FIXTITLE John Schmitz.docx
A NOTCH ABOVE THE EXTRAORDINARY
The Story
Of
John Schmitz
After 30 years of trucking and over 3 million miles under his belt, John Schmitz from Paige, Texas has carved out a name for himself in the business. He lives a simple life with Mary Jo, his wife of 32 years. After getting to know John, I realize that he is downplaying a few things. Not on purpose; more due to his humble personality. He doesn’t toot his own horn, nor does he boast about himself in any fashion. But we all know that one doesn’t just end up with an exceptional career in this industry, without putting forth the dedication and sacrifice that the life of a truck driver demands. Having the successful background in trucking, as John has earned, proves that following your heart to pursue a dream means that you will never have to wake up. Your dream becomes your reality.
Born in El Paso, Texas in 1960, John is the oldest of three children. His father served in the Air Force, while they were stationed on base. Soon after John was born his family relocated to the edge of town, in a small city called Alice. There he spent the majority of his childhood with his brother and sister. Their mother stayed home fulltime.
As John reached middle school, he began to participate in sports such as; football, golf and boxing. His freshman year, the Schmitz family moved to south Houston for a couple of years. Then moving one last time to settle in Lubbock, Texas where John finished high school.
For a brief moment in his early teens, John entertained the thought of following in his father’s footsteps and joining the Air Force. He realized quickly after a short stint in the ROTC program that he had a slight issue with ‘authority.’ Hearing his laugh, I couldn’t help but laugh with him, knowing exactly what that meant. I think at a young age, we all have a little stubborn side that gets the best of us every once in a while. It was then when John shifted his focus in a direction that changed his entire life.
At 14, John picked up a few odd jobs in-between school hours and on the weekends. Some days he would help a neighbor at his body shop, cleaning or sanding down cars. He also had a small gig with horses and mowing grass around town. By 16 he was licensed and had enough saved up to purchase his first vehicle. It was a primer grey 1963 Chevrolet pickup, 3 speed on the column with a 6 cylinder engine.
He received his first dose of trucking by hanging around a few locals that hauled livestock. “I was that annoying teenage kid that wouldn’t go away,” he jokes. He can still recall the first time he sat in the seat of a truck, “It was a Peterbilt Conventional. They would let me ride with them to deliver cattle and I was hooked ever since!” A friend of John’s whose father drove a company truck that caught his attention too. It was an old Freightliner Cabover. He says, “It was just something inside of me that gravitated toward trucks. I wanted to be around them all of the time.”
During the summer before John’s senior year he landed a job at the local Freightliner dealership, working in the parts department. When school began he attended half a day and spent the rest on a work program that allowed him to stay on at the dealership part-time. By this time, John’s obsession with cars and trucks became more apparent. With each vehicle that he was able to work on confirmed to him that being around trucks is where he was meant to be.
After graduating high school, John was hired to haul cotton bales from a gin to the cotton press. He also did some work for a feed yard, plus some side jobs tending to cows and horses. John mentions that it was either one or the other; driving or cows and horses.
In his early 20’s, he found a little outfit in Sundown, Texas that needed help hauling rock and moving equipment. Soon after in 1981, John met his future bride, Mary Jo. They both were young, age 21 and fell in love fast. A year later, the two wed in a large Catholic ceremony. Friends and family came from all around to celebrate their marriage. The newlyweds remained in Lubbock, while Mary Jo continued going to college.
They welcomed their first child, Rachelle in 1983. Mary Jo graduated college with her Bachelor’s Degree in 1985, while pregnant with their second daughter, Stephanie. John switched trucking companies and began pulling flatbed, hauling sheet rock mainly in the south central area. A year later he found himself gone a month at a time, pulling 48 ft. vans nationwide for a company out of Kansas. An opportunity presented itself and John decided to do a lease purchase and bought his first truck. It was an orange and brown 1979 Freightliner Cabover, called the Pumpkin. He delivered grain in the Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico area.
It was during this time when John was introduced to a gentleman in Arizona that owned a nursery. For the next couple of years, he and two other drivers began running a route for the nursery from California to Florida and back again. John then moved on to the oil field scene to find his niche. Soon he leased on to a friend and remained in the Texas and New Mexico area hauling drilling mud and drilling fluids or chemicals. The next couple of years he went to work for a couple of other outfits hauling pipe and moving rigs. Anything to keep him busy and right in the middle of the action.
In 1985, while moving oil field equipment from Texas to the Canadian border, John was able to purchase a 1982 Freightliner Conventional. It was white with black fenders and a 400 Cummins engine. He eventually traded out the 13 speed transmission for a 15 speed. For the following ten years he put in over a million miles on that one truck. The year of 1987, John and Mary Jo packed up their family and moved to Odessa, Texas. There John stayed on with a company for seven years and bought his third truck. A black lilac 1992 Peterbilt, 15 speed. He took pride in his trucks. He kept all of his exactly how he saw them as a kid; nice and shiny.
Mary Elizabeth, their third daughter was born in 1994 and along came the baby of the bunch, Katie in 1998. July of 1999, he was able to pick up his brand new 2000 Peterbilt. This one being an eye-catcher is stardust gold and hunter green flat-top Pete with a 10-speed 500 Detroit engine. The truck is known by its name, ‘Saddle Up’ for the cowboy pictured on the side, riding a truck like a bucking bronco. By the year 2003, John was a small fleet owner with 6 trucks. In 2006, Mobil Delvac selected John’s truck to feature in their calendar as their cover truck and the month of October. Ever since his early teen years, driving a truck as a professional driver has always been his passion. Once he recognized that he had reached his goal, he didn’t stop there.
LONE STAR LARGE CARS
For a while a group of drivers, including John, tossed around the idea of starting a show truck organization. It floated around for a bit. Unfortunately, nothing really took off. Initially, the men agreed that they wanted to get together with their cool trucks and hangout, but nothing too intense or a cleaning contest. In 2008, they founded Lone Star Large Cars with their mission being to promote safety and display a positive image of the American trucker. They started with five original members. Their first event was held in 2009, at a small drag strip located near Wall, Texas just outside of San Angelo, Texas. They had 25 trucks in attendance. The next year only eight trucks came and hesitation set in. “We began to question, ‘Do we keep doing this?’” he says. On their third time around, the track in Wall had sold. As it turned out they were able to move the show to the San Antonio Raceway. The track is a drag strip off of I-10 East of San Antonio. This time they brought in 53 trucks! This year at the same location, 108 trucks registered and another 20 came to have fun at the show. Everybody that showed up enjoyed the show.
This past October, Lone Star Large Cars held a meeting with NHRDA to expand the organization. Together they put on another successful truck show in Ennis, Texas with 36 trucks. Since realigning their organization’s goals, John continues to see positive results from each member. He states, “We are a small organization committed to helping others in our communities.” Lone Star Large Cars has four active board directors and 29 members, with John as their secretary/treasurer. Only two of the original five members remain. With their recent meeting, Lone Star Large Cars has decided to waive any membership fees. In exchange, they simply ask for a pledge. A true promise made by each member to the organization. In their pledge, they must do whatever they possibly can in assisting their community, participate in Lone Star Large Cars truck shows, but most importantly, always represent themselves as a good role model as a trucker.
Lone Star Large Cars chooses not to shy from being a Christian organization. Not only do they take pride in being truck drivers, but also in their charitable work with churches and communities, as well. They have helped with Spokes for Hope, a non-profit organization that puts together a motorcycle ride and concert for children to help raise money and give bikes to underprivileged kids. Many Lone Star Large Car members participate in community events such as the Soap Box Derbies. Where they’ll park and open their trucks for families, especially children to come see. This part of John’s life will forever impact many lives, just as trucking has his.
Five years ago, John leased onto Landstar. With Landstar he found the perfect fit. “If you want to lease to a company, come to Landstar. You’ll wish that you had done it sooner! Here, I’m totally independent.” He continues, “I haul what I want and I dispatch myself.” He describes the people at Landstar as easy to work with and a healthy environment.
John ends our conversation, with his same soft-spoken tone, wanting to share one last fact. “This is our job; trucking… but we’re also everyday people. We are sons, daughters, dads, moms and grandparents. The only difference is that we take our career to the roads. Our work space is the highways of America. Not a lot of jobs share their work space with the general public like we do. I don’t see it as a right…it’s a privilege.”