Local trucker honored for safety record with hall of fame induction

Mike Young didn’t set out to be a truck driver, he was only seeking a career to provide for his family. 

“Back then, it was one of the best ways to make a living around here without a college degree,” the Laurens County native said recently. “The opportunity was there and, to be honest, it paid the bills.” 

Young began his driving career about 40 years ago running delivery routes for Colonial Bread. He soon transitioned to Georgia-based beverage giant Coca-Cola. As the company transitioned to bigger and bigger vehicles, Young earned the appropriate license and credentials and soon found himself behind the wheel of tractor trailers delivering sodas to stores and restaurants as far away as Hilton Head, South Carolina.

After a near decade of long shifts he took a job with wholesale food shipper Sysco, where he spent 30 years and racked up more than 3 million miles across the Peach State as a route and shuttle driver. More impressively, throughout his tenure Young had no accidents or traffic violations while behind the wheel of his rig.   

“I’m very thankful,” he said. “Every day before I left we said a prayer, and when I got back, we said a prayer, thankful I got back safely.” 

For his dedication, and safety record, Sysco nominated the 63-year-old trucking veteran for the International Foodservice Distributors Association’s Truck Drivers Hall of Fame. To qualify, drivers of the association’s massive list of member business and corporations must have at least 25 years’ experience with no reported accidents or violations. After nomination, honorees or chosen via their answers to questionaries. 

Young was among 98 drivers across the United States and Canada to receive the award. He recently traveled to Kansas City for a banquet and award ceremony, at Sysco’s expense.

“They made a really big deal out of it,” he said. “It was nice. Who doesn’t feel good to get recognized for something they worked for?” 

At the ceremony Young was awarded a hall of fame certificate, a watch and a costume ring resembling the championship rings awarded athletes for national title victories. 

After the formalities, Young made a vacation out of the trip. Accompanied by his wife, Libby, the couple traveled through 10 states on their way back to Laurens County, his favorite stops being an 1880s-era drug store in Iowa that still operates a lunch counter and soda fountain and a stop at a boutique hotel in Pass Christian along Mississippi’s Gulf Coast. 

The hall of fame induction and long-overdue vacation was the capping point of his shipping career. Young recently retired, but his driving skills are still being used as he traded in the big rig for the big yellow taxi.  He drives a bus route for the Laurens County School System. 

“I’ve hauled a lot of things,” he said. “But never cargo that walked off.”