STRESSFUL DAY

I'm gonna have to take a deep breath and chill for a moment. I hope you don't mind. It's been a long, rough day. Again. It's not that anything horrible happened, but it was definitely stressful. I've been up since 5:30 a.m. and drove 630 miles in about 10 hours. I only stopped twice on the whole trip.

Now, most of my days seem to involve the long hours but don't produce as many miles. Usually, that's because of shippers and receivers or going through areas where traffic is nice and thick, with stop lights, stop signs, traffic jams, and so many other wonderful things to slow a hardworking truck driver down. You've all been through towns and cities during rush hour or every block has a stop light. I don't need to describe it.

Shippers and receivers are the customers that we pick up and deliver the loads to. Sometimes, it's quick. In and out in about 20 minutes to a half hour. Other times, it's like being inside molasses and nobody but you seems in a hurry. Live loading and unloading is a pain in the butt when your bread and butter depends on the miles you travel in a restricted amount of time. But, sometimes, that drop n' hook that usually goes so smooth turns into your day from hell.

You pull into the customer with your empty trailer, talk to the insecurity guard with the chip on his or her shoulder, and put that trailer where they tell you to. Depending on the customer, you might just drop that, pick up your loaded trailer, and grab your bills of lading from the guard on the way back out. Or... you might have to go inside and talk to a shipping/receiving clerk and do more dancing around in order to get your loaded trailer and bills and be on your way. Of course, that guard needs to earn his paycheck on the way out too, so you gotta stop and see him.

The day from hell usually begins when you have to wait in a line of a dozen trucks all needing to do the same thing you are doing. Then you go through the guard, who provides clear and precise instruction through the maze of buildings. (This is highly exaggerated. Most of the time, I swear these guys are speaking ancient Greek.) Then you have to wait for the dozen trucks ahead of you to decipher and complete their instructions. Then you have to meet said drivers waiting in line for the clerk to give you more Greek.

When you finally get to the trailer you're taking out with you, you realize the landing gear crank is stiff or stuck. You get that fixed by spraying WD-40 and whacking it with a hammer. Then your reefer has an alarm code. What? The refrigerated trailer has a temperature setting and tells you when something is wrong. Thus, alarm codes. You figure out the fuel gauge is faulty and send in a breakdown report stating that it needs replaced. You finish that and go back to checking out the trailer.

This pre-trip inspection on trailers is essential. You don't know if it's been damaged or it was dropped off without it's marker lights working, tires in good shape, or mudflaps missing. You don't know if someone hit the fuel tank with a fork lift or even if it has fuel. You have to check it out and report the problems so they can get fixed. They send you to the repair shop and there goes half your day. That's money down the drain people! My potential income for the day stuck in a garage.

If those weren't enough to deal with, you also have to make sure that if your trailer is good to go, that the load is secure, sealed, and weighted properly across the axles. If the guy loading the trailer pushes everything to the front, you might be overweight on the drive axle of the truck. (Those double sets of tires at the back of the truck.) If the guy loading the trailer puts everything on the back, you might be overweight on the tandems. (Those double sets of tires at the back of the trailer.) There are adjustments the driver can make to even it all out, but if you pushed and pulled the equipment as far as it can go and you're still over somewhere, then you have to take the whole kit n' caboodle back to the shipper and have them rework the load. Bye bye paycheck for the day.

A non-Class A Driver's License (CDL) holder might say, what's the big deal? The big deal is that the regulations on transporting goods around the country on the nation's roads are so strict that we get special consideration by law enforcement in every state. They consider us a source of revenue. That revenue is brought in by giving truck drivers tickets, violations, out-of-service orders, and anything else they can think of. There are plenty of stories about officers making up stuff when they couldn't find anything real. Hand to God.

The condition of our paperwork, equipment, and ourselves is inspected with a fine-tooth comb. Everything. They have the right to inspect the inside of our trucks. Do cops get to go inside your house without a warrant? No? The truck is my living and working space, but I do not have any expectation of privacy. Companies are even talking about putting INWARD-facing cameras in the trucks to observe drivers. Any company or government agency who would require such a thing is asking for a lawsuit. Just sayin'.

So back to my day. My load was ready. It was easy to get to. It scaled out legally. Everything went smooth and all equipment was hunky dory. So why did I have a stressful day? One word. Traffic.

I swear people get dumber and dumber on Interstate 80 going through Iowa. I-80 is a very up-and-down highway through some lovely and some boring country in Iowa. Most trucks are governed well below the speed limit. Add that and the natural tendency to slow down pulling 80,000 pounds up a hill and you get a lot of people stuck behind slower moving vehicles. Drivers get impatient and do some really stupid and dangerous things.

I see the problem as being the terrain more than anything. Each truck travels as fast as it can, but it's below the speed limit going uphill. Downhill, they try to make up time. But downhill can mean coasting, which most drivers do. The problem with that is the trailer becomes the control of the truck. (That's dangerous in so many ways it'd take me forever to explain them all.) The difference in the truck speeds, up, and then down, and the different power levels of each truck really causes a mess. Add in a couple of fairly good sized cities to go through with all the car traffic and it takes a bad situation and makes it so much worse.

Cars zipping up and realizing that two trucks are stuck in a slow speed race to see who can get to the top of the hill first. Trucks with faster and more powerful engines pulling up and straining for that opening to get around the slowpokes. Pretty soon, you've got packs. Packs of vehicles all vying for the chance to get into a clear space and get on their way. Pack driving is dangerous, stressful, and makes me want to pull out my hair, puke, or piss my pants. All of which are painful and no fun.

The thing is, every truck on the road is working. That driver is trying to make the miles to bring in the paycheck. Car drivers forget that. We aren't out here to mess up their commute or be an obstacle to them in some way. We're not out here playing around trying to be assholes. We are doing our job. Every car driver that decides we're purposely causing delays in his day and does something stupid and/or dangerous in order to get around or get back at us is literally doing the equivalent of walking into a stranger's workplace, waving a weapon, and screaming at the employees.  

Are those drivers being educated on why trucks are doing what they're doing? Are those drivers being taught how to treat a semi truck on the road? Are those drivers even showing the minimum of respect to the guy literally bringing everything he owns or wants? Nope. Not even a little bit.

To the drivers of the cars that do allow us in when we need to shift lanes... To the drivers of the cars who don't hang out next to the trailer at 70 mph or in a curve... To the drivers of the cars with the kids who want us to blow the air horn....

THANK YOU!

To the rest of the drivers who get dumber and dumber.... I pray you live through it.

Thanks guys for reading and understanding,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day. I'm a mother. I had a crappy day. It's not that the day itself was bad, but things seem to happen around Mother's Day.

When I was 14-years old, my present to my mother was a broken toilet. I was taking a shower and when I finished, opened the bathroom door. Within seconds I was passed out on the floor. I woke to the bathroom flooding, the tank busted, and a towel rack twisted like a candy cane. I don't remember anything after opening the door, but no one else was there so I had to have done the damage.

I kept turning the shutoff valve and it seemed to not be working. I panicked and started yelling for someone to come help me. No one was in the house. I called my grandfather, who lived next door. He came out of his house yelling for my mother. She was in the alley, weeding. I didn't know that.

My grandfather was running, well hobbling, as fast as he could and my mom just zipped past him like he was standing still. I watched it all from the bedroom window, still crying into the phone.

Mom came in like a whirlwind, twisted the handle on the shut-off valve and viola! No more water. Well, there was water. Lots of it. The bathroom flood on that floor leaked into the downstairs and flooded the basement bathroom too. It took all the towels and most of the blankets in the house to mop up the water and start the process of drying out the house.

She had to get a new tank for the toilet. Try doing that in a small town on a holiday Sunday! She did get one and I watched and helped her put it in. Then, she handed my brother a sledgehammer and we both watched as he demolished the old tank. It was his idea. She let him. She said it would be easier to throw away in small pieces, so why not?

I wouldn't denigrate Mother's Day as being a bad day if that had been the only incident. My mother-in-law passed away a couple of days after Mother's Day. I've had numerous accidents, injuries, and just bad news and crappy luck on the holiday. Yesterday, not an exception to the crappy Mother's Day rule.

I was running a load to Illinois from Kansas. A nice run, pleasant weather, and no real issues. I pick up a load assignment from the Illinois destination and move to the next one. That's the life of a truck driver. Moving from assignment to assignment is the whole job.

I picked up the new load and headed for the Iowa destination a little over 100 miles away. Rather than interstate travel, I had to take some state highways and go through some towns. I prefer interstates because the speed limit is higher and people are generally given more room to get around slower moving trucks.

The highway traffic was impatient. I was going the speed limit, but it seemed like everyone was in a hurry. I had at least 3 cars up my ass the whole time. After hanging out behind me for a little while, they'd start zooming past me like they were late for a hot date. What? No one can tell time or set an alarm so they're not running late? It's not like Mom won't forgive you for running behind. She might be more upset about the phone call from the hospital or the police saying you wouldn't be making it to any dinners in the future because you were stupid.

It's sad how many people risk their lives and the future holidays with their families because they don't leave on time, or early. It's stupid and I feel sorry for all the families who lose loved ones during holidays. Allowing yourself to risk your family and friends to always associate holidays with something so life-altering is just selfish.

Enough of my after-school special.

I get to my destination and call for a manager to meet me at the receiving office. It's hot, the doors are locked, I can't get out of the heat, and they're taking their sweet time. I call back again and then again. Finally, they get to the door and sign my bills so I can break the seal and back into the dock. Yay! I can feel the air conditioning in my near future!

I pull the truck forward to make room for the doors to open and that's when my stressful day goes to hell. The stack of pallets at the back of the trailer starts falling. I jump back as fast as I can, but the product still hit my hand, wrist, and arm.

I have to go to the office and track the guy back down so he can take care of the pallets that are laying upside down on the ground behind the trailer. My neck and back are starting to hurt, my head is pounding from the heat headache, and I'm still not done with this place. Getting into my truck is a no-go because I have to watch them clean up the mess so I can dock.

The cause of the collapse? Pickles. The pickle jars lost their lids at some point. The pickle juice soaked the cardboard, collapsing it. When I opened the doors, the unstable load on top of the pickles had nothing to hold them in place. The shipper regularly sends loads sealed and without any kind of restraints.

Me, as the driver breaking the seal and opening the doors, is the one at risk of injury. I escaped major injury this time, but I had another load of wood that fell. That one cut me a little as it fell. Again, another close call. It's just as easy to be blamed for the collapse and breakage and have that fall back on the company or the driver themselves. I didn't load or secure it. I just transported it to the customer.

The end result is wasted time and my back hurts. Jumping around trying not to get crushed is not a good activity for someone who has arthritis from old injuries. Oh well. It's not the first time, it won't be the last. If I get crushed under a falling load who gets to sue?

On a happier note, my kids sent me Happy Mother's Day texts. My aunt sent me a note and one of my friends sent me a note. I wasn't forgotten this year! Yay!

Thanks for reading about my Mother's Day,

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

SHARE THE ROAD - YOU BUTTNUGGET!

My last post was sort of a split between a rant about the lack of respect the industry as a whole has, and the lack of respect for trucks and drivers, and the fact that a man doing his job, made a mistake and killed a woman just trying to get home after her job.

Sorry for the inconsistency, but that's what happens when you have to pause in the middle of writing and try to come back to it. Your train of thought is interrupted and the words don't exactly flow together.

As driver's we are held to a higher standard than the rest of the motoring public, but we are also regulated and targeted by law enforcement and government entities who ensure that same public safety. I'm sorry, but aren't I also part of the motoring public?

Drivers are singled out, but the statistics are that less than 7% of all accidents actually involve trucks. The trucks that are involved in accidents are often blamed because the damage when 80,000 pounds goes wrong is devastating and dramatic. Lives are lost more often in a truck-involved crash and usually, it's the 4-wheeler who gets the bad end of that stick.

The prevalence of dash-mounted cameras are also providing some even more disturbing statistics. Drivers of 4-wheelers are often the cause of a truck-related crash. They zoom across a lane for an exit or stomp their brakes in front of a semi, and run off down the road. Most of the time these drivers are unaware of the havoc they just created for the entire highway behind them.

The dash-mounted cameras are being used as evidence that something happened in front of the truck that caused the driver to react, sometimes with disastrous consequences, and other times with just a close call. But the fact remains, when something goes wrong, that truck is going to cause a much larger impact than a car. The difference is that cars just don't win that game of chicken. Lives are lost and the trucker's career is over.

I will not say that drivers of big rigs are perfect. Far from it. We're human beings. No one is perfect. I've experienced days when I can't park straight, much less actually stay between the lines. Fatigue is a huge aspect of the job. Working 14 + hours and then trying to park a 73' vehicle that bends and twists in the middle is not fun. I will often bypass difficult spaces when I'm tired because I'm worried that I will hit something. I'm just that tired.

I experienced recently an incident where the lane I was in was going to go straight but the exit I needed opened into 2 lanes going into the exit. I hit the blinker as soon as the opening for the exit branched off. This was about 1/2 mile before I lost my lane completely. The cars were behind me. They started branching into the next lane but refused to move to the far lane to let me in. Then they began edging into my trailer space.

I have my blinker on, I'm losing my lane, and they have an extra lane to allow exiting traffic to go into. But no, they have to hold the lane and encroach on my trailer knowing that I'm trying to get over there. I don't want the whole road. I just want to do my job. My job is to put on my blinker and give you in the car the opportunity to do the right thing.

I began nudging the line to indicate that I really needed that lane, and in my mirror I see the closest driver pull out a cell phone and point the camera at my truck. Really? Hey, Buttnugget! You just completely ignored the legally mandated blinker, the road splitting, and the empty right lane next to you and now you decide I'm being unruly? Inconsiderate asswipe.

Inconsideration on the road is becoming my biggest pet peeve. Follow the law, pay attention to the traffic around you, allow space for your fellow drivers to maneuver, and for the love of Pete put your cell phone away.

I try, every single day, to allow other drivers to maneuver around me. I brake to allow someone signaling to enter my lane. I brake to allow a faster vehicle to pass more quickly. I brake to keep distance between myself and the drivers who aren't paying attention. I move out of your way as much as I am allowed. And still, you have to be all that.

Well, you're not all that. You are one of the millions of cars and trucks on the road. Share it!

Thanks

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

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

GETTING INTO TRUCKING

If you're looking to start a career in truck driving, I'd seriously suggest asking yourself a few questions before jumping into the deep end. I didn't. I didn't have enough time or resources to ask the questions I needed to know the answers to. I just jumped and, luckily, I landed on my feet.

There's a hundred trucking companies advertising for drivers. And believe it, they need them. However, the hiring process is pretty similar at all of them, and there are a few things you need to know.

By the way, the only thing you have to provide out of your own pocket is your DMV testing and your personal stuff like food, meds, clothes, etc. Transportation and pre-hire medical testing is paid for by the company. Some companies will even provide your training. The catch here is that you will probably be required to sign a contract of service that generally lasts 9 months to 2 years, depending on the company.

You must pass a DOT (Department of Transportation) physical. Some companies will have you take a physical before coming to school. Some will have you take one when you arrive. If there is any issue on that physical, it needs to be addressed immediately.

One issue that came up was Interstate vs Intrastate qualified. Intrastate was marked on a bunch of the forms and many of my classmates had to retake their physicals to get it changed. Intrastate means you are ONLY ALLOWED TO DRIVE INSIDE YOUR STATE. That's completely pointless for a guy or gal who wants to travel the country. Right?

You must pass a Urinalysis. Drug screening is mandatory in the industry. DOT requires it. Most companies will not hire you or they'll fire you after hiring for refusing to take the test. Random screenings are required by DOT.

Many of the OTC (Over-the-Counter) meds and prescriptions are banned. Is marijuana legal in your state? Not if you drive a truck, or want to.

When you arrive at the Orientation (I'll get to that in a second.) You'll have to do a company physical and/or drug screening ON TOP OF THE ONE YOU DID BACK HOME! I was amazed by the number of hoops I had to jump through to get this license and get hired by a company. Get used to the idea because the physical only lasts for 2 years at the most. Your Medical Card, which is the paperwork the doctor gives you, can list all kinds of restrictions and limit the amount of time it's good for.

High blood pressure? You might get a card for as long as 2 years, but more likely it's 1 year, 6 months, or even less. Diabetes? Same thing. Sleep Apnea? They're going to set you up with a sleep study or take a reading from the machine you're using to verify compliance.

The list of things they can restrict is long and frustrating for anyone with medical issues. Can you still become a driver? Absolutely, you just need to jump a few extra hoops and keep jumping them for as long as you want to continue to drive.

If you don't have a CDL, you need one. There are companies that will train you for your CDL but you need to get your permit. Study at a site or get a test study booklet from your local DMV.

Trucking Truth is an amazing resource for anyone looking into the trucking industry. There are newsletters, blogs, CDL practice tests, and a ton of drivers willing and able to help anyone who asks for it. I used the site almost exclusively, and when I arrived at the DMV for my permit tests, I missed only 1 question on each of the 3 required tests. (Yes! Thanks TT!)

Another thing you need is to be able to pass a background check. Your criminal history and your work history will come under scrutiny. If you haven't worked, what did you do for the last 3 years? 5 years? You better have documentation! Your driving record will come up. References. How old are you? Over 23? Hope so.

Age is not as important a factor as a lot of the jobs out there, but they're really going to look at your physical health.

My school actually bussed a 4'8" teeny tiny 75-year-old woman for orientation. She was bunked with me in my 8-person room. I just shook my head when she hauled out a suitcase of prescriptions. I gave her the bottom bunk and threw my top bunk mattress on the floor for the night. The next day I ran into her in the hallway trying to wrestle her luggage outside for the trip home. I felt bad for her having to leave, but man, that lady had guts. Girls ROCK!

Many training companies will give you a full list of what you need to bring with you. Pay attention to it. If you skip even one required document, reference, identification, etc; you're going to go home. Why waste their time and your own? Just bring everything you're told to bring. It's a pain in the ass, but it will keep you attending the class in the morning and not riding a bus.

The recruiting office is full of people who want you to get a job with their company. If you don't know what questions to ask, ask them what you need to know. 9 times out of 10 you'll be given the straight line as they know it. These people will ask you a million questions and run you a dozen directions to get what you need for them to get you on the bus.

Recruiters have a terrible reputation. If you talk to a dozen company recruiters researching your options, TAKE NOTES! Who said what at which company is important because you don't want to go in thinking company A told you X, company B told you Y, and you get them confused and are upset the minute you step off the bus.

Your attitude and willingness to put forth the effort will make a huge difference in your life at the company you join. But, be prepared for the complainers and whiners to jump out of the woodwork the second you arrive. These people are either students or drivers who have an issue or problem and don't think they're getting a fair shake from the company. Remember people, just because your BOSS isn't going to be hanging over your shoulder, it doesn't mean he/she won't be watching and evaluating what you do.

Sometimes, the issues have nothing to do with the company. A guy who comes to the school expecting to get hired is going home tomorrow because he failed to mention (and get cleared) on a felony he committed 9 years ago. A gal is going home because she's on a regimen of painkillers for her arthritis. (Arthritis doesn't disqualify her, but the painkillers are opiates.) These people are NOT going to be happy with the decision by the company to send them home.

Another guy might leave because his gal back home is looking for a shoulder and his is 1,000 miles and maybe 3 months away. Another gal might leave because she can't provide a valid birth certificate. Someone's father is on his deathbed. Someone has a communicable disease he didn't treat. So on and so on.

Now, these examples might happen to a student or a new hire. The guys to really watch out for are the drivers who've been there a while. If they're complaining, they might have a legitimate gripe or they might just be intolerant of the way trucking works.

The trucking industry is flawed. Every driver who lasts a few months will be able to give you example after example of "what's wrong with this industry!" A lot of these guys pull money-wasting or illegal moves and get called on the carpet. They are sitting in wait for the new kids to show up and bend their ears.

See, here's the thing, trucking is a hard, lonely, frustrating, stressful job. It is a job. It is a job. It is a job. It is not a game, sight-seeing trip, play in Vegas, take a break whenever you want. It's a job. You have work to do and you are going to work for the money you get. You are going to be tired, pissed off, told where to go and when to be there. You are going to eat bad food, not get enough exercise, and wish that you could be anywhere else but where you are at that moment.

Go into it with the attitude that you are starting fresh. Make sure your family and friends realize this is work, not a roadtrip. Distractions and problems back home kill the potential of a lot of drivers. Be firm and tell them you will come home but to start you have to be gone for weeks and months at a time.

But, where else can you make close to $30,000 your first year and go upwards from there. Where else is your office wherever you are? Where else is your view an 8-foot picture window that never shows the same thing? Where else can you see almost any area of the country at different times of the year?

You have to ultimately decide for yourself is the benefit worth the headaches this woman is warning me about? A lot of newbies show up, work for a few months, and decide this isn't for them. That's okay. No job is perfect for everyone. Expecting it is just dumb.

Talk CDL The Trucking Podcast is a great resource of information for any driver. I recommend researching the trucker and trucking forums, blogs, and videos. There's a lot of complaining out there, but there's also a lot of genuine concern for the drivers and the information they provide is really good. Varied viewpoints and lots of discussions.

There are many organizations who make their living advocating "Trucking" and "Trucker's Rights." These organizations are great at what they do. Legislation and regulation is outrageous in this industry. Pay hasn't even come close to the work truckers do day in and day out. The problem I see is that there are so many justice fighters and so many complainers but the actions they are taking just INCREASE the rules truckers have to know and follow. Sheesh people! Step back, take a breath, and ask a friggin' trucker! And oh, actually follow his advice instead of your interpretation of his advice.

Most companies work hard to get their drivers home for hometime. These visits don't last long. Your families are going to have to learn to deal with a paycheck and not you. That's hard. But, the options when you are just starting are incredibly limited. Use your phones, laptops, and make the most of the time you do get to see them.

This has gotten pretty long so I'm going to continue on another post.

Just know that if you go into a school prepared and willing to work, the reward you get in the end will worth it. Is it going to make you a millionaire? No. Will it put food on the table and money in the savings account? Yes, if you stick with it and have the right attitude.

Thank you for sticking it out to the end...

Renae - The Truck Driving Woman

LETTER TO TODD MCCANN @ TRUCKERDUMP.COM

I’m going to just jump into this because it’s been on my mind quite a bit.

I’ve been thinking about the podcast I recently heard on trucker nation. Misty Noel hosts and enjoys talking about health issues for drivers. I haven’t gotten very far into it because she also talks about tax crap all the time. I can only hear so much of that before I hit overload.

She stated that truckers, on average, live 15 years less than non-drivers. I have no idea if this is an accurate statistic, but it kind of bothers me. Why? If this is accurate, then why? Diet, exercise, rest, work conditions, stress, access to medical care?

I’ve been out here since July, 2015. Nope, that’s not very long, but I’ve noticed several things. The general public has no clue and don’t care; and the companies that COULD help us in being healthier, turn us away.

How many Walmarts have you tried to park in that says no trucks. How many grocery stores have access? How many truck stops are actually close enough to shop at a store? I parked at a truckstop recently and had access to a Walmart. After slogging through a flooded field, the thought of hauling 40 lbs of groceries back to the truck was ridiculous.

How many companies have restrictive off-duty driving policies? How many places allow you to drop a trailer for a limited amount of time so you can run a few errands bobtail? How are truckers supposed to be healthier if we don’t have the routine access that other people do?

It wasn’t just the statistic of 15 years less to live that prompted my thinking, but also an article sent to me from a long-time family friend in Colorado Springs.

The TOPS organization is a group that has been working in the Colorado Springs, Colorado area to promote trails, parks, and preserves. Admirable and, from the article, they’ve done great work over the years.

My thoughts while looking at the article were, what kind of access is provided for people like us? What do we get out of it? We bring in the products and provide the materials that keep the economies of the world running. But, it’s like we’re a forgotten minority.

Sometimes, we are the problem. Why should they care about a bunch of guys who don’t bathe, throw trash on the ground, and clog up THEIR commutes? Other than warning other drivers about hazards, most of the CB chatter is trash too. We can’t even behave well to each other? Why?

I was one of the people who didn’t give trucks a second thought until I became a trucker. I love this life. It’s the most money I’ve ever made (which I am fully aware is pathetic), but it just fits me. I’m just disappointed in the country, the industry, and people who think truckers don’t matter.

Anyway, I just thought you might have some thoughts about some of these things and could help me understand.

Thanks for listening,

Renae

Trucker Dump

TOPS article