What Happened?

Since I am reading a lot trying to get prepared for my new career I wanted to say this. I appreciate everyone's comments. I start swift training on the 25th. I was raised by a truck driver and I remember hearing about what a great brotherhood it was. Everyone looking out for each other. It doesn't appear to be that way anymore. I read drivers bashing drivers not here but everywhere else. And I wonder why instead of bashing them some of the others don't try to help them. I come to this sight everyday because I feel that positive breeds positive and everyone here is trying to help. I am scared to death of the training but feel I won't be going through it alone. I have you guys. So what happened over the years to cause such a mess?

Since I am reading a lot trying to get prepared for my new career I wanted to say this. I appreciate everyone's comments. I start swift training on the 25th. I was raised by a truck driver and I remember hearing about what a great brotherhood it was. Everyone looking out for each other. It doesn't appear to be that way anymore. I read drivers bashing drivers not here but everywhere else. And I wonder why instead of bashing them some of the others don't try to help them. I come to this sight everyday because I feel that positive breeds positive and everyone here is trying to help. I am scared to death of the training but feel I won't be going through it alone. I have you guys. So what happened over the years to cause such a mess?

I can't say exactly being that I am a rookie, but for the most part people are nice out here. Internet Rambo are just the new age of cb rambos. It may seem bad, but it really isnt. You will find being with Swift some swift drivers will wave, etc, however a lot do give the cold shoulder. Have fun and forget these negative people. They all told me I would be broke and ready to quit after a month! Joke is on them, I make more money now and am just an overall happy person

Retha, there certainly was a much tighter brotherhood in trucking many years ago. I don't think there's any one cause for the change but a series of changes over the years.

For one, way back in the day there were a lot more owner operators. So not only were they all drivers, but many were also business owners. That in itself breeds more of a brotherhood. Today there is a much smaller percentage of owner operators.

Back in the day the trucks were less reliable and yet easier to work on. So in order to survive out there you really had to do most, if not all of the work on the truck yourself. And because so many of the jobs and the parts being used are so big, many repairs required a pretty extensive toolset and a few extra hands to get the job done. So drivers used to work on their own trucks and help each other out with repairs all the time. It was not uncommon to see four or five trucks on the side of the road all helping another truck get repairs done on the spot. In fact, police officers from time to time were known to make a run for parts to help out. Radically different times back then! But these days almost no one works on their own trucks other than the very basics like oil changes or air line leaks.

Back in the day the only real form of communication anyone had was the CB radio. There were no cell phones or Internet or anything of the sort. So when you were away from your family for weeks at a time the only people you had to talk to most of the time was other drivers.

If you listen to the CB on channel 19 today you'll hear an awful lot of nastiness. The truth is it was always like that. I started driving in '93 and it was absolutely no different than it is today. There's just something about being able to broadcast anything you want anonymously that brings out the worst in people. Always has. So don't let the talk on the CB today mislead you into thinking we're much worse off than we used to be. The CB was always that way. But of course it's also one of the most important and unique tools a driver has for weather and road conditions, directions to customers, police and DOT reports, and of course some good ol' fun conversations.

There's still a brotherhood amongst drivers today. It just isn't quite as strong as it used to be. But trucking is still trucking and no one really understands the life of a trucker except those who have done it so that in itself will always lead to a tighter community than you'll find in many careers today.

I come to this site everyday because I feel that positive breeds positive and everyone here is trying to help. I am scared to death of the training but feel I won't be going through it alone. I have you guys.

You certainly do have us! Never hesitate to ask questions. We're always happy to help out.

I've found truckers to be very friendly and helpful. I'm not sure if it's cause I'm a woman though. Sometimes they are TOO friendly... either sexual ky ir just climbing on the truck steps to talk. Sometimes I think it's loneliness but hey.. back off my damn teuck hahahha

Lots of guys helped me back in tight spots

I grew up in the 60's-70's. The world is a much different place today. As a child I was taught manners and respect, as were my peers. Unfortunately, as a society we seem to have lost a lot of that. There are plenty of good people out there. A smile and a good attitude will cause those people to gravitate towards you. I do not make room in my life for negative people. Ignore them and look for positive people. There are plenty of us to go around!

I grew up in the 60's-70's. The world is a much different place today. As a child I was taught manners and respect, as were my peers. Unfortunately, as a society we seem to have lost a lot of that. There are plenty of good people out there. A smile and a good attitude will cause those people to gravitate towards you. I do not make room in my life for negative people. Ignore them and look for positive people. There are plenty of us to go around!

Thats awesome to hear someone other than me think about manners, Theses days the kids are getting totally out of hand with being rude to anyone or thing.

AMEN Airborne. All we can do is pay it forward. A few people may get infected with manners in the process!

AMEN Airborne. All we can do is pay it forward. A few people may get infected with manners in the process!

Went to the same school as you both did. I treat people the way I want to be treated. Usually it works.

Since I am reading a lot trying to get prepared for my new career I wanted to say this. I appreciate everyone's comments. I start swift training on the 25th. I was raised by a truck driver and I remember hearing about what a great brotherhood it was. Everyone looking out for each other. It doesn't appear to be that way anymore. I read drivers bashing drivers not here but everywhere else. And I wonder why instead of bashing them some of the others don't try to help them. I come to this sight everyday because I feel that positive breeds positive and everyone here is trying to help. I am scared to death of the training but feel I won't be going through it alone. I have you guys. So what happened over the years to cause such a mess?

I've only been out here for about six months so I obviously wasn't around in the old days of trucking, but there are definitely plenty of nice truckers still out here. I remember a time during my first or second week out here that I went to a customer in CA with a really tight loading area. It looked like I was going to have to blindside it and there were trucks in and out constantly. Several truckers came over and all helped me into the spot and told me how to do it without blindsiding. They even directed traffic a little bit so I didn't have to worry about people driving behind me.

Another time I pulled into a Walmart in Denver late at night and got stuck. I don't recommend doing this and will not do it again, but a trucker offered to get in and back me out and I let him.

Just this last week I pulled into a TA around midnight where I had reserved a spot. My spot was waiting for me, but it was the only available legal parking spot left at that point and trucks were illegally parked all over the place. I had just driven over 10.5 hours and was exhausted, so before I even attempted backing in I went ahead and asked a nearby trucker to spot me. I think it was literally the tightest spot I've ever backed into, and before I was done another guy came over and started spotting me from the other side. The second guy asked the illegally-parked driver to temporarily move back a few feet so I could nose forward to straighten out and then finish backing. When he initially refused, my helper guy got all mad and started yelling at this guy to get out of the way. I thought it was kinda funny considering I never even asked for his help in the first place, but I was super thankful for the help. Eventually the guy did move and I got in my space. The second guy waved and left before I had a chance to thank him and the first guy turned me down when I offered to get him something in the store.

I think the brotherhood still exists--it just might not be as obvious and/or prominent as before.

There are cool truckers out there and some inconsiderate drivers as well. I don't care if I get any help backing or not. If I can't get it in I'll try a different spot if possible. Otherwise, they can wait until I get it done if they don't want to offer advice. The ones that bother me are usually at truck stops. Parking on the fuel island and walking away, pulling up to the yellow line after getting fuel and walking away for extended periods of time and the worst I've seen was a guy park his rig at the exit of the CAT scale and walk away leaving others to have to back off the scale. That gug deserved to be smacked around IMO.