I have a different understanding of life than you do yet. We're just putting in time until the coffin gets built. As a matter of fact, we should build our own coffins. And If I get the time, I need to build my own coffin, just to prove my point. You make your own coffin and if you have a big house you make it into a coffee table. If you have a small apartment, you make it into a closet and you put it by the door and you hang your suit, coat, the stuff for the wedding or maybe for your funeral. And every day when you walk by it, you give your coffin a pat. And you bring your day into perspective. And you'll have better days because of that. The one thing about the ice roads, you spend a lot of time by yourself. If you don't have the radio cranked up and your ear buds in or a TV turned on sucking one's brains out, then one gets to think about a lot of these things. The shortness of life is amazing to me.

I was born with something you can't buy and is very difficult to earn. It's called poetic license.

[on if he ever gets afraid driving on icy roads] Sure I am. You see trucks jackknifed in the snow and accidents that were probably unpreventable. There are plenty of better drivers out there than me, but I know enough to respect the weather and listen to the ice.

I gotta die somewhere, someplace. I guess today is as good as any other day.

When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a superhero and save people from bad things. Throughout my life, I've had the opportunity to be a real hero and I've had the opportunity to be a real ass, and I've taken that one, too!

Nighttime is when truckers get talkative. It's lonely out here. Guys get on the radio and start telling each other stories. They're like little kids in a bunkhouse after the adults have put out the lights. Everybody is keeping each other company. I'm one of the most devoted storytellers on the ice road, and I'll keep the other truckers entertained for hours.