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E. T. "Slim" Pickens Joins Elite Four Million Mile Club [11.09.2005]
From Roadway's Spotlight, 3rd edition 2005, pp. 28-31
With troopers from the Mississippi Highway Patrol and deputies from the Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department providing an escort, E. T. "Slim" Pickens returned to Roadway's Meridian, Mississippi, service center to the cheers of an awaiting crowd.
Family members, friends, employees, and retirees were gathered together to congratulate Slim on his career milestone of driving four million miles safely—the 16th driver in Roadway history to do so.
Slim and Joyce, his wife of 43 years, have three children—Wesley (and his wife, Rene), Robert (and his wife, Leslie), and Karen (and her husband, Michael) as well as three beautiful granddaughters—Alanna, Hannah, and Mallory.
Slim said that this milestone was comparable to his becoming a husband, father, Christian, and the day Wesley, his son, came home from the war in Iraq. And as for his legacy as a driver, Slim said, "I would like to be remembered as a safe, skillful, and courteous driver who kept the faith, loved his family, and took pride in being an employee of Roadway Express."
At the celebration, Slim's son, Wesley, a captain in the Mississippi Army National Guard and a corporate pilot for Sanderson Farms, shared a special message with the crowd. His message is reprinted here.
As we celebrate my father's momentous safety achievement, I recall my childhood and think how grateful I am to be his son—the son of a man who always considers the emotions of others in everything that he does, the son of a man who would give anything for the well-being of his family, and also the proud son of a man who has spent the past thirty-three years of his life as a professional Roadway driver.
Many memories flash before my mind as I think back upon the carefree days of my youth. I am ever thankful for the fortune of spending my youth within such a loving family.
I also want to thank another member of my family: Roadway Express. Although my father's job caused him to be away from our family more than we would have liked, my mother, my brother, my sister, and I will always be grateful for the stability and opportunity that Roadway has provided for our family.
As a very small child, I remember Dad bringing Roadway coloring books and model trucks home from work. These toys and a fruitful imagination provided many hours of childhood occupation for my brother, Robert, and myself.
Later, I remember the long, hot summers of adolescence when my mother would constantly remind us to play outside and keep our voices down when we came into the house. As if it were only yesterday, I can hear her saying, "Your father has been driving all night. Please, let him get some sleep."
Inevitably, Robert and I would manage to engage in some type of quarrel before my Dad finished his nap, and then stunned, we would look at each other in silence as we realized that his door was opening down the hall. Even still, it is hard for me to recall him being upset with us for displaying this inconsideration of childhood. Instead, I remember him sitting in the living room and asking about our day, as he put on his shoes, before we would go outside into the yard and play catch.
When autumn rolled around, I remember waking early for school and stumbling into the kitchen to find professional football schedules and team statistics, packaged and published by Roadway, placed on the kitchen table like an early Christmas present.
Returning from his trip only an hour or two before we got out of bed, these little gifts were Dad's way of saying, "I know I'm not always up and around when you're awake, but I am thinking of you." I remember spending hours studying those little booklets in laborious detail and thinking of how great my Dad was for bringing them home to us.
Over the course of his career, Dad's driving schedule changed several times. As Robert and I grew older, and then Karen was born, Dad chose to bid for trips that allowed him to be at home with the family. For several years, I remember him straining his schedule to spend more time with us. He would drive all night, try to sleep during the day, and then take us out to the lake after school to water-ski until the sun went down—all of this before going back to work that evening.
I also remember many occasions of proudly bragging about his job when someone would ask, "What does your father do?" As I got older, I remember thinking how America could not function without the services of all the truck drivers like my Dad. Even though he was away from home more than we would have liked, we knew he loved us dearly, and we always felt proud and grateful that he devoted himself so professionally to his job.
I also remember the many times that I came here to the Roadway terminal with him. He would be picking up his check or doing some other administrative function, and I would look in wonderment at all of these "big trucks" moving around this terminal yard. The activity of this scene is permanently etched into my memory. The smell of diesel fuel and the rumbling sound of heavy engines will always make me think of the times I came here with him.
Also, on behalf of my brother and sister, I especially want to thank my mother for her sacrifices over all of these years. When Dad was away on the road, Mom nurtured our family and provided the stability that we needed to grow. Dad could never have accomplished this tremendous achievement without my mother's support. We love you, Mom.
I am proud that my father has safely driven one of these "big trucks" for more than four million miles. Four million accident-free miles driven in all types of weather; four million accident-free miles of dealing with all types of traffic along all kinds of road conditions, and four million accident-free miles of proudly representing Roadway Express along the interstates and backroads of America. In a century's worth of history involving commercial truck transportation, this is a feat accomplished by only a very select group of professional truck drivers. Dad, I'm extremely proud that you are now a member of that select group, but much more than that, I'm mostly proud to call you my father.
—Wesley T. Pickens
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