Long-haul Driving And Boredom

I remember one time seeing a postcard at a rest stop that was just a black rectangle. On the back of it it said, "Indiana at night." I laughed hard, because outside of the cities, that is completely true.

The way I keep myself from being bored during uneventful times is with music, books on tape, and an almost cinematic imagination. I avoid talk radio like the plague. Seems to me as it's designed to get blood pressure boiling and that's not a good place for me to be in while hauling. The last thing the world needs is me sitting on 80,000lbs with a bad case of righteous indignation towards my fellow Americans.

As others said, if it really gets too tedious, then it's time to pull over and get out of the seat. I don't know how that will translate to "truckers in space," but it seems to be a general rule that the folks drawn to this job tend to deal well with solitude. However, if you're looking for characterizations, some of us tend to morph into near compulsive talkers when we finally do get around folks. Not me tho. Nu uh. Not at all.

I remember one time seeing a postcard at a rest stop that was just a black rectangle. On the back of it it said, "Indiana at night." I laughed hard, because outside of the cities, that is completely true.

The way I keep myself from being bored during uneventful times is with music, books on tape, and an almost cinematic imagination. I avoid talk radio like the plague. Seems to me as it's designed to get blood pressure boiling and that's not a good place for me to be in while hauling. The last thing the world needs is me sitting on 80,000lbs with a bad case of righteous indignation towards my fellow Americans.

As others said, if it really gets too tedious, then it's time to pull over and get out of the seat. I don't know how that will translate to "truckers in space," but it seems to be a general rule that the folks drawn to this job tend to deal well with solitude. However, if you're looking for characterizations, some of us tend to morph into near compulsive talkers when we finally do get around folks. Not me tho. Nu uh. Not at all.

That post card is very true lol. With the exception of the wind farm north of Lafayette. I run a lot of the same sections of highways but never get bored. Granted at night it's not as exciting because you can't see as much but coming through the mountains and seeing a big city all lit up really is amazing. You're looking down in a valley and it resembles a field full of fireflies.

Technology can really be your best friend on the road to keep you from being bored too, just take a phone for example, I have music, podcasts, audiobooks, Internet, siriusXM and most of us can communicate to our phones from our headsets. I can't tell you how many times a tune will get stuck in my head and tell my phone to open YouTube and play it... I think Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma are the most boring, pretty much any of the Midwest is all the same though lol

Are you writing an article about EvE?

That post card is very true lol. With the exception of the wind farm north of Lafayette. I run a lot of the same sections of highways but never get bored. Granted at night it's not as exciting because you can't see as much but coming through the mountains and seeing a big city all lit up really is amazing. You're looking down in a valley and it resembles a field full of fireflies.

Hey Robert, ever come into Albuquerque on a clear, cold night? Talk about a field of fireflies! One of the most beautiful cities at night, down in a bowl surrounded by mountains ...

Jopa

Are you writing an article about EvE?

That was my guess too. Not a real life trucker yet but so far as I have been told there is no autopilot. Perhaps there might be more boredom during a live load/unload or breakdowns and other downtime but not so much on the road.

35 years drive no ticket no accident, 15 on OTR and trainer here. I never got bored. Always watching 4 wheels do stupid things was my entertainment. Along with looking at places I had never been. Even when I drove the same route I always noticed something new. Counting the miles to get out of a state too LOL. When I started when the wheels were square, the CB was nice, but today with all the trash on it I do not dare turn it on especially with my kids in the truck. Ashame isn't it. I think the big difference is in a car you are more comfortable and that why people fall asleep, but in a rig, for me I never have gotten sleepy, something about being up high and a bigger vehicle I guess

That post card is very true lol. With the exception of the wind farm north of Lafayette. I run a lot of the same sections of highways but never get bored. Granted at night it's not as exciting because you can't see as much but coming through the mountains and seeing a big city all lit up really is amazing. You're looking down in a valley and it resembles a field full of fireflies.

Hey Robert, ever come into Albuquerque on a clear, cold night? Talk about a field of fireflies! One of the most beautiful cities at night, down in a bowl surrounded by mountains ...

Jopa

Jopa, I sure have and you're absolutely right. Then again, you have to add in Vegas. There you are driving along, Elvis appears in the sky and BAM!!!!! The lights of Lost Wages.

I don't know if there is a possible correlation between "trucking in space" and travelling this nations highways. I've never been bored for a single moment. This is a job that requires intense concentration, and personally I think that those who don't possess that ability probably don't last long at it. There is so much to see and be aware of as you are traversing the roads in an 80,000 pound vehicle that is about seventy feet long and bends in the middle, that boredom would be detrimental to your safety and well being. A professional driver has got to be constantly aware of all the different spaces around him, including above and below him, and constantly trying to anticipate what others around him are about to do that the only way boredom is going to overtake him is if he's slacking up on his responsibility to be on the alert.

Now, I'm not going to be critical of those who enjoy books on CD or stuff like that, but for me it is just too much additional stuff for me to process at the same time when I'm driving. Those type of things actually wear me out more quickly. Maybe I'm just a person who is "all in" when I'm committed to doing something - I'm intense about my work and adding in the additional things to process at the same time just has a tiring effect on me.

Cracking and eating sunflower seeds breaks up the monotony a lot of the time for me, drinking coffee, listening to news talk shows on SiriusXM and sometimes the Spanish and French music stations, I don't know either language but sometimes it helps to break things up a little bit. Talk on the phone or CB, audio books, podcasts, and sometimes I'll stop to get out of the truck and walk around to refresh myself. Oh, and sometimes I'll pick a topic, usually a religious one and contemplate on it. It's fun to play devil's advocate with that too...anyone else do that?