Still trucking
Trucking wasn’t Doyle Archer’s original career path, nor did he expect to still be at it at 90 years old.
And he certainly didn’t expect to become a Guinness World Record holder as the world’s oldest active professional truck driver. But he did recently receive this designation – and even if he hadn’t, he’d be in no hurry to forego the work that’s been a core part of his life for 60 years.
“I wouldn’t want to do anything else, I don’t think,” he said in an interview with Land Line Now during a visit to the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association headquarters in May, shortly after his world-record status became official.
Archer, an OOIDA life member who grew up in the western Kansas town of Densmore and now lives in nearby Logan, got into trucking on a part-time basis in 1964 or 1965, after his dad began a business. While also working as a farmer, he ran routes hauling grain to the Kansas City area and to Colorado.
He embraced trucking on a full-time basis in 1970, buying his own truck and securing his own operating authority. He continued doing the same work he had for his dad – but allergies that caused severe asthma attacks eventually dictated taking a different direction. Thus in 1978, he leased on to M. Bruenger Company in Wichita, Kan., where he worked for 20 years before spending the past 20 as a leased-on owner-operator with Coomes Inc. in Phillipsburg, Kan.
Rick Coomes, the company’s owner, noted that despite what people might assume regarding a man of his age, Archer is a full-time driver held to as high a standard as any other.
“We don’t cut him any slack. He’s one of our drivers in the van division, and he goes out and runs just like the rest of our drivers,” Coomes added. “He’ll outdo a lot of our younger guys. … You can count on him making his deliveries and doing the job he’s supposed to do.”
Archer currently drives between 95,000 and 100,000 miles per year and over the past 60 years has tallied more than 5 million miles. A love for being on the road is a big part of what’s kept him in the profession – with trucking never seeming monotonous, as he imagines a factory or office job might be.
“This is something new every day, beautiful scenery all the time,” he said. “I’ve seen all the country over the years, many times, criss-crossing north and south from Seattle to Miami or San Diego to Boston.”
And into Canada, too, he added. Along the way, he’s accrued countless experiences. One of Archer’s most poignant, especially in retrospect, was seeing the sun rise over Lower Manhattan while he unloaded a paint delivery in Queens. The World Trade Center’s twin towers glowed against the still-dark sky, creating an image that likely would have stuck with him even if it hadn’t become so historically significant. Only about a week later, he was in Tampa with another paint delivery when he learned the towers had fallen.
He’s collected funny stories, as well, like one that unfolded in a dicey area of Chicago. He was on Fulton Street, backed into a dock to unload, when a shiny black Peterbilt – a show truck, in his estimation – pulled in. The driver exited with a window rolled down, and when he walked past, Archer advised that he should make sure the truck was locked and secure if there were anything valuable inside.
“He said, ‘Oh, there’s something in there they don’t want,’” Archer recounted.
Just then, as if on cue, a couple of guys made their way down the narrow street, trying doors in hopes of gaining entry to the vehicles parked there. When they got to the Peterbilt, Archer had a good view of the one who accessed the driver’s side – only to be greeted by a snarling Dobermann.
“This guy had two Dobermanns in there; one was sitting in each seat,” Archer said. “Well, this dog went right into his face, just chomp-chomp and really barking. … I’ve never seen anybody put as much energy as he did getting out of there. He was in a hurry when he left.”
He added that unfortunately, he also had to leave before he could give the Peterbilt driver all the details.
“I never did get to see him to thank him for the good show,” he said.
Although those stories both took place on trips that took him east, his favorite route travels west, all the way to Portland or Seattle. He enjoys the views and the long stretches uninterrupted by traffic – although this drive can present challenges in the winter, as he experienced last year, when a blizzard stranded him in Nebraska for several days.
Still, long-haul drives are Archer’s preference.
“I like the long haul because I can get in the truck, I’m with that load for several days and I can plan my trip out and back pretty much and live with it,” he said.
He added that short overnight hauls, on the other hand, kind of get to him – with much of the day spent loading or unloading and a delivery to make the next day.
“Them situations, they’re a little hard on an old man,” he said. “I’m not a young buck anymore.”
But he’s clearly doing well for his age, as evidenced by the world record he now has to his name. Concerning how he received the recognition, Archer noted that although he’d thought years ago about going for the record, it hadn’t been on his radar recently.
But fortunately, others acted on his behalf – most notably Karlie Wolever, a dispatcher at Coomes Inc. who took it upon herself to submit the necessary paperwork. And in May, he received his official Guinness World Record certificate as the world’s oldest trucker.
“I’m proud of the honor and very proud to be able to reach that stage,” Archer said. “I had no intention of being able to achieve it.”
He added that based on his research, there is another 90-year-old truck driver out there, but he does only one short run per week.
“That was probably how I edged him out for the title,” Archer laughed. “I don’t dare stop now, or he’ll overtake me.”
He admitted, however, that his wife, Lois, probably would like him to retire. The high school sweethearts share nine children, 25 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. But although she’s suggested a time or two that they sell the truck and travel around in their motor home, she appreciates the stick-to-it-iveness that’s earned him a world record.
“I’m very proud of him,” she said. “Proud to be his wife.”
Coomes is proud of him, as well – and is quick to point out that Archer actually is 90-and-a-half yet still is able to operate with a two-year physical, while many of his other older drivers struggle to get by with a one-year.
“So Doyle is in great shape, still going,” he said.
And if Archer has his way, “still going” will be his story for the foreseeable future. Because retirement?
“No plans yet,” he said. LL
Land Line Now’s Scott Thompson contributed to this report.