The New Generation Of Truckers

The new generation of truckers is funny. They were flip flops & basketball short. Not professional at most of them are out of shape. The new generation of Truckers take no probe in being a professional driver or themselves.

There are more than a few of them that do the whole flip flop thing but not all. It is the difference between the people that take pride in their work and those that don't. I will admit I've been guilty of the basketball shorts when I know I'm not going to see a customer that day, but when I am picking up or delivering its always jeans and a clean shirt.

I'm sure there were "old generation" truckers, that wore the same stuff.

I don't think is a new or old school generation, to me it comes down to the individual, if you have self respect, self motivation, and self pride, you will look professional no matter where, when, what, who, why, or how, its all self sustain,... out

I'm sure there were "old generation" truckers, that wore the same stuff.

The new generation of truckers is funny. They were flip flops & basketball short. Not professional at most of them are out of shape. The new generation of Truckers take no probe in being a professional driver or themselves.

I'm 24 and I don't own a pair of flip flops. My fiancé has basketball shorts, but rarely if ever wears them outside the truck. What does being out of shape have to do with professionalism? You know what's not professional? Acting as though an entire group of your fellow drivers are beneath you.

I laugh hysterically at "the old generation of truckers who want to complain the rest of us are steering wheel holders" when we are doing the same job. It's even funnier when I find out that person has only been driving two years. It's like the "old generation" of drivers forget what it is like being a newbie.

And as stated above.... grouping people together is bigoted and prejudicial.

Rainy, the "old generation" had to drive using paper logbooks, maybe without getting enough sleep, and, ugh, shift their own gears!

We sure have it easy today, right?

It's funny, As I'm reading this, I'm wearing my flip flops, a pair of shorts and my IPad is resting on my fat belly. I'm on my couch though, so maybe I get a pass? Also, would overalls be considered unprofessional attire, if they are clean and complete with a clean shirt and work boots?

The new generation of truckers is funny. They were flip flops & basketball short. Not professional at most of them are out of shape. The new generation of Truckers take no probe in being a professional driver or themselves.

The new generation of trucker knows how to use spell check.

Cookie I am 57 years old, been doing this professionally for 4 years and completely disagree with your statement. Unprofessional behavior is pervasive throughout the industry and is not consistent to a specific age bracket. Tossing pee-bottles on the shoulder of on and off-ramps has been going on for 30 years...it doesn't get more unprofessional than that. I think it is far more humorous to think that most truckers drove wearing only their boxers in the heat of the summer before we had air-conditioned cabs.

This kind of post has no value to this forum and only distracts from the overall mission of helping newbies get a foot-hold in the business.

The new generation of truckers is funny. They were flip flops & basketball short. Not professional at most of them are out of shape. The new generation of Truckers take no pride in being a professional driver or themselves.

Ya know, when I started driving I used to hear the same stuff on the CB all the time. They'd complain about "this new breed of drivers" and how they're nothing but steering wheel holders and there's no hope for the future of this country because of us. That was 1993.

I laugh hysterically at "the old generation of truckers who want to complain the rest of us are steering wheel holders" when we are doing the same job.

I completely agree. In fact, who do you think established the horrendous reputation that truckers have today? The old generations of truckers. Who did they make movies about like Convoy and Smokey & The Bandit? The old generation. Who do you think had very little enforcement to deal with, virtually no drug testing, and could move their license from one state to another to start fresh when they racked up too many tickets on their current license? That's right - all old generation stuff. And I won't go into the really bad stuff. That's better left in the past.

Rainy, the "old generation" had to drive using paper logbooks, maybe without getting enough sleep, and, ugh, shift their own gears!

We sure have it easy today, right?

The hardest part about trucking back in the day is that there was no Internet, GPS, Qualcomm , or cell phones. For years I navigated the country with a Motor Carrier's Atlas, some paper city maps, and a notepad and pen to write down directions. If I needed to contact anyone I had a calling card I could use to dial an 800 number to make free long distance calls. If I wanted to contact dispatch at anytime it was a given you would find a payphone and sit on hold for 20-30 minutes. If you were waiting to be assigned your next load you had to call dispatch every two hours and sit on hold again for 20-30 minutes to hear, "Nothing yet. Call me in two hours."

If you got lost in downtown Chicago you had to find a place to park and run to a payphone to call the customer hoping they knew where you were and could get you to their place from there.

And there was no Kindle of course so I always had a box of paperback books with me. When I'd get the chance and I could find a bookstore I'd get half a dozen at a time. If I was really lucky I'd find a used bookstore and trade in what I had and get a pile of new ones.

Some definitions from the old days:

Pen - a writing instrument used to distribute ink onto paper in a controlled manner, generally used for written communication

Paper - super thin sheets of wood used with a pen (see above) to convey the written language

Payphone - A public phone with a physical dial pad used to make phone calls. Found virtually everywhere in public

What's tougher for today's drivers is even slightly heavier traffic on the roadways and far greater scrutiny. Even with paper logs most of us shot for about 3,000 miles a week but we could do it whenever we wanted to and just write down what we needed to. We had much more flexibility to take naps, run in shorter increments, and avoid driving when it made no sense like during rush hour or when a brief storm was passing through. We also had far more flexible and logical logbook rules. I do not envy you guys at all having to use electronic logs and having to conform to the 14 hour rule. I've said many times that was a terrible rule and should have never been considered, let alone implemented. It's not that I couldn't drive 11 hours in a 14 hour period but why would I? That isn't how the human mind and body work. You don't perform well doing marathon work sessions followed by marathon rest sessions. You perform well by doing brief periods of work broken up by brief rest periods sprinkled in throughout the day.

Overall trucking has actually changed very little in the past 25 years or so. If we would have had Internet and GPS back in the day it would be almost identical to today. In fact, the first truck I ever drove was a 1991 Freightliner with a 10 speed and anyone today could jump in it and handle it just fine. Nothing much was different.