Profile For AlongCameJones

I found this following current-day video on the American freight industry and where it's headed. It's very interesting to watch when you get a few minutes of free time. They say that in theory an autonomous truck would reduce motor carrier costs by 70%. That's totally hard to believe. Is driver payroll really that high? What do you think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q79BHfxfaSI

The video is mainly about rail freight, but it hits on trucking a lot and how rail and freight compete. The railroads are never short on train drivers (too many wannabes and very few RR positions open), but drivers for trucking is always in high demand.

Troll?

You find no amusement value in my writings, PackRat? I feel truck drivers occasionally need some relief from the everyday boredom of white line fever.

There is the possibility that some have found more prosperity and/or happiness going from truck driving to real estate, or some other line of work. Some might also have found more joy with the gearshift lever of an 18-speed transmission in hand and the awesome sound of turbochargers and jake brakes hand than a PC mouse in hand at an office desk. I'm sure some driving prospects here want to compare truck driving to other possible careers for the amount of potential risks and rewards each has to offer. Mr. Mandolfo had a wife and three boys at that time. He might have given up double-clutching for real estate sales to have a great home-cooked meal from his wife every night vs a choke and puke on some out-of-state desert highway. Driving a Cadillac around the SF Bay Area showing people homes does seem more glamorous to some than being inside a "smelly noisy diesel rig for long hours". But the "smelly noisy diesel rig" in the end might be more efficient at paying the bills than homes sales on commission in 2021, who knows.

Is the real estae business a safer bet for me? Question: which driver here, if any, has ever sold real estate for a living?

Realtors in Boise, Idaho are not nearly as "civilized" as realtors in the San Fransisco Bay Area in California.

In 1981, my mother had done business with a realtor in the SF Bay Area named Joe Mandolfo. He was a handsome 45-year-old gentleman in a suit, tie and drove a clean 1976 Cadillac Seville to show his clients homes.

In 1999, I had a guy from John L. Scott Realty in Boise, ID show me homes. The real-estate company had a classy-sounding name but this man was not very classy in presentation. He had some crude rough-riding Jeep-like vehicle. He was not clean-shaven and dressed rather "blue collar". He spoke like a simpleton too. He was bald and sported a mustache and glasses. He was dressed like he was fit to operate a Caterpilllar tractor (sans hard hat) and not at all like a city-slicker like the Italian realtor in San Francisco, Mr. Mandolfo. I was not taken to a white-table cloth restaurant for lunch but rather a McDonald's in Nampa, ID. Having been spoiled rotten on the Left Coast most my life, it was a real culture shocker going into Boise. In the SF Bay Area, I also knew an insurance broker who drove a nice Mercedes Benz. Always well-dressed and clean-shaven.

Incidentally, slick-dressed Joe Mandolfo in the fancy automobile had told my mother he was once a truck driver earlier on in life. Is being a truck driver or a realtor a better prospect in life? Who of the two jobs makes better net earnings money in 2021? Could any carrier-hired truck driver in 1976 have afforded a new Cadillac Seville back then? Who will die with the mostest nice toys in the end when all is said and done, a realtor or a company freight driver? To me it's all about achieving a certain degree of personal material wealth. If there's not enough dough in it, it doesn't make my cut.

The moral of the story: Don't ever take your Bay Area mentality into any RED state.

Some short story, huh?

E.T. phone home under the bridge.

No, you come up with all the different names because you think you're clever.

You're not.

You're a waste of time and should be blocked.

Meh,

He's kinda entertaining. Glad we lost PurplePistlePreston (what was it?) though. TomCougar was LOVED, elsewhere!

ToddHolmes, any relation to J?

I'll check the video..

~ Anne ~

ps: DuckDuckGo is NOT undetectable...to the wise(r.) ;) Perks of having an IT/tech savvy kiddo, LoL!

pps: My Ariat Fatbaby II boots are quite slip resistant; on T/T's and mucking stalls. No shower shoes around trucks & hooves, IMHO!

I Googled and found this interesting article on trucking footwear from Schneider. They also talk about gloves and that's another important issue too. You need good hand protection. In the army, soldiers were required to wear flip-flops in the barracks showers for sanitary reasons. I would definately have them in my gear as a driver as well for showers on the road. The Schneider article says some drivers also need steel toes.

https://schneiderjobs.com/blog/best-work-boots-for-truck-drivers

The inspiration for my handle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFyr49TwuiI

Exactly what I thought too

Guess whos back? Back Again Todd is back tell your friends

Hello, Grumpy Old Man. Todd is not really an ugly name. Let's have a conversation on my conversation piece. What do you want to talk about football or Joe Biden? Who's going to the Super Bowl this season?

https://www.okshooters.com/attachments/1633099994860-png.225671/

OK, let's play this game, let's assume that you are not trolling everybody and are really interested in the slipping problem. Two things come to my mind. First, steps with serrated holes you suggest as a solution are installed on almost every truck, here is picture of my steps for illustration, so no need to recreate wheels. Second, if you are going to apply to trucking the same approach you demonstrate in this thread, you may have significant performance issues resulting in very low income, ultimately leading to being fired. It is a fast paced industry with no place for time-wasting bs.

Fired or perhaps collecting workman's comp. You must have some serious callouses on your foot bottoms. Those steps look like they would mince my bare feet like deviled ham.