10-4 Magazine December 2022

Trucker Talk: By John & Kim Jaikes It’s funny sometimes how you can have some mutual friends, and then circumstances happen and you get to meet one, and right away it seems like you’ve been friends for many years. This is the case when our dear friend Cathy Sherman made sure it was okay for her to give us Gary Straight’s phone number, as I wanted to do this story about him. Sometimes, as much as we might hate to admit it, Facebook isn’t all bad, because that is how I learned about Gary. Back in the day, we had to rely on luck and the CB to meet friends. Cathy has said for years, “Our neighborhood is 3,000 miles wide” – and she is right. During our initial conversation with Gary, we all hoped that we could meet up one day soon. I didn’t think it would be just a few days later that it would work out that we could have lunch at the Stretch Truck Stop in Fond du Lac, WI, but that is how it worked out. He was on his way to pick up a car, and we were able to meet. For years I’ve said, “If you have trucked for a day, you have at least one story.” Well, Gary has trucked for about 45 years, and thus, he has lots and lots of stories. I enjoyed the conversation we had about how he got started in the business, the good old days, and other truckin’ stuff. Scrolling through his wall on Facebook, there are so many beautiful pictures, selfies with friends, and people he has met along the way. I was also intrigued by his “Straightisms” – for example, #279: “Bad decisions, good stories, interesting life.” When I asked him about these cleverly numbered thoughts, he told me that some just come to him during life at the time. Some are funny, some can be offensive to a few, some are thought provoking, and some are just a variety of truths. Gary’s grandfather was a rancher in Colorado. During WWII, his dad met his mom, who was a Kentucky farmer’s daughter, at Mare Island. After he got out of the service, they eventually ended up in Florida, as far away from snow and cows as he could get. In Florida, Gary’s dad become a law enforcement officer. Gary worked his way through high school at a drug store, but he was always fascinated by the big trucks rolling by and wondered where they were going. As soon as he graduated high school, he got in his Jeep and left Florida, heading back to Colorado, where he enrolled at Colorado State University. His experience at the pharmacy in Florida helped him get a job at the University Veterinary Hospital while he was in school. That was until his brother came along and told him he was not going to be a college boy, he was going to be a “man” and drive a truck! It ended up being the perfect choice, as the truck helped Gary satisfy his longing to roam. Now he knew where at least one truck was going, because he was piloting it! The business he was growing back then was called High Plains Enterprises. Back then Gary still had a fantasy about owning a ranch and having a few cows. He messed around with team roping and riding bulls, but he ended up being a wannabe cowboy, at best. He never earned a dime with livestock. His first truck was a 1986 Peterbilt 359 Extended Hood flattop with CAT power and twin sticks. A few of his other trucks backthen includeda1962Peterbilt, a1967 Freightliner, and a 1973 Peterbilt. Back then, he pulled flatbeds to haul lumber and tankers to transport many petroleum products, but mostly hot road oil. 76 10-4 Magazine / December 2022 S T RAIGHT ROADS