Retired Professional Truck Driver | 30+ Years of Over-the-Road Experience
Joel Curtis is a retired professional truck driver and longtime trucking enthusiast who spent more than three decades behind the wheel.
During his career, Joel drove throughout Canada and the United States, hauling everything from general freight and building materials to temperature-sensitive loads. He experienced the industry through changing regulations, new equipment, tighter delivery schedules, harsh winter conditions, and millions of kilometres of highway driving.
Joel started driving professionally in the early 1990s, when paper logbooks, CB radios, road atlases, and payphones were still part of everyday life on the road. Over the years, he watched trucking evolve through electronic logging devices, GPS navigation, increasingly sophisticated safety systems, emissions regulations, and major changes in driver training and working conditions.
After retiring from full-time driving, Joel began sharing the practical lessons he learned on the road with new drivers, owner-operators, and people considering a career in trucking.
What Joel writes and reviews
- Truck driving careers and life on the road
- Commercial trucks and equipment
- Driver safety and defensive driving
- Long-haul and cross-border trucking
- Winter driving
- Fuel efficiency and truck maintenance
- Hours-of-service rules and logbooks
- Owner-operator considerations
- Truck stops, routes, and life on the highway
- Changes and trends within the trucking industry
Joel believes the best trucking advice comes from combining real-world experience with current regulations, manufacturer information, and reliable industry sources.
When he’s not writing about trucking, Joel enjoys road trips, working on vehicles, fishing, and swapping stories with current and retired drivers.
How Joel works with America’s Driving Force
Joel reviews our trucking guides for practical accuracy from a driver’s point of view. Every guide is built from official sources, such as the FMCSA and other government agencies, and lists those sources at the end so you can check them yourself. Browse our trucking company directories for all 50 states, or tell us your CDL and location to be matched with hiring carriers.