It's a Team's Life

Groundedâ€¦

By Bob & Linda Caffee
Posted Jun 26th 2011 7:11PM

Randy Cooper's Truck

I came out of a Pilot truck stop in Binghamton, NY and I believe he said â€œWow, nice shirt!â€(this was because we had on matching uniforms). That led into a 3-hour conversation about FedEx Custom Critical and a lot of our shared ideas. I knew he was a keeper when we stepped into his sleeper and he promptly spilled his cereal box all over the floor.

We had much in common as we were headed for our first FedEx Custom Critical 4-Star event and he was I believe heading for his third. We were able to spend time with him and his wife while on the event and found out we had even more in common which is odd as he is a solo White Glove T-Val D unit and we at that time were a surface dry box team D unit.

Randy has his head on better than most drivers out here and very seldom does he lose his prospective. If I start to get a little out of line or get discouraged he is quick to pull me back. If I get down he is quick to remind of facts not rumors and I am quickly back to where I need to be.

Through the years he has experienced a lot of changes and we have gone through the agony of purchasing a house as well as purchasing a new truck. Through all of that he has shown some patience and other times he has to get the hammer out to get me to pay attention.

I have returned the favor as he is a stubborn cuss and when he gets something in his head it has taken me years to get him to see the light. Randy fusses over some changes I have been able to get him to make and he is pleased with others that have saved him a lot of money.

It is friends like Randy that keep us grounded and thinking with our heads and not with our hearts when we let rumors or changes within the company get us down. Randy is someone everyone needs as a friend in their lives as they are positive when they need to be, supportive when they need to be, they are exasperating at times, and they are there to use a sledge hammer when needed. I know that even when Randy is at his sternest he is doing it out of trust and caring that we have of each other and it is for my own good.

I hope everyone has a friend and mentor along these lines in their lives. I want to thank Randy for all of help he has been to us and I know will continue to be. He is a good friend and an inspiration to always look at the positive side.