked on it and did a lot of driving and thought I might as well make a career out of it. That was when trucks had no power steering, no air conditioning, and in the coldest part of the winter, the heaters didn’t work that well and you’d literally freeze. Then you got so hot in the summer you had to keep stopping so you didn’t pass out.

So why did you love being on the road?

I liked the idea of meeting different people in different places and seeing the scenery. To be in this position at this point in my life, to look back and see how far I’ve come is pretty scary because you don’t realize how many miles you’ve actually driven and how many hours you’ve spent behind the wheel of a truck, through all the nights and days and bad weather and good weather. You’re fortunate in a way to be able to accomplish something like I’ve done. It kind of makes you feel good inside to do something like that.

What advice do you try to pass on to other drivers?

I taught my daughters how to drive, and I told them that the most intelligent thing you can do while you’re driving is to drive 100 percent and never do anything behind the wheel of a car except drive.

What’s made you such a safety-conscious driver?

The longer you drive, the more you apply common sense. I think you develop the fear of not necessarily hurting yourself, but with all the accidents I’ve seen, it enlightens you to be more careful just to protect other people who make stupid mistakes.

What dangerous behavior have you seen from drivers?

A couple of years ago I was getting onto I-235 and this lady passed me and she was naked from the waist up, totally changing her whole wardrobe from business clothes to casual clothes behind the wheel of her car. I’ve seen people talking on cell phones, running a computer. I’ve seen women putting on makeup, doing their hair, painting their nails. I see guys shaving or reading the paper. And I’ve seen so many people with their phone in their left hand, steering with their left leg and operating their computer with their right hand.

How do Iowa drivers compare with others around the country?

Iowa drivers, and Midwestern drivers, don’t deal as well in traffic on the West Coast or in traffic in cities like Dallas, Chicago or New York City. People in those major cities turn on their blinker, it blinks once and they’re turning. Midwesterners might never use their blinkers to let you know where they’re going, or they might make a left turn and never turn their blinker off. Midwesterners are not in the fast lane, so to speak. They’re just not used to that high-speed, heavy, bumper-to-bumper traffic.

How much of North America have you covered?

I have driven on the roads of every city in the United States and most of the provinces of Canada and the biggest share of Mexico.

What’s your favorite stretch of highway?

My travels in the Northwest, through Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, have been just beautiful. And to drive up into New York state in the wintertime and to see Niagara Falls in the blue lights was really a thrill. Bluegrass country in Kentucky and Tennessee in the spring and fall is really beautiful. There’s just so much to see in the United States. People don’t understand that you could spend a lifetime and never see everything that you could see. The thing that got to me after a while was that I was seeing all of this, but never had time to stop and enjoy it. But it was still worth the ride to be able to enjoy this kind of scenery, because until I started to drive all over the country, I had never experienced a lot of this beautiful country.

Who have been role models for you?

My mom and dad. They were both very hard workers. I had a very fine upbringing from very smart, common-sense-minded parents who believed you could never learn too much and that you can learn something new every day. The main thing they taught me was that you go through life and make friends, not enemies, and you respect other people whether they respect you or not.

What are your thoughts as you look back on your 40-year career in the trucking business?

It’s just really been a ride. I think about all the different things I would like to have changed. But I think that with all the fun and friends and people and the scenery and the family I’ve got, all those things that I’ve acquired in life, I think that if I’d have changed anything I might not have been there. It hasn’t been an easy ride, but it’s been a good one.