INVER GROVE HEIGHTS, Minn. — Some folks can’t wait for retirement. Art Stoen retired, then couldn’t wait to get back to work.
“I got a little bit bored, you get a little bit bored at home,” Stoen said as he guided a tractor-trailer down Minnesota Highway 52.
After a two-year hiatus, Stoen returned to work at Kane Transport.
Stoen’s "unretirement" has proven fruitful. On Thursday night, the 74-year-old deliverer of bio-diesel fuel was named “Driver of the Year” by the Minnesota Trucking Association.
“It was pretty exciting, I didn’t expect to get it,” Stoen said Friday morning from behind the wheel of his Peterbilt truck.
He shouldn’t have been surprised. Not many truckers can say they’ve driven 4.6 million miles without a significant accident.
For perspective, 4.6 million miles is equivalent to more than 19 trips to the moon.
“I'm not sure I've met someone who’s had four-and-half-million accident-free miles, he's pretty unique in that respect,” said John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association.
So what kind of advice would Stoen offer other drivers? “Just keep watching all the time, don’t get in a hurry, do the speed limit and you can see way ahead if the lights are braking,” Stoen said.
Art attributes his long tenure to his love for driving.
“I mostly like the scenery, getting out, getting out in the open,” Stoen said.
Angela Kane, the co-owner of Kane Transport, knows Art’s passion for driving first-hand. “He's talking about going on vacation this winter and what is he going to do? He's going to drive. He just loves it.”