“Equity issues,” “expanding access,” and “institutional performance” dominated David Longanecker’s (’68 Socio.) 45-year career in higher education policy. His goal: “All individuals get a shot at higher education.”
At 70, he retired, went back to school to earn his commercial trucking license, and learned some new terms. “Glad hands” are interconnected hoses. A “refer” is a refrigerated truck. A “lumper” loads the trailer with cargo. His goal in the training period: “Back the damn truck.”
Longanecker mastered that skill along with a 181-item pre-driving equipment checklist, parallel parking in an alley, double-clutch shifting, and gradual braking.
“I’ve loved big trucks for as long as I can remember,” he says. Growing up in Chelan, he relished stories of his father’s and uncle’s trips in an 18-wheeler. Later, he loved riding in the cabs of semitrucks when he hitchhiked to Wenatchee Valley College and Washington State University.
But first came his professional career. “I was active in student government at WSU, and I worked with some of the college administrators. I thought that was something I’d like to get into,” he says.
After a stint in Vietnam, Longanecker earned a master’s in education from George Washington University, then worked there for three years.
As he was earning a doctoral degree in administration and policy analysis with an emphasis on higher education at Stanford University, he was recruited by the Congressional Budget Office to work as the principal analyst for higher education. It isn’t a dry academic topic to Longanecker. He is a first-generation college graduate, although he does not see himself as disadvantaged. “But I saw kids I went to high school with who didn’t get the opportunities to go to college, although they were smart,” he says.
He became a higher education executive officer in Colorado, where he lives now, and Minnesota. “It’s at the state level that the decisions are made to keep tuition low, but we also must consider other expenses, such as books and housing, which can really impact a student,” Longanecker says.
The desire to increase student aid dovetailed with a priority of President Bill Clinton. Longanecker was tapped to work on student loan programs as assistant secretary for post-secondary education in the US Department of Education during the Clinton administration.
He spent the last 17 years of his career with the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. His constant question was: How can you change your policies to give more students “access to success”?
Longanecker was successful in completing his own community college training to drive a truck, but finding a job with a trucking company was harder. “Apparently, a 70-year-old rookie didn’t fit well into their respective wheelhouses,” he notes.
However, Swift Transportation, America’s largest trucking company, accepted him into its training program for novice drivers. Over five weeks, Longanecker and his mentor drove more than 5,000 miles through 25 states. They trucked meat to Wisconsin, milk to Chicago, cheese to Oklahoma, hamburger patties to Arizona, soap to Salt Lake City, and yogurt to Los Angeles. Longanecker learned to drive at night, in snow, on ice, and through thick fog.
He was thrilled when Swift assigned him his own truck. “It was everything I hoped it would be,” he says. “Once you master the task, the shifting of gears actually allows you to essentially commune with your truck. It’s just plain fun,” he writes in his book, The Late Truck Driver. “And the vistas are amazing.” His wife, Mary Jane (’68 Socio.), went along for the last few weeks.
“As much as I was loving it, I was never home,” he adds. In five months of driving for Swift, he had six days off. “I missed Christmas, New Year’s, my birthday … ”
So he started his own trucking business, buying a 2013 International ProStar and a 2009 Utility trailer. He drove when he wanted to for the next 15 months. “It’s easy to get jobs,” he says. “Uber has a truck service; you sign up to carry loads by contract.” Getting to know the culture of truck driving was also “a marvelous part of the experience.”
After a couple of years of driving, he left his second career to spend more time playing golf, volunteering, and being with his wife, three daughters, and five grandchildren. Seeing many serious accidents in a blizzard and having his trailer break down also nudged him in that direction.
As he traveled, he wrote emails to friends, and they suggested he write a book. The Late Truck Driver: Following the Dream (Archway Publishing) came out in 2021. It’s a chronicle of “how wonderful truck driving can be, out on the road in that massive piece of equipment, humming along.”
