To truly understand who I am — and why I built Guardian Path Logistics — you need to know part of my story.
I was the kind of driver who ran hard, pushed the clock, and hated sitting still. You know the type — the one who felt like the sky was falling if I got held up at a shipper for more than a few minutes. If the wheels weren’t turning, I wasn’t earning — and that was how I measured a good day. It was a Sunday afternoon — May 22, 2011. I was picking up a load from the Georgia-Pacific plant in Muskogee, Oklahoma. I’d been there plenty of times.
Usually in and out in 45 minutes, just enough time to stay on track for my delivery in Green Bay, Wisconsin. But that day… things weren’t going as planned. It was taking longer than usual, and I was getting irritated — watching the clock, running numbers in my head, thinking about the miles I should already be covering. Eventually, I got out of there, headed north and jumped on I-44, and turned the music up. The Highwaymen were playing — it was just me, the road, and the hum of the tires. As I approached Joplin, Missouri, the sky shifted. This eerie, heavy brown rolled in. I remember thinking, "This ain’t right." Moments later, an F5 tornado tore through Joplin — one of the deadliest in U.S. history. It claimed 158 lives and injured over a thousand more. And I just sat there in that driver’s seat, stunned. Because if I hadn’t been delayed… if that load hadn’t taken longer… I might’ve been right in the middle of it. It could’ve been 159 lives lost that day.
That moment changed something deep inside me. Now, every time a pickup or delivery doesn’t go as planned — when there’s a delay or a detour — I take a breath and remind myself: maybe there’s a reason. Maybe Christ is keeping me from something I can’t see — something that could keep me from getting home to the ones I love. That’s the heart behind Guardian Path Logistics. It’s more than just providing dispatching solutions. It’s about respecting the road, honoring the life behind the wheel, and ensuring that our logistics services offer drivers the Owner-Operators support they truly need. We understand the weight they carry — not just in the trailer, but in their hearts.