The Things The New Drivers Will Never Know They Have Missed

I have to admit...these new drivers won't ever have the closeness that the old white knights of the road had back in the day. If you saw a truck on the side, there was another there real quick, askin' if he could help.If there was a wreck, there was also a line of trucks parked on the side,and the drivers doin' whatever they could for whoever they could.Taking up a donation truck to truck, to get a stranded driver on his way home. The CB was our lifeline for everything from "Bear sightings" to weather conditions. And back then you could usually believe what you heard. At night, you'd hear a bunch of drivers runnin' a convoy, and talkin' up the CB on some political, historical, or insane topic...just to keep everyone awake. And runnin' so close together that you couldn't see the ICC bumper on the truck infront of you. Havin' a "front door" and a "tail gunner"..who usually got the ticket that the front door got for ya...BBQ's on the weekend in the truckstop..."Party Row"...playin' Name That Tune on the CB sittin' in the truckstop...Pickin' up a truckers overload weight at a scale, and haulin it to the next truckstop, and tossin' it back in his trailer...Drivin' triple up, to get a driver where he needs to be on time...Having drivers licenses from a buncha states all at once...Runnin' 3 or 4 sets of log books...Having a CB handle you'd fight over to keep....And my all time favorite memory ?? Playing shuffle board with cantalopes and honey dew melons in the back of a truck stop parking lot...messy, but dang that was fun.. The new drivers will miss so very much.....Its kinda like the difference between the music of the 50's and the music playin' today.....

WE could have that again in our profession. This website could make it happen! Who's with me?

I'm with ya!!!

Actually, for quite some time now I've been pondering putting together some sort of a "pledge" of professionalism or an organization for drivers to join. It would be like a brotherhood of drivers that understand the importance of professionalism and would like to revive the image of the industry.

I wrote an article about the situation called A Look In The Mirror.

There's a fascinating contrast of behaviors in trucking that I think serves as a prime example of the choices we make. When you listen to the CB on channel 19 you'll hear tons of filth - arguing, cussing, criticizing, racism - just nasty stuff. But then you get out of your truck and walk into the truck stop and those same people that were just screaming filth on the CB are now holding the door open for you, smiling, and saying hi to you as you walk in. You go get breakfast at the restaurant, strike up a conversation at the restaurant counter with other drivers, and have the most pleasant morning imaginable. What a stark contrast it is.

I would love to see drivers choose to live their lives with a high level of integrity and expect it of each other. And that's exactly what it is - a choice we all make. Who are you going to be today? What standards will you hold yourself to? How will you treat each person you come across? That's who we are as individuals and that's who we are collectively as truckers - we're the sum of our choices. Our expectations of ourselves.

I think there's a lot of truckers out there today that would never go for this. Not at first, anyhow. But many would. And most of the new truckers would. I think you could start a massive movement and bring attention to the idea of returning to a "Knights Of The Road" way of living and doing our jobs.

Hey, this website right now is getting over 110,000 unique visitors per month. Any message we send will hit over a million people a year. There are only 3.5 million drivers in the nation and the turnover in trucking is high. If we had the right pledge or organization we could quickly change the entire industry. TruckingTruth has become like "the orientation" for the trucking industry. This is where you get started in the industry. So we can get this message to new drivers as they get their career started. It could catch on in a big way!

All we need to do is name this organization, define "the pledge", and find someone to make 1 million magnets and T-shirts!

Now just a minute here... I'm brand new (two weeks on the road with my trainer, that new) and yes there are some things I will never know but there is still chivalry.

Here are a few examples that I have already experienced:

Tight getting into a fuel lane, while I was getting myself all the way in, I was going to rear end the guy in front of me (my front mirror) so I stopped. The guy behind me, drove right up under my bumper almost and was giving me go to hell looks. The guy in the front, stopped washing his windows, pulled his truck up enough so I could swing myself into my spot. Not only that but he also helped me with that ladder that is supposed to roll but the wheels were broken. Yes I know it was a noob mistake, but he helped me out without me even asking.

My first paycheck was chump change. I was sitting there figuring out how to buy my lunch with the little bit I had and while I was counting the pennies a guy walked up and paid for my lunch. I never even got to thank him.

Right before my husband and I were split up for our training (which being without him has been the hardest part of all this) we were figuring out our lunches and this guy sat himself down and bought us lunch and told us stories of the road. He said when he was starting someone helped him out and it was good to get to do the same.

My trainers truck broke down so we were at the terminal , stuck. I found out that my husbands truck had a flat a few miles away. One of the guys over heard me talking about it and offered to take me to go see him. Not only that but he showed us around Carlisle, PA. That night was a wonderful night, made a new friend and got to spend a few VERY precious moments with my husband.

I have had people stop and help me while I was trying to figure out how something worked (comdata, best cheap places to eat, how to work the blasted showers, the pumps (that there are two tanks, lol)).

There has been so much kindness out here that I can see why you would miss the old days. The stuff I have heard from the veterans in the truck stops sounds like so much fun. But I am still having fun, meeting insanely kind people, and learning new stuff. I may not know what a convoy was like, but I do know that there is a kindness amongst truck drivers that I haven't seen in any other profession that I have had. Most of the truckers out there are really decent people (even the one that was kind of creepy, said I reminded him of his deceased wife) who will give you the shirt off their back if you needed it more than them.

StarCar you are so very right. They are missing a great deal. It's sad to know that what has changed our world/nation filtered over into the trucking industry. I remember all those things and wish they had not diapered into the ditch.

I was talking about that very thing this week. Wondering what happened to the steering wheel wave. I remember when each time you passed another driver you threw up you hand and waved. Nodded too! It was respect that was shown to each other. We knew what we were out here doing, keeping this country going. Making sure that people ate, had cloths on their backs, gas in their cars and the medicine needed to heal those pains.

Yes, a driver would stop on the side of the road to help a fellow driver. I remember having a trailer tire hit my windshield at 75 miles an hour, watching the driver in front of me panic as the inside tire blew too on that same axle. He got it to the shoulder and I pulled in behind him. Before I could get out of my truck their were 3 more trucks pulling over in front of us and behind us. We checked on each other. Had a few laughs. And went down the road a piece with that driver in the middle. Limping all the way at about 5 miles an hour.

I believe though that their are many out their today who have the same heart as we did back then. Its just that their are way too many that don't. It really is up to people like Daniel B to bring that realness of a 'true driver' back again.

Driver like "BIG JOE" . You know who I'm talking about StarCar. PHANTOM 309. Red Sovine sung the song about him back in 1968. Now that was a song. Still is a good one. Now that was a story. That was a TRUE DRIVER. Or the one everyone knows, TEDDY BEAR. That song still makes me cry.

WE could have that again in our profession. This website could make it happen! Who's with me? Next time you see another driver passing you by, WAVE. If you see a driver swerving in his lane. Get on the radio and start talking to him to keep him awake. Get him to pull over at the next exit and share a cup of joe with him. It's easy. It just has to be in your heart.

Wow! this whole experience is something else for me. Yes, Virginia there is a Santa Claus. And yes Joe, theirs a real PHANTOM 309.

"10-4 GOOD-BUDDY"

The good old days??? :) I remember stories my dad and uncle would tell of trucking in the late 60's, 70's and early 80's. Stuff you couldn't dream of getting away with today... Dad was in an accident in about '86 and was disabled out of trucking, otherwise I'm sure he'd still be doing it today.

A lot has changed in the work place in general. It's just not as fun as it used to be. People are to uptight these days and forgot that we're all only here for a short time. To me, work isn't about how much you can make, it's about making enough to enjoy the time you have left. I think of life in seasons. The average male lives to be 76 in the U.S. Me being 45, I have around 31 summers left to live. Probably more like 25 good ones if I'm lucky. Think of how fast summer comes and goes. It puts it into perspective. How many summers do you have left? Enjoy it while you can!

Six

A lot has changed in the work place in general. It's just not as fun as it used to be. People are to uptight these days and forgot that we're all only here for a short time. To me, work isn't about how much you can make, it's about making enough to enjoy the time you have left. I think of life in seasons. The average male lives to be 76 in the U.S. Me being 45, I have around 31 summers left to live. Probably more like 25 good ones if I'm lucky. Think of how fast summer comes and goes. It puts it into perspective. How many summers do you have left? Enjoy it while you can!

Six

I've been living in Summer for 24 years straight...

Starcar, don't take this the wrong way... But I kinda don't believe you haha. Seeing as how drivers are I just cannot fathom them doing those things that you mentioned. I know what you're saying is true, it's just difficult to picture it. The best a driver does for another driver right now is hold the door for them at the truck stops.

I guess that's just how much if a big difference it was. But I simply cannot imagine truckers being that nice. I suppose that says a lot about how everything is these days.

So whats stopping us from bringing back the old days? WE are the new generation of drivers and if we take back the attitude of helping one another know we are all in the same boat. I have always been the type to give the shirt off my back to family, a friend or even a stranger....I literally took my shirt off and gave it to a homeless man in las vegas when the temp was hoovering around 25. I have spent a night in jail for doing the right thing. If I saw any of you on the side of the road with a blow out of a blown engine I would pull over and give you a warm place to sit. That's just the way I am. I know alot of people are like that but I don't see why we can't fix the reputation of truck drivers.

I have to agree with the last post but it has changed. I super fresh t driving trucks. Like fresh out of school but my girlfriends dad (back when I was in high school 1990 to 1994) was a truck driver and he always taught me how to be courteous to truck drivers when I was in my car. One thing I always used to love to do was flash my head lights to let the trucker know it was OK to switch lanes, then they would flash the tail lights as a way of saying thank you. Now when I see a truck with his blinker on and I flash my lights they don't switch lanes anymore and the few that do don't flash the tail lights. Is that something that is dead now. Just a small observation that I have noticed.

I locked my keys in my truck first solo run out. Was in Center City Chicago in late November super cold with just a hoodie on. The lady behind the desk whom everyone though wss such a *itch gave me coffee and friut bevsuse I had slept there and not had breakfast and the driver next to me let me stay in his truck til roadside came. It still happens if not rarely. An unknown driver paid for my food tonight too. Didnt want acknowledgement or credit. Thought that was nice.

Brett can tell you some of the "old ways" that were common back in the day...and I"m sure there may be other drivers that either remember, or have ridden or talked to old white knights of the road. Theres a reason that the movies about truckers were made...there was a "brotherhood" back then. You absolutely never heard of a driver pullin' another drivers 5th wheel pin, or stealing fuel...it wasn't done. And one of the reasons that Brett has worked his Italian tail off is to try, by teaching the new drivers, to bring back the courteous treatment among truckers..and for 4 wheelers too. I know, that if one of my family should slide into the ditch on a winter day..and be stuck there, with a car full of kids, I'd love to know that a trucker would take his time to stop and make sure everyone was alright until the police or wrecker gets there. And that was the common thing back in the day. It just wasn't all about makin' that appointment, or getting those miles. And honestly...if my boss fired me for stopping to help someone in trouble, I'd figure that he was doin' me a favor.... It is all about being proud that you could be counted amoung the brotherhood. I can say that I can be count, and counted on to live up to "the old ways".

My mom was a mileage clerk (remember them) back in the 1970s to the 1990s. If you thought truck drivers didn't get paid, talk to my mom. She was paid just above minimum.

Dave