A 1996 Freightliner truck has covered a distance exceeding 3 million miles thanks to the dedication of a 77-year-old female truck driver who has spent her entire life around trucks. Jackie Gardner, aged 77, from Bloomfield, Indiana, has been operating trucks for over two decades, but her connection with trucking stretches back much further than that.

“My mother died when I was four and a half years old. My dad was an over-the-road trucker, so I went on the road with him until I had to go to school. My daddy’s dad drove, so did my uncle,” Gardner said to The Herald-Times. 

As she matured, Gardner embarked on team-driving with her husband for nearly ten years. She recalls their driving duties were shared, yet her husband primarily handled the task of reversing the truck. Following their divorce, Gardner recognized the necessity of mastering the skill of backing up the truck if she intended to continue her solo journeys. Consequently, she dedicated herself to learning this aspect of trucking and succeeded in doing so.

“I taught myself how to back up properly in the parking lot at the old Walmart in Linton,” she said. “I spray painted some rolls of paper towels fluorescent orange and set them up like pylons. It was just me, my dog and those paper towels.”

Following that period, Gardner spent years driving leased trucks. However, when the company she was working for in Laredo, Texas suddenly ceased operations in March 2000, she found herself jobless and stranded without transportation. Recalling the unexpected turn of events, she recounts leaving the leased truck parked outside the company premises and walking to a nearby motel to gather her thoughts and plan her next steps.

“I hadn’t been paid for three weeks and couldn’t get ahold of anyone, so I walked back to the motel with my dog,” she said. “It was me, my dog, everything I owned and $7.”

Upon learning of Gardner’s predicament, two of her fellow trucker friends stepped in to lend a hand. They made the decision to assist her in purchasing the truck she had recently left at the now-defunct company’s location.

“I charged the motel room bill and they came and picked me up for lunch. They had a contract all written up for $54,000, and it was a good deal. They let me pick the date of the month payments were due. I was pretty scared. I’d never owned anything worth that much. The truck was mine.”

Gardner affectionately christened the 1996 FLD Freightliner as “Baby Girl” and officially registered it on March 3rd, 2000.

The very next day I pulled out with my first load,” she said. “We’ve been everywhere, 48 states and Canada, me and my Baby Girl, and I wouldn’t trade her for a new truck. It’s not all fancy like some of these you see. She’s a work truck and she does her job well.”

“We’ve been through three tornadoes and that last hurricane that came through Florida, where I sat in the parking lot at the Great American Chrome shop parking lot watching everything blow sideways,” she continued. 

Now at 28 years old and boasting over 3 million miles under its belt, Baby Girl remains in pristine condition, thanks in part to the assistance of Gardner’s current husband. Even when Gardner is on the road, her husband lends support by diagnosing mechanical issues over the phone and occasionally traveling in his own vehicle to aid in fixing Baby Girl should any breakdowns occur. Gardner, unfortunately, has been sidelined at home since October due to health concerns, but she eagerly anticipates returning to the road and achieving the milestone of 4 million miles.