✦ ESSAYIST & SONGWRITER

Mike Singleton

Road essays and road songs. Published in Brevity and Overdrive.

Stories from someone who actually drove the road: the people, the silences, and the moments that only happen at 65 mph. Essays and songs from an Air Force veteran who spent thirty years in IT before he climbed into a truck.

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Essays

Stories from the Road

Road essays and literary nonfiction. Published in Brevity and Overdrive.

Brevity
Bad Apple
"I-10 into Houston on a Monday morning, and traffic doesn't stop so much as give up. Just lies down and dies like a tired old horse."
Read in Brevity    More at Brevity
Current Issue
Overdrive
When the Pete's cooling system pukes: No one gets home alone
A beauty of a Pete dumps its coolant all over the truck stop lot, and in no time there's an army of helpers. Pay it forward.
Read on Overdrive
Sep 2026
Overdrive
OTR dogs, alone: 'We were the strays, too'
"I wish I could tell you which truck stop. I can't."
Read on Overdrive
Aug 2026
Overdrive
The future at 70 mph: AI trucks, because they can, not that we should
What's the point of replacing something that works with something that might work, eventually?
Read on Overdrive
Jul 2026
Overdrive
You've backed the rig into tighter spots, right?
"I stood there doing the math every driver knows: damage, load status, who to call, and how bad this was about to get..."
Read on Overdrive
May 2026
Overdrive
'Road's good for thinking,' but real life's where it takes you back
A quick stop at the Joplin 44 at a crisis moment, and an older trucker leaning against a worn Pete delivers a catharsis.
Read on Overdrive
Apr 2026
Overdrive
When a trailer tire calls it quits in Sudan
Getting truck service to the Valero takes some explaining when even truckers don't have the place on the map.
Read on Overdrive
Feb 2026
Overdrive
CB radio glory in Houston traffic: Hey 'Bad Apple,' keep on singing
Every now and then, the road gives you a man named Bad Apple singing his heartbreak into a CB like it's the only truth he's got left.
Read on Overdrive
Jan 2026
Overdrive Radio
Overdrive's newest OTR chronicler
Overdrive Radio introduces Mike Singleton, chronicling life over the road.
Listen to the Interview
Podcast
Broken Things album cover: boots and two mugs on a porch at sunset, a highway running to the horizon
Music

Broken Things

Red dirt and Americana songs about leaving, coming home, and the porch light someone left on.

  1. We Made It
  2. Oklahoma Rain
  3. Tulsa Time Again
  4. Old Story Again
  5. Same Road Home
  6. Raised You to Leave Me
  7. Wasn't the Plan
  8. What's Still Here
  9. Hey Em, Where You Headed
Listen to the Album
About the Author

From the Cab to the Page

Mike Singleton in a straw cowboy hat and sunglasses

Mike Singleton writes road essays and literary nonfiction, with work in Brevity and seven articles in Overdrive. He writes road songs too.

He served in the U.S. Air Force, spent thirty years in IT, then went out and got his CDL. He drove as a company driver and then as an owner-operator before he parked the rig for good.

The road taught him something. That's what he writes about.

"The road was still there, same as always... but I wasn't thinking about where it could take me."
Newsletter

Read on Substack

Essays, road stories, and whatever's on the workbench. No schedule. Just when there's something worth saying.

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Contact

Say Hello

Read something that hit home? Editors, drivers, and readers are all welcome.

Email Mike