Troy truck driver hits 5 million miles

TROY, Ala. (WSFA) - He’s one of the few that continued to work during the COVID-19 pandemic and has been on the road now for nearly 30 years.

Richard Doggrell at Wiley Sanders Truck Lines said he did what he had to do to support his family. To his co workers, he was an American hero.

“Just a little bit of what they do for this country,” said Tres Parker, president of Wiley Sanders Truck Lines. “Everything you see at some point has been on a truck. We started seeing that drivers getting that recognition for what he does for this country.”

Like keeping food isles stocked, to even distributing vaccines. And Richard got recognition for doing that and the impossible, traveling 5 million miles - which is equivalent to traveling around the world 200 times.

“When I found out I had five million miles, I was surprised,” said Doggrell. “I didn’t know I had that many miles. I don’t feel like I had that many miles, but then sometimes I do, too.”

Doggrell has been working for Wiley Sanders since 1997 and he’s never went anywhere else.

“Because if you work for people that live for family, they are going to treat your family with the same dignity and respect like Wiley sanders always has,” he said.

And his company appreciates him and wishes they had more drivers like him, too.

“We need driver in this industry really bad,” Parker said. “You know, the nation said we’re in a shortage - I’d say in that half-a-million mark.”

Parker adds that Wiley Sanders Truck Lines actually grew during COVID-19 and is optimistic numbers will improve in 2023.

Another reason he says the truck driver industry struggles is that the job isn’t one that’s glorified.

During Driver Appreciation Week, Wiley Sanders will have a cookout and award thousands of dollars in prizes to their workers to show a fraction of just how much they mean to the company and what they do for this country.

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