Hello?
Highway Patrol?
I'd like to report a break-down on
Hwy ___ at Mile Marker ___.
____ bound side in/on the ____ of the road.

You're welcome.
Be safe out there.

Thanx ---
I will, too.

So simple ---- even a caveman can do it.

A beautiful testimony to two MEN who did the necesary and right thing. Who knows, somewhere tonite they may be reading this, or be told of it by someone who did.
As you said, "There has always been dangerous people out there", and not only in trucking. The old MS law on going armed used to be it was only necessary to show it was "The act of a wise and prudent man". In other words, it you needed it, you had it, and used it .
Seems to me, a wise and prudent man should have some sense of what a situation is from observation of the circustances. I'm no expert, but have survived lo these many years and walked out of places I shouldn't have gone in.
I recall running the deserts across NM, AZ, and CA back when if you pulled over to the side, the next Greyhound or Continental Trailways would whistle to a stop, door fly open, and a voice bellow" Need help driver?"
If you did, you rode to the next place to get what you needed, FOR
FREE.
So, consider each situation on its appearance and your feel for the moment, Who knows, what if you were bent over the wheel with food poisoning, sweating bullets, bloated like a whale, and wondering what the he!! was happening to you. It's not a good feeling.

I stopped to help a 4 wheeler a few weeks back. I was heading up to San Francisco, CA on HWY 280. It was around 3am. The people in the car had crashed and were blocking the 1st and 2nd lanes. I got them off the high way and on the shoulder by my rig. I called CHP. I was sitting there with the 4 ways flashing, so people could see the wrecked car better. CHP got there soon. Thanked me for stopping to help keep them safe. I was then on my way. I just hope if some thing happens to me on the road, some one can help me out.

Just keep this in mind. What goes around, come around..
In my old days (gas buners) we all carried 6 feet of hose under the seat.
I have no idea how many gallons of gas I gave away to 4 wheelers stranded alongside the roads then. Some strictly fools running out, but most were truly in need due to circumstances.
In 1979 I started a used forklift/repair business. We had an old Ford roll back we hauled in and out on. Seat tank and 30 gal side tank. I go 30 miles out of town to make a pick up. Got it winched up, tied down, and off to shop. Went 10 miles and guess what??? Cough, ker blam, old Ford died dead as Dobie. Guage showed half of seat tank. Pulled caps and stuck both tanks. Dry as a powder house..
Here I sit. Cat forklift aboard, gas job, and tank is half full. (Visual) Its 4 feet above my side tank and right above. I need 5 ft of hose.

Now this had taken about 15 minutes. Then up pulls a sturdy farm pickup.
Farmer ask what I need. I tell him my situation and ask if he has a piece of hose. Sorry son, Ain't got no hose, but I do have 30 gallons of gas in tank on my pickup and a 12 volt pump. Will that do? I allowed it might work so he pulled up alongside, threw his hose over and pumped. He would not stop at a gallon or so and would take no money. HE SAID HE HAD RUN OUT ONCE AND SOMEBODY HAD HELPED HIM. HE CONSIDERED IT BEING ABLE TO REPAY THE FAVOR.
Keep the faith....

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The beatings will continue, until morale improves

Well it went out the window with the CDL and the government intervention in a industry it had no right being in to start with. When they made it illegal for your dad or you grandad to teach you how to drive a rig and put it in the hands of CDL mills they killed the trucking industry as I and some of the older ones knew it. You can not be a truck driver in 3 weeks i am sorry you can be a steering wheel holding pedal pusher but there is no way you can learn the business in 3 weeks and be a true truck driver. When you were tought by the old timers you started out under the truck first because if you couldn't fix it you couldn't drive it. How many of this new generation has even been under there truck with a grease gun or would know how to adjust a clutch,or for that matter even know how to adjust there own brakes. I mean they don't even teach you the simplest things in these schools. And how do you blame the ones coming in to the industry with a me me me atitude when they are tought that from the very begining and then sent out with some one that may have 1 year over the road as an instructor or teacher hell he is still wet behind the ears himself and he is going to teach some one how to be a truck driver i don't think so. All he is going to do is prepetuate the breed. In the days when i first started over in this job the CDL had first came into play and because i gave up my comercial license when i was in the air force and hadn't driven since 15 years before i had ot go back to a school they tried to teach me to double clutch and all that and i finally had one of the instructors let me do it my way he looked around and said from now on float them you are better at it then most of us. Well i learned on a 4x4 with a 2 speed in an old international with a detroit so these new machines were easy. Now when i got on my own i still stopped and helped folks out just like i did till the day i sold my truck if some one was broke down you can always holler on the radio if they are ok or got help coming now some answered with a smart answer and they got no help some said sure and some said no trying to fix it myself those i stopped and helped because i always carried tools and some spare parts with me O/O you fix it or you don't roll. Now would i stop for the pretty young gal broke down out in the middle of no where and try and fix her problem nope but i would call police and inform them oif a broke down motorist. But another driver broke down yes sir i always do my part of course iu am old school and i guess thats the differance.

Its not just among drivers, overall, people just don't want to get involved at all today. Maybe life just moves too fast. Maybe the "me" decade is still going on. Maybe we are just so bombarded with bad news that we've become cold and callous. Maybe its because there are so many of us that we feel we no longer need each other. Who knows? As for me, I at least radio to see if they need help. Its a dangerous world, but not so dangerous that we need to igore each other.

I witnessed a wreck at 3:30 a.m. and stopped to render assistance. Investigating officer took my statement and let me preceed. Well the guilty party wanted a trial, so I got summoned to court only to have it postponed 3 times. This became a big hassle to me not to mention the lose of income. I questioned the judge the second time about this and was told that if I failed to so up the next court date he would issue a bench warrant to have me arrested. Can you imagine why I don't stop anymore?

I understand the first part of your post....But my GOD,what has that phony terror alert crap got to do with stopping to help someone.AND if you call the cops it's a 99% chance they aren't going to help any other way than calling one of their buddies who owns a tow truck and kicks back to them.

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Hermits of the world,UNITE!!!

NO HABLA JIBBER JABBER

"Haven't I told you a million times not to exaggerate"

CBA # 454

The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.

I have been on the thruway , many times in the last few months, and have never one time observed any truck driver, pass and the other flash the lights when it was safe, every time I saw that I said well maybee this time, but nope never not even once, this is out of at least 25 times or so, I was truly shocked over this????? I thought Geesh, thats a simple enough thing to do!!!!!

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