The Long Haul: A Trucker’s Tales of Life on the Road by Finn Murphy (PDF)

Description

A long-haul mover’s rollicking account of life out on the Big Slab.More than thirty years ago, Finn Murphy dropped out of college to become a long-haul trucker. Since then he’s covered more than a million miles packing, loading, and hauling people’s belongings all over America. Known by his trucker handle as U-Turn, he spends his days (and many of his nights) in a 53-foot eighteen-wheeler he calls Cassidy.In The Long Haul, Murphy offers a trucker’s-eye view of America on the move. Going far beyond the myth of the American road trip, he whisks readers down the I-95 Powerlane, across the Florida Everglades, in and out of the truck stops of the Midwest, and through the steep grades of the Rocky Mountains. As he crisscrosses the country, Murphy recounts with wit, candor, and charm the America he has seen change over the decades, from the hollowing-out of small towns to changing tastes in culture and home furnishings.Some 40 million Americans move each year, and very few have any idea what they’re getting into or the kind of person to whom they are relinquishing their worldly goods. The Long Haul is also a behind-the-scenes look at the moving industry, revealing what really happens when we call in “the movers.”Through it all, Murphy tells poignant, funny, and often haunting stories of the people he encounters on the job: a feisty hoarder in New Hampshire; a Virginia homeowner raging when Murphy’s truck accidentally runs down a stand of trees; an ex-banker in Colorado who treats Finn and his crew with undisguised contempt; a widow who needs Murphy to bring her archeologist husband’s remains and relics to a Navajo burial ceremony in New Mexico. These experiences inspire Finn’s memorable reflections on work, class, and the bonds we form with the things we own and the places we live.Brimming with personality and filled with great characters, The Long Haul is a resonant portrait of the enduring appeal of manual labor in the dark underbelly of the American Dream.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐No no one really thinks much about the crew that moves their household possessions or those long-haul truckers they see everywhere on the road. They’re just part of the traffic.But what a story this author tells about long-haul movers and the life they lead. After reading this fully engrossing, often hilarious, sometimes mind-boggling description of the life of people involved in this industry, I’ll never again see a moving van and be able to ignore it.The author describes in the most picturesque language some of the memorable interactions he’s had with “shippers” (the industry term for customers). They range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Few people could tolerate the disrespect many clients show to movers to whom they then entrust all of their possessions. Yet, these movers are professionals and do their job well despite being denied bathroom privileges or a break to eat lunch or dinner.The author is a well educated white male working in a business where he is more and more the rarity. Nowadays, he says, the moving industry is primarily manned by foreign nationals who come from a variety of backgrounds, not all of them commendable. They’ve chosen this business because they don’t have to stay in one location all the time and can make some good money through their brute labor. Despite their sometimes questionable backgrounds, however, most of them work hard and put in unimaginable hours with little sleep to expertly serve the customer and their boss.I developed a huge respect for the people who do this backbreaking work. The author is a literate, meticulous man who knows his job inside and out, an independent contractor to a private moving company who specializes in cross-country moves and makes an excellent living at it. He knows how to handle shippers with respect without losing his temper at the ones who treat him like dirt (although he does get even with one of them in a hilarious and very creative way). He works well with his selected team members. He shows himself to be human with all the failings that go with the human condition while still excelling at his profession and loving the job.Read this book. You’ll be so glad you did. And online you can look up the author’s terrific interview with Terry Gross on “Fresh Air” to hear him describe his life even further.

⭐Finn Murphy offers us a striking example of a unique person cutting his own deal about how to live his life not patterned by his upbringing environment or his family’s economic or social status.His story in his book published by WW Norton in 2017 called “The Long Haul” tells of his evolution as the child of an upper middle-class family in upscale Cos Cob Connecticut, into an over the road “mover” for several long distance household moving companies since about 1980.Such work is often dangerous, back breaking and frustrating, but to Finn it offers a form of what he feels is personal freedom which seems to me to ironically restrict freedom.His intimate knowledge of his craft and of the trucking industry is encyclopedic and written about with humor and terrific insights on human nature. We learn, for example, that there here are castes within the trucker community. Finn regards his financially rewarding caste (more elevated than mere over the road freight drivers) as the top rung of the business. I would call Murphy a Brahmin without racial prejudices or religious preferences—but with brains and erudition provided perhaps in part by his 3 years of Colby College from which he dropped out in1980 without finishing his senior year. However, while on the road Finn listens to classic books and NPR, calling Terry Gross, the NPR commentator, his girl friend as he has spent more time with her than any other woman. He is single but not celibate.Although the life he has chosen will likely be completely incomprehensible to most middle or upper-class people, his analysis of America today is acutely and sadly right on.He has covered more of and seen more of America’s underbelly and elites in their off moments (at their best and worst) as a household mover than anyone in the media! His wisdom about what has happened to America because of greed and immigration hits hard—I especially recommend you read pages 177 to 179.Murphy provides many episodes which are riveting and disquieting.I have not heard our billionaire media moguls offer us that honest a description of what unchecked immigration and feckless development has done to undermine the heartland of America. And the full effects of automation are yet to be imposed on job vacancies. Can’t imagine any of their talking heads or journalists could possibly have had the extensive first hand experience this trucker has had in watching this evolution occur over his decades on the road.

⭐What a tale!Riding shotgun with Finn was both fun and educational. I found myself wanting to be a mover, ignoring the fact I can barely lift a 20lb box myself.An adage I heard; if you want to learn about an occupation, ask someone that loves what they do. It applies here. Finn so clearly loves the life he chose.It doesn’t hurt that he writes like someone with a master’s degree in English either.From the first page the story came alive in 4D living color, sucking me in. I felt the sun on my face, smelled the diesel, tensed up in fear right with him along the hairier parts of his journey.I’m purposely leaving out all details; don’t want to ruin your experience.This book is not just for those interested in the open road. If you like any kind of adventure, you’ll love this book.It will also leave you with a healthy dose of respect & admiration for those who call the road home, living in a small box on 18-wheels.

⭐I was in a bookshop in Ashland and heard a man upstairs talking about trucking. It was the author, Finn Murphy, answering questions on his book. I couldn’t stay for long – the questions went beyond the book – so hopefully he can write a sequel – he was talking about longer loads, respect for logging truck drivers, finding places to turn and park and people were complaining that in Oregon they get more polluting trucks than in California. The author seemed lively so the next day I went back to buy the book – got the last one in the store.I’ve hitch-hiked in trucks, had a CB radio in my car ages ago and stopped at truck stops. The book rings true and is an easy read. It tells you the slang words for different types of trucks, relates to you the pecking order and vividly describes shippers (customers) who want to move house. There’s plenty of advice for anyone moving home – chuck out your junk before you pay for shipping it is the main message.Finn tells you how he got into trucking, we don’t hear much of what he did when he left it, but then he came back again as a more seasoned operator. He’s not afraid to tell you about mistakes he made – so if you are a moving truck driver or agent for North American Vanlines and/or its competitors you’ll have fun reading the book.There’s quite a bit about how the industry works. I thoroughly enjoyed Finn’s tales and hope he writes more.

⭐a real find for me this writer – ordered his first chapbook too. Highly recommended and unlike many contemporary poets, I can understand him.

⭐Tenía un buen tiempo que no devoraba un libro a la “velocidad de la luz”. La razón principal es porque el mundo del transporte y de los traileros me es familiar. Nunca pensé en leer un libro de este tipo y lo hice porque ví un reportaje del autor en PBS. Al inicio me pareció algo lento, pero conforme avanzas las historias se hacen más interesantes y me da la impresión de que así fue escrito el libro. Las mejores historias para el final. Al igual que “U-Turn” (apodo del autor en el mundo de los traileros) también quise ser trailero cuando estaba en la prepa, pero a diferencia de él yo no pude serlo, gracias al convencimiento de mis padres. Fue la mejor decisión y no porque tal profesión sea menor, sino porque de haberlo sido no hubiera conocido a mi hoy esposa y tener a mi hijo. Regresando a la historia, U-Turn se adentra no sólo a sus cuestionamientos propios de vida, pues también hace un cierto análisis socio-laboral de USA en profesiones operativas y como el entorno está cambiando. La historia de la familia del piano es fenomenal, pero la última lo es todavía más. Espero encontrar pronto otro libro así, pero creo que pasará un buen tiempo para ello. Muy recomendable su lectura para cualquiera, pero más si conoces el ambiente del transporte de carga.I read this book after reading an extract elsewhere … the extract was the chapter about how the author got into the business and was interesting and well written. Sadly, the rest of the book was a boring mish-mash of predicatability – only one story really … we pack stuff, we haul it, we unpack it. He was off to a good start, pity he couldn’t keep,it up.

⭐Some great anecdotes. I would have liked to learn more about the author’s life before becoming a trucker to better understand his perspective. But overall a good read in an unusual topic.

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