Getting Started
Bob Haller was born at Litchfield, Nebraska, and grew up in Lincoln. But he
spent summers with his cousins in Litchfield. The first vehicle he ever
drove was not a car but his uncle’s 16-gear truck. When he was 14 his job
was to drive his uncle’s cattle truck out to a pasture and scoop the manure
out after a run. It was a hot, smelly job but Bob says it was cool, he got
to drive the truck.
At 18
Bob was driving the truck in Nebraska but not across state lines because a
driver had to be 21 to do that. He became interested in bus driving when he
saw some Continental buses at the state fair. That led to a summer job of
driving a bus load of 4-H members to Washington, D.C. for a 3-week trip.
But much as he enjoyed driving these large vehicles, Bob realized that a
life on the road did not make for a very stable family life. So he finished
his college education and for some 15 years was a music teacher. Then he
became an insurance agent, and became a partner in an agency based in
Lincoln. However he never lost his interest in driving trucks and buses.
Becoming the Storm Driver
Bob’s oldest daughter got him interested in
hockey. She made him sit down with her and watch Stanley Cup playoffs. Then
the Stars came to Lincoln and he saw how excited the fans were there. The
announcement of a hockey franchise coming to Kearney was welcome news. When
Bob read about Epply Express getting the contract to bus the team to away
games, he called the owner and asked for the job of driver. The first couple
of years he was not the exclusive driver because there were other full-time
employees of Epply who also did some of the driving. But after that, it’s
been Bob’s job.
The Sioux Falls Adventure
To Bob an adventure usually
has a negative connotation. Take the Sioux Falls adventure for example. To
begin with, Coach Littler became quite ill on the trip up there. Next the
Stampede, who were at the bottom of the league at that time, shut out the
Storm with an embarrassing score of 9-0. Then it was time to leave the arena
and start the long journey home. Usually there is a route around the
building to drive out of the parking lot. But that night the way was blocked
by construction so Bob had to back the bus through the parking lot. It was
dark and there was a black SUV still parked there….The car did not suffer
any damage but the bus did not fare so well. Fortunately, Bob says, he was
driving a back-up bus that night, not the nice big Storm bus.
The
Misbehavin’ Motor Adventure
Then there was the “Trip from Hell” to
Indiana, Chicago and Green Bay. They were just getting started, about half
way through Iowa, when the computerized gauges indicated a malfunction. And
there was also snow. When the bus stopped, the only way Bob could get it
going again was to shut it down completely and start up again. But the
switches are accessible only from the outside, at the back. This meant
getting out and walking the length of the bus in knee-deep snow. And the bus
stopped frequently. Finally they limped into Indianapolis and arrangements
were made for a local bus to haul the team around town while Bob sought out
a mechanic some 30 miles away who could work on the type of motor their bus
had. After much adjusting, readjusting and several test drives, it seemed to
be working all right. With misgivings they started off on the next leg of
the journey, to Chicago, and did not have any more trouble after that. Who
knows what the problem was!
The Speed Adventure
There have been many
stories about the “efficiency” with which Bob completes a trip. Storm fans
attending away games can tell about times the team bus has passed them on
the Interstate. But Bob drove thousands of miles before the flashing red
light stopped him in the middle of the night in central Iowa. Just a week or
so before that when asked if he had ever gotten a speeding ticket Bob had
said no, not in about 24,000 miles. Coach Littler, being as superstitious as
any hockey player, asked him why he would say a thing like that!
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