Lyssa is the Trayvax Shipping Department Supervisor. She is also the template of just how exactly someone, earns their story. If Trayvax customers, and supporters, can’t all summit frigid mountain peaks on a Thursday, who are they and what are they doing? Lyssa is just that person.
Before Lyssa started at Trayvax, she and her husband Bill needed a subversive adventure back in 2001. As a husband and wife team, they went to Cedar Rapids and trained for three weeks on how to drive a truck. It was a way for them to develop a deeper friendship, but also presented a challenge in trying to succeed, together, in a completely foreign profession neither had prior experience in.
“A couple decides who drives day or night. I drove from 11 pm to 9 am and slept while Bill drove during the day. We both had one hour a day for fueling and showering.” Lyssa recalls.
But as both kept the truck in motion for 23 hours a day, for three weeks, it only left them with a week off to visit family and friends back in their home of North Carolina. There were also challenges like using the bathroom.
“We had to carry a portable toilet because a big rig truck is like a large billboard. You can't just pull off and pee on the side of the road like a man can.”
The trucker lifestyle began to present its hard truths when they pulled into Salt Lake, and passed a truck on fire because the driver didn’t know how to use the truck brakes safety system at a lower level. And there were health limitations like if Lyssa or Bill weren’t feeling well, they had to go on because others were expecting their load. The trucking rules fluctuated from state to state, making the check-in stations more of a stress than they had planned.
There were moments, too, when Bill and Lyssa saw windows through a perspective only their trucker world could have given them the opportunity to see.
“We were in Michigan. We pulled into a Walmart parking lot at 1 am where we found about 15 heavy-set people driving around Walmart on electronic scooters. It looked like a go-carting family night out.”
Trucking led Lyssa and Bill to Bellingham, WA. Though she isn’t sure she would do it again, for her it was still worth it because of the scenic opportunities they would have otherwise missed, and people they would have never known.
“I am still trying to figure out my story. Trucking is one part of my story because, my story is still unfolding.”
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