First of all, this is not a rant about smokers. This is a rant about the filthy, disgusting truck that my boyfriend got. After training, he got one of the oldest trucks in the fleet (good thinking since he is a newbie). The problem is, the truck was used by a smoker. He drove for 9 days in this truck with the windows open and tried air freshener. When he got home, he STUNK so badly. I took every last thing out of that truck and spent at least about 8 hours cleaning every nook and cranny of that truck. The mattress has numerous cigarrette burns and unknown (please, keep it that way) stains all over it. The steering wheel has burns, the seat has burns, etc. I used 6 bottles of cleaning solution on that truck getting the tar and niccotine stains off of the surfaces, and 2 bottles of Febreeze antibacterial on the little cubbies that are upholstered. Yes, I even found cigarrette boxes in the truck. I guess that I can understand why the company didn't really clean the truck before issuing it. I know that they wouldn't completely detail like I did. But could they not even replace the "mattress"? I don't know if all trucks have the same type of cheesy mattresses that this one does. It is just a hunk of foam that is covered with a non-removable sheet covering. There is no way to remove the smell completely from that. It seems like they could replace the mattress before they issue the truck, but maybe that's just the female in me. I took that out and just soaked it in soap/bleach and hot water. Most of the stains came off.

So is this the usual condition that companies trucks are in when they are issued to the drivers? This truck is so old, it will be retired in under a year. My boyfriend wants to request a truck from a non-smoker, but I can't imagine that they can do that. At least the truck is clean now. When he went out there and saw it, he couldn't believe that it was the same truck that he brought home.

Aw, gnarly!!

Now, I'm a smoker. I smoke a lot. (I'm not a chain smoker, though--I tried smoking chains but they were too hard to light.) But no truck of mine has ever been that bad. Maybe one burn in the seat in one unit(that was interesting--happened at 68mph in downtown Chicago), but never would I leave a truck in that condition, nor have I ever been assigned a unit that bad. The previous driver must have had a cig in his mouth every waking moment and never opened the windows or vents. And probably had the air on 'recirc' in the bargain. Yicch.

No, this is not typical, and your man should not have to put up with it. As a trainee, he won't get something brand-new, but there's a difference between 'used' and 'disgusting.' Some of the trucks out there are a biohazard on wheels, and there's a limit to what a civilized human being should have to deal with. If dispatch or the shop think he's being a wimp, let them sit in the #### thing for awhile.

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No load is worth your life. Or anyone else's.

RON PAUL IN 2008!!

Uhhh Pleeez! His company didn't change the mattress??

Not this driver...I ain't driving then sleeping on ANY mattress that was left in a truck. No telling what is on it! Never mind the smell...the disease is what concerns me.

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I have no buckets. So please tell me how I'm supposed to bail you out?

On occasion, due to a breakdown (Ryder maintained), I'll have to drive one of their rental units while mine is being butchered (er... repaired). I HATE DOING THAT!!! The truck is aways nasty, and barely meets safe truck standards. I don't smoke and the rental smells like a stale ashtray. Repulsive!!!

Then, when I get mine back I find grease everywhere. It's even in places the wheel barrow mechanics had no business being. There will be food wrappers on the dash and footprints on the ceiling. So before I put my stuff back in, I gotta wipe and clean the entire interior.

2xR believes it'd be better to just sit at the house when the truck breaks.

My husband won't take a truck without a new mattress, he's never had a problem with that request, always came wrapped in plastic still. Yours should ask for a new one.

Being the new guy, he didn't want to make waves and demand a new mattress, although he really wanted to. He now says that he will ask for a new one when he gets back through Jackson. As hard as I tried, I couldn't eliminate the smell.

Ugh that is sick! But it seems the way some of these companies are. My husband had gotten a trashed out truck like that too. In addition to the smoke smell, the interior was ripped up and the driver seat was busted... he had to stand to drive the thing. He told them to issue a new truck and they told him if they did that he could find a new job...so he did. It's disgusting the shape some of these trucks (and companies) are in.

Def. ask for a new mattress....

Arnold Transportation tried to issue me a truck that was in nasty shape like this several years ago. I got out of orientation, got assigned my truck, opened the drivers door, immediately found my way to the terminal manager's office, and brought him directly out to the truck to show him what his company was trying to send me out in.

Needless to say, I didn't leave in that truck.

I always clean any truck that I am getting into very thoroughly, but I don't start my cleaning process until the company has actually cleaned it themselves. If it has a strong smoke smell, especially in the bunk area, I will not take it.

You need more heat son, try an acetylene torch, that'll get those pesky chains smokin' pretty good (of course you won't want em anywhere near your face then)

As for the stinky truck, I feel bad for the next slob who gets my truck, since I smoke cigars. Boy is my truck stinky...

UGH!! That is flat out disgusting! We have been lucky so far to have gotten trucks that were not in too bad of shape. We are on our 2nd truck, neither one by any means new, but they are always completely detailed with new mattresses on both top and bottom bunks. Even the loaner truck we had to use a while back was in great shape with new mattresses. He needs to request that mattress.. I can't imagine what he is sleeping on..