4 million and counting

In theory, you would have to drive approximately 25,000 miles to circle the Earth.

Now, imagine completing that hypothetical drive 160 times. OOIDA senior member Alan Kitzhaber doesn’t have to imagine.

The Eau Claire, Wis., man recently was recognized for accumulating 4 million miles as a professional driver.

Even more astonishing is that he’s driven them all in one truck – a 1995 Kenworth T600.

An owner-operator with Oakridge Transport the past 14 years, Kitzhaber’s also driven for United Van Lines, Miller’s Transfer and Transport Designs throughout his nearly three-decade career.

Trucking wasn’t something he envisioned doing so long. There’s no family tie or natural connection. But it’s a career and lifestyle that Kitzhaber enjoys.

“Some guys have a real passion for driving a truck; they wouldn’t want to do anything else,” Kitzhaber said. “I’m not sure that I necessarily have that passion. It’s something I’m very comfortable doing. I like the fact that I’m self-employed. I don’t have someone looking over my shoulder. I don’t have someone that’s complaining or, you know, critiquing you constantly. You have some flexibility with the way you operate your day, your hours you keep and so forth. So that’s what really attracts me to driving truck, the lifestyle.”

Speaking about those 4 million miles – and counting – Kitzhaber added that it’s important to control what you can while also acknowledging good fortune.

“Well, luck plays in a little bit,” he said. “You know, somebody falls asleep and drives into you, there’s not much you can do about it. So, there’s a little bit of luck. But about 99% of it is just simply driving in a manner that is more of a defensive manner. It’s just mainly common sense.”

Maintenance also has played a major part in this longevity for Kitzhaber, who started his trucking career in January 1995.

“Developing a maintenance program is probably the most important thing you can do to keep the truck going,” Kitzhaber said. “I get my truck in every 12,500 miles or once a month, just to have it checked out. In fact, it’s probably in the shop more often than that for one thing or another. My mindset is that if something is broke or something needs repaired, you simply repair it. Don’t put it off. If you put things off, then all of a sudden you have all kinds of stuff that needs repaired, and you have a rather large bill waiting for you.”

Being goal-oriented added an extra push for Kitzhaber in recent years.

“I actually probably drove a little bit longer than what I maybe planned on,” he said. “But, just to get to that mile-mark milestone was, I think, worth it. It was just, you know, (a) personal accomplishment of mine. If I told people I drove for 3 million 900,000 miles, they’d say, ‘Why didn’t you go for 4 million?’ … There’s always something that you shoot for, and for me, that’s it.”

As he looks back over his three-decade career, a few technological advancements stand out to Kitzhaber.

“Well, technology, probably the cellphone is one of the best things that’s happened,” he said. “I was in a truck stop, helping a guy out who had an alternator that failed on his truck. He says, ‘What was that like back in the day when you had to use a payphone?’ I’m thinking, I must be old. The computers that are used within the transportation industry, the software that’s used, all of that is certainly more advanced. The communication with the drivers has changed. It went from making a phone call, getting information from your dispatcher and writing it down in a notepad to what we have now.”

Kitzhaber added that certain issues could use more consideration and resources.

“Probably the two biggest gripes I have driving a truck is finding parking and dealing with aggressive drivers,” he said. “Those are the biggest complaints that I would have in the industry at this point.”

Now, in the final months of an impressive career in trucking, Kitzhaber plans to continue following the guidelines that have gotten him to this point.

“If you can just drive in a defensive manner, take it easy and don’t get in a hurry … that’s about as simple as I can put it,” he said. LL