RESPECT THE JOB

It's a nice feeling, knowing that your work has an impact on the world around you. As a driver, I deliver to grocery stores, meat processing plants, dockyards, pet stores, packaging companies, mailing companies, beverage companies, and so many other places. I've hauled everything from apples to carpet to cardboard to broccoli.

I was thinking about all the different things that I've hauled across the country and then I listened to a podcast called TalkCDL The Trucker Show. One of the things they talked about was a 62-year old driver who hit a bicyclist and caused her death. He was sentenced to prison by a judge who stated the man was a professional driver and had to be more aware than the average motoring public.

I felt bad for the woman. Her story was that she had just recently begun working at a place and didn't have transportation except the bicycle and she had just finished working for the day when she was killed. I also felt bad for the driver of the truck that hit her. It takes only one thing going wrong for disastrous consequences. I'm not sure of the time of day, but she was dressed in black and had just finished her work for the day, so I'm going to assume it was either near dark or dark when the accident happened.

We're told that dawn and dusk are the worst times for being able to see the road and the surroundings. Wearing dark colors at these times of day, just makes it that much harder to see. This man had multiple things going against him and now has the ending of another person's life on his hands, the end of his career, and the end of his freedom. It's sad.

The judge said he was a professional and threw the book at him. I understand the label of professional. How much training and regulation effect the truck driver, pounds the responsibilities of the work into a driver's bones. My point is this, if I'm a professional who is responsible for the economy of the world, why am I paid the same as a burger flipper?

I work 7 days a week and regularly work 11-14 hours a day. To be honest, even that isn't enough to get the job done. I regularly feel like I've only done half the job. Considering that I'm a result-oriented person, this drives me insane on a regular basis.

I know that I'm a professional driver. I work my ass off every single day. I make burger flipper wages for twice or three times the hours and I never see a penny in overtime. It's sad because driver's deserve better than that. We're the black sheep, the eyesore, the obstacle that other's have to work around.


Just imagine a world without us. No clothes showing up on the hangers, changing with the seasons. No holiday shopping for presents or decorations. The turkeys and hams for holiday dinners won't be in the freezer cases. The lumber for building new houses and furniture won't be available for the construction workers. The rocks, boulders, gravel, and cement won't be hauled in to fix the roads. The granite and marble won't be available for that dream kitchen counter.

The list of things a truck driver hauls FOR YOU is literally endless. Respect the truck. Respect the industry. Respect the work. Respect the driver.

Without us, you literally are back in the stone age. Even the electronics you use to read this come on trucks. Without us, you literally would starve to death.

Think about that the next time you go shopping and see a truck on the road. Thank him (or her) for their work. Even if they don't hear you, at least you know you THOUGHT about what he's doing and acknowledged that without him, you'd be less.

Thank you for hearing me out

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman