FIXTITLE Jason Johnson.docx

INTREPID

The Story

Of

Jason Johnson

This next Legend may come as a familiar face to many. Reason being, in the trucking industry we have only a selected amount of television shows that appeal to our genre. This nominee made his entertainment debut on a trucking series in 2012. World’s Toughest Trucker is a reality show featured on the Discovery Channel in which eight of the world’s most experienced truckers race across some of the most treacherous roads in the world. Over 60,000 people applied to take part in the production. Contestants were selected from England, Scotland, Sri Lanka, Australia, Canada and the USA. Of the eight professional drivers, Jason Johnson, originally from the state of Mississippi was one of the drivers proudly representing for our nation.

These skilled truck drivers competed against each other in a sequence of challenges in order to earn the covenant title of World’s Toughest Trucker. Also up for grabs was a cash prize of $150,000. To be the last driver standing, each competitor had to navigate across four continents, facing the harshest environments imaginable. These extreme routes included the Indian Himalayas, the Australian Outback and dangerous regions of Mongolia, Brazil, and Canada. All areas feared by the rest of the world, some lands rarely traveled at all. The length of each journey last three days while battling the elements of hauling unusual loads of cargo. Some living; all fragile. Every week, one opponent was eliminated.

The Discovery Channel aired its premiere of World’s Toughest Trucker on January 6th, 2012. During the first show the chosen eight qualified, daring, and unafraid truck drivers from all around the globe faced off in Australia, at the Cape York Peninsula. Their very first assignment was in a territory engulfed by tropical rain primarily six months out of the year, debilitating any passage. Not only were the drivers to travel throughout the risky territory, they were to safely transport cattle to its destination. The entire season one of World’s Toughest Trucker is available to watch online.

Every episode provides an insight to the obstacles they encountered, as well as the extreme difficulty and distress that arose, but most importantly, you see the intricacy needed to perform at such a level of trucking that is beyond dangerous. As you’re introduced to all eight drivers, Jason is quick to spot. Noticing that no driver is alike, Jason stands close to seven-foot-tall, making many trips during the competition that more difficult given the size of the trucks at any given time. Check out Episode 2 and see for yourself his dilemma. Aside from the diverse appearance among the group, what each driver shared in common was their immense amount of courage and valor for trucking. It was Jason’s fearlessness as an outlaw driver that landed him a spot on the hit TV show. He, along with the other seven contestants present an image of bravery; to be bold, yet daring. He is intrepid.

Jason Johnson is easy to identify with for many reasons. In addition to being the adventurous driver we all witnessed on a television show, Jason is a doting husband and loving father. He is a hard-worker, dedicated to his craft. Jason is also a veteran, serving our country in the U.S. Navy from 1995 to 2000. He grew up on a farm with his older brother, surrounded by an array of trucks and heavy equipment. His childhood consisted of tending to livestock, farming, sports, school and lots of mischief… in a fun, typical farm boy sort of way. Kids playing outside is a thing of the past. His form of mischief seemed inevitable at his age, especially with an enabler as his handler. The memories he describes between himself and his brother typically started off with good intentions, but often ended in a way that may only seem funny now, looking back. But during the time it all happened, maybe not so much. However, with a period of time so full of many great experiences; pivotal moments that helped shape his entire character, one can never look back with regrets. By embracing the bad days with the good, you acknowledge that by not changing anything about the past, you are who you are today because of every day. The good and the bad.

Having a brother only 16 months older, the two were inseparable. Encouraging one another’s antics and horseplay made everything they did comical. Jason laughs and states that when people saw them together it was double the trouble. They worked hard together and played hard together. Their father owned and operated a number of log trucks, farm tractors, caterpillars, you name it. Jason explains, “By the age of 3 everyone had a truck. At 8 I was taught how to drive a pickup truck with a four-speed on the column.” He states that his daily schedule went in the order of livestock, homework, then everything else. He continues, “We had these horses that would literally meet us at the fence by the road where the school bus let us out at and we would jump on those horses, with our backpacks on and race bareback all the way to the house. It was a beautiful time and age back then.” At only 2 years old, Jason was thrown off of a horse into a tree. I believe that fall may have completely whacked all fear from his body. Combined with ‘younger-sibling’ rivalry, Jason is not one to do something half-heartedly. The steady practice of good work ethics performed by Jason’s father day in and day out also contributed to Jason’s overall nature.

“Always having farm related trucks around, my dad worked as a mechanic all of the time. When I got older and was not in school, I was also working on equipment. I learned the value of putting forth the effort at an early age. From my father and other respectable elders, I was taught to be a person of value,” Jason said. “The quicker I picked up on things, the more responsibilities I was given. Even though I was younger than some of the other children, I was still given a lot of work. During any season we were out in the field doing some type of physical work. Picking vegetables, loading trailers, driving them, hauling hay, or logging. It didn’t matter. If it needed to be done, I did it. My dad showed us how to cook early on, too. I remember standing in a chair, leaning over the oven. First he would tell us what not to do. That way if we understood the dangers first, we would respect it and do things right so we would not get hurt. I didn’t see it then, but my raising was a very ‘blessing time’ for me growing up. My family lived and breathed good morals into us. I wish we could all go back to those core values, like giving more respect towards one another. As a nation in general, undivided. I was taught to always help your fellow man and to pay it forward… if I teach you how to fish, not only will you be able to fish but you can also teach others what you learned. It has a trickle effect that carries on throughout time. Then you’re left helping others way down the line that you could never have expected to cross paths with. That’s how the power of teaching real, solid and positive ethics work. We need to all go back to that way of living. Help, not just when you are needed. And teach in a way that has lasting effects for your next generation.”

After high school, Jason went on to attend college at Arizona State University studying Environmental Health and Safety. Over the course of a year and a half, he was given the opportunity to work with an environmental group, while also working side jobs placing wood on stores. His brother landed a trucking job driving cotton modules to the fields and cotton gins. Jason joined him soon after and the two were back at it again. Only 18 years old but driving on his own, he and his brother enjoyed racing big trucks, motorcycles, horses, any and everything. Back when they were teens, they enjoyed watching 2 & 3 day rodeos. As young adults they carried that untamed entertainment with them and became fond of the world of demolition derby.

At 21, Jason enlisted in the Navy. Following his five years of service, he worked as a computer programmer at a couple of corporations. Within the year he found his way back to a truck. Not long after, the pilot to World’s Toughest Trucker fell into his lap. What Jason initially thought was an application, turned into an interview that later secured him a spot on the TV show. Looking back, in just that short amount of time he had visited countless countries. From playing basketball overseas and working Air Traffic for the Navy, then literally trucking all over the world, his repertoire is quite impressive for an ol’ country kid raised by a small farming community with a heart of gold and a fire for life as bright as the sun.

With a total of 23 years’ experience as a professional truck driver, 13 as an Owner Operator, Jason drives strictly long haul. He is currently pulling oversize cargo as a company driver for C & J Trucking, based out of Warren, Michigan. His future goal is to grow a small fleet of 4 or 5 trucks and lease onto C & J Trucking. He likes the respect and appreciation C & J Trucking gives to each of their drivers.

Jason mentions that driving over the road isn’t just a job to him. He feels that trucking is similar to an addiction. He elaborates more on the difference between a dedicated truck driver and a conventional truck driver. He says, “One purely drives a truck. Maybe for the check, or what not. The other has something deep down inside, driving them. Call it an obsession or a deeper love for your craft but real, true trucking isn’t something that you do… it’s something that motivates and inspires you from within. You can never really walk away from it. Knowing that nothing happens day to day that doesn’t touch a truck by some way or form, gives me a sense of duty. That’s how trucking affects you. Understanding that and trucking with that intensity separates the two drivers.”

Over the years, Jason has had the pleasure of driving innumerous styles of trucks. One thing that he has learned is that when any issues come up, you need to try and figure them out on your own. People depend on you to. You have to make things happen, no matter what. He explains, “I guess in a way, that has always been engrained in me, to expect the unexpected and push through it. That’s what we do as professional truck drivers, we get things done no matter what. It takes a special breed of people to be over the road drivers. Plus, there are so many different versions; like branches on a tree. Most require a particular qualification or separate certification. The life and duties of a truck driver can be unbelievably hard.” His sincere advice to his road family is to maintain patience and get to know your abilities. Perfect your work and appreciate it. “Take stock in what you’re doing. If you won’t, nobody else will. Also, know your rights and responsibilities as a driver. Be proactive,” he says. “Let’s get back to trusting and helping one another.”

With that said, he acknowledges that being married to a trucker is an even harder task. Still considered newlyweds, he and his wife, Tamicka were married in 2015. Together they have one son, Jason Johnson Jr. Above all experiences throughout his life, Jason claims that fatherhood is by far an adventure in itself. Tamicka describes her husband as an over-achiever, very hands-on, and extremely mechanically inclined. As far as his role as a spouse, he goes above and beyond. The same amount of faithfulness that he commits to trucking, he devotes to his family. “Jason makes sure that he provides us with a good life. He is very driven when it comes to going to church and holding firm in our faith,” Tamicka said. Growing up with a mixture of farming, school, and playing with his brother, every Sunday Jason’s father still had them all attend church. He shares those same family traditions with his own household. Everything that has impacted his life and expanded his growth as an adult he incorporates into his family, carrying on the same family values that his father taught him as a child. It all starts at home.

“Jason, you keep my spirit alive. Having a baby over 40 has been tough and you have been my rock. You are a great inspiration to our son and great provider. I don’t know what I would do without you. You are such a great person and I love you!” -Your wife, Tamicka Johnson