By Steve Pollock

MASURY, OH....John Stoner, known to his friends as "Jack," plans to officially hang up his keys to his big rig on July 31st of this year at the age of 68.

Jack began driving truck in the Army in 1959.  He went on to become a professional truck driver in 1962 after his discharge.  Over the next 3 decades Jack drove for a couple of companies and tried some other jobs, but his heart was in trucking and he always came back to the transportation industry.  On June 14, 1991, Jack found a home when he came to work at P. I. & I. Motor Express.  Shortly after starting at P. I. & I., Jack remembers a gentlemen coming up to him and introducing himself, as he was tarping a load at P. I. & I.'s Masury, Ohio headquarters.  The man said, "Hello, you must be a new driver here.  I'm John Kerola, the owner.  My office is upstairs and if you ever have a problem, you come and see me."

Jack has now worked for 3 generations of the Kerola family and is close to logging 5 Million Safe Miles of driving during his career.  Jack is only a couple of hundred thousand miles short, but he says he is ready for retirement.  P. I. & I.'s current President/CEO, Joe Kerola, Sr. stated, "P. I. & I. is fortunate to have drivers of Jack's caliber operating our equipment.  We will certainly miss him when he retires."

When asked about his 19 years at P. I. & I., Jack said, "P. I. & I. is as good a place as any and better than most.  I like working for a local company and I've made a good living.  Over the years I have never had to worry about my paycheck."

Looking back at his years on the road, I asked Jack for his thoughts on how trucking has changed.  He said, "Don’t know where it's going to, or how it got this far.  What a long, strange ride it's been!"  While Jack may have borrowed these words from the Grateful Dead, he did tell us that "truck drivers used to be unified – a band of brothers.  Fellow drivers would talk with you and help you out if they could.  We looked after one another and were proud about what we did.  The equipment and roads have seen a lot of improvements but traffic and 4-wheelers' driving have gotten worse."

Jack doesn't have any firm plans for his retirement.  Once he has taken care of a fairly long 'honey-do' list, he said he plans to stay active and maybe even do a little fishing.  Jack lives in Youngstown, Ohio with his wife Peggy.  Their son Chad is a truck mechanic and works locally.