Comments on: Truck This! Life on the Road.

By: John Wall from Truck Driving Jobs

John Wall from Truck Driving Jobs — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:15:46 +0000

With a long haul job, you can increase that open road driving time to days and days of non stop driving. There are ups and downs to a long haul driving job. If you love to travel, there are more ups than downs.
Interstate driving allows you to see more and do more, although your priority is always to transport your shipment from point A to point B in a timely and efficient manner. The quicker your haul arrives to its destination, the better you will be paid.

By: robert

robert — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:46:37 +0000

great story i`m getting cdl in month and going training in augst got any advice for married man going trucking and soon as i can i want start my own trucking company email back asap cb hand in the lonewolf from the beertown

By: shaun

shaun — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:57:31 +0000

hi wayne , i got a cdl licence from a company that was intrested in getting you through the test ie the first time on the road with a tractor trailor was the test , but thats not what i want to talk about , i work for a big company and i just bought a house cust a long story short i must take a job as a truck driver to make more money to pay the bills , please do not understand me wrong here the fact of driving i enjoy very much but i have heard that truck driving is very hard on you back while driving the long hours is this true

By: lynette

lynette — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:22:49 +0000

Hi Wayne and everyone else! My boyfriend drives OTR and I will joining him in Sept. I can’t drive, so I will be the passenger blogger!

I like the post you have made so far. You guys are always hurrying up just to wait. And god forbid that the computer says it’s 600 miles but the odometer says 640! I laughed when I read that. Practical vs. Actual.

The one thing I’ve noticed is that you live in a very isolated world. You live where you work. Some of us use that as a cliche. “I live at work.” You guys and gals do. Now, some trucks are equipped with what my boyfriend calls his “high tech cowboy ride” being that there is, of course, the gps, the computer, cell phone, web cam, microwave, fridge, EZ Pass (or whatever it’s called, I forget) and so forth and so on…. keeping in touch is relatively easy unless you get sent to Canadad and your cell phone company charges it at international rates!!!!

What about back in the day when there was none of this high tech, keep in touch, gee wiz stuff. I can only image.

Keep up the tremendous job! I’m going to try to add this site on our blog that I started to document our travels!

Lynette

By: Wayne

Wayne — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:58:06 +0000

Look up Sailors of the Concrete Sea. It’s at Amazon. You may not find that stat online. And five percent may not be exact since I wrote this on the road and my book is at home.

The book is from a study done by Michigan State University, back in 98-99. The numbers may be a little out of date, but the general rule is still true. The vast majority of trucks on the road are non-union.

For true independent truck drivers, it’s illegal to organize. A leftover from the 70′s strike followed by deregulation I would guess.

UPS, ABF, and a few others are the only union companies around. Fedex trucks are non-union. The big mega-trucking companies – JB Hunt, Swift, USXpress, even Wal-Mart trucks, all non-union.

Teamsters act like they represent trucking, especially during the Mexican truck demonstrations, but they have more influence in DC than real trucking companies. Teamsters.org is their website.

By: Anne Marie Weber

Anne Marie Weber — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:33:14 +0000

Where did you get the statistic for percentage of union truckers? I would like to reference that stat. Thanks.

By: Corky

Corky — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 01:40:13 +0000

Hi GL,
My Dad was a truck driver for most of his life (until he was picked to start the Piggy-Back Run operation from Denver to Chicago) and during my commuting years (11) he told me that if and when I ever had any difficulty on the road to just park and wait until an 18 wheeler came along….my troubles would soon be over. He was right! I had only one flat tire in all of those 11 years and I had 8 truckers stop to help change it. I told my dad about it and he just chuckled and said that that was what blonde hair would do for you every time.
They truly are knights of the road!
Corky

By: wwds

wwds — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:07:04 +0000

I will second what everyone says, Wayne, plus make a comment about your positive attitude. If most of us had to cope with what you have to, daily,like rude drivers and mounting gas prices, it would get really ugly. Postal Ugly. I can’t wait for your next post. Hey Ken, glad to see you here…weigh in more if time permits.

By: Ken

Ken — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 22:50:00 +0000

Wayne, it takes a lot of patience and self-control to do what you do. As you say, you usually get paid by the mile but you can spend hours waiting in line at warehouses or just sitting in traffic. Equipment also breaks and needs maintenance. When you get back on the road, you have to put the frustration and delays behind you so it doesn’t affect your driving. You are a professional and I tip my hat to you.

By: Conrad

Conrad — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 23:10:19 +0000

This is good stuff! It gives me a sense of what you do and you certainly have started clearing up some of my misconceptions. I really had that misimpression that most truckers were union. I thought your trips were A to B to A. Etc.

And thanks for the tips on peaceful – and safe – coexistence on the road. Here’s to your enjoyment of life!