Driver Dave Ward Builds Successful Second Career at NTB
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All Dave Ward can remember wanting to do for his career is drive. He spent over 20 years driving a 6-wheeler truck selling potato chips. When he decided to get out of sales, he felt that the next natural step was to drive a big rig. That’s exactly what he did. Dave started hauling those same potato chips around the country. He did this for a few years before he knew he wanted something different for his trucking career.
“I liked driving, but the company I was working for sold and I didn’t like how the future looked for my job if I stayed,” he explains. “I decided it was time to start looking at other trucking companies. I came across NTB and knew instantly this was the company for me.”
So, what drew Dave to NTB?
For him, it’s all about the size of our company and our mission to honor the Lord in all we do.
“I really like the family atmosphere and Christian attitude they have at NTB. Those are two things that are really important to me. They also had five days on and two days off, which was rare for a company to offer at the time,” says Dave, who’s worked with us for 17 years now. “I also like working for smaller companies like NTB. These mega companies, nobody knows your name. At NTB, we’re friends with our dispatchers and they’re friends with us.”
At NTB, our drivers work regionally throughout the Midwest, which allows them to get ample miles and still make it home weekly. Dave really enjoys having his time off to catch up on his wife’s “honey-do list” and spend time with his family. He has seven grandchildren who range from 3-12 and they all live nearby.
“I’m always busy, building something or working around the house,” says Dave, who lives in Kalamazoo, Mich. “I probably spend most of my time playing with my grandkids.”
Dave’s most important advice for other drivers is to not be in a hurry. Being in a rush can open you up to making mistakes and being unsafe, he says. “It’s just not worth it. A lot of drivers out here are in a hurry because they think they’re going to make more miles, but I’ve found that I make the same number of miles and I’m just out here taking my time,” he explains.
Dave also says he hits between 100,000-120,000 miles each year, putting him around the 2-million-mile mark during his career with us at NTB. “I love this job. I love getting around and talking to people,” adds Dave. “NTB is just a really great company to work for.”
If you’d like to learn more about the career opportunities available to you at NTB, give us a call today!