Agreed. It can be a challenge to stay clean as a flatbedder. My clothes always look dirty anymore, even after just being washed. Just the nature of the business. When I pulled van I showered everyday, but on flatbed (where you really NEED a shower) I'm lucky to get one every two days. I try at stay as clean as possible though. Baby wipes are a godsend as is hand santizer. I carry two weeks worth of clothes so I can change everyday too. Sometimes you just have to make due.

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This is my winch bar. There are many like it, but this one is mine. It is my life. I must master it as I must master my life. Without me my winch bar is useless. Without my winch bar, I am useless.

My swift trainer was like that for 4 weeks. I hated it but i got through it. Almost every terminal we stopped at i was asked who is your trainer i pointed him out and they were like wow. Get this he excuse was i dont have time, the wheels need to turn so i can feed my 7 kids, well maybe he needs to tell his wife to spend money better or get a job.

My Trainer at CRST was a filth bag too. And all we did was drop and hook or live load. I kept gloves for hooking trailers so my hands didn't get filthy messing with the gladhands or the door levers.

Doing Flatbed, I keep stock in Blue Dickies pants, White T-shirts (I buy packs of 6) and Baby Wipes. I will wear pants loading/tarping/securing etc. or if it's real hot, cargo shorts....but..when I am done...I make sure I have time for a shower somewhere. I cannot deal with being filthy for very long because it makes my truck cab stink. I would work for the guy with the "Clean Cut" company...lol.

I keep a pair of clippers in my Shower bag so I can keep my hair cut and I shave every other day (puberty hasn't required me to shave daily yet....) and brush and floss twice a day.....god, it's not that hard. I get nauseated sitting near some of these guys.....and someone said it earlier, most of them are doing Van freight and not even touching loads...

I remember an older driver who seemed to be protected from dirt by a miraculous force. He drove for Greer's fleet out of Michigan City. Greer had propane authority and also leased to Matlack for tanker and crucible loads. Our dirtiest work consisted of tanker loads of hot, asphalt components from refineries to asphalt plants. The refineries at Hammond were hot, and sticky with fumes and the noise of bubbling and hissing tar. Hoses and pumps were provided by shippers and receivers. We wore insulated rubber gloves. We changed boots before getting into our cars after work, and we kept a blanket over the car's seat.

The older guy I remember looked like a tourist. He did not fit in, with his clean casual shirt, khaki pants and loafers. The only mistake he ever made happened one night as he was looking into the dome to check the level of product. His prescription sunglasses fell from his shirt pocket into the bubbling, hissing tar.

i remeber when i started driving i had to run team with a senior driver and the smell of him and the truck were unreal he kept getting mad because i was always spraying lysol in the truck i have smelt beter garbage trucks

HYGEINE PLAIN AND SIMPLE IF YOU WANT TO BE CLEAN AND PUT YOUR MIND TO IT IT IS A VERY ATTAINABLE GOAL OK THAT TAKES MINIMAL EFFORT OR YOU ARE JUST PLAIN LAZY OR DONT REALLY GIVE A RATS BEHIND WHAT YOU LOOK OR SMELL LIKE PLAIN AND SIMPLE

MANY TRUCKSTOPS OFFER COIN LAUNDRY AND GIVE YOU A FREE SHOWER WITH FUEL OR IF NO FUEL USUALLY 5 TO 7 BUCKS PLUS KEY DEPOSIT WHICH YOU GET BACK THE DEPOSIT PROVIDED YOU RETURN THE KEYS AND TOWEL TO THE FUEL DESK

NOW I KNOW SOME OF YA ARE SAYING GOSH THAT ALOT OF CASH EVERY FEW DAYS BUT LETS FACE IT IF 5 TO 7 BUCKS A FEW TIMES A WEEK WILL MAKE OR BREAK YOUR BUDGET YOU SHOULD PROBABLY BE FINDING A BETTER JOB ANYHOW

I DOES NOT TAKE A GREAT DEAL OF EFFORT TO BRUSH YOUR HAIR N BRUSH YOUR TEETH EAITHER TAKES ME A WHOLE 5 MINUTES AT BEST BUT IT REQUIRES AMBITION TO GET IT DONE

LAST BUT NOT LEAST LAUNDRY CAN BE DONE IN YOUR DOWN TIME WHEN YOUR SHUT DOWN SO DONT EVEN SAY I DONT HAVE TIME

I HAVE MET STREET BUMS WHO WERE CLEANER, LESS SMELLIER, AND MORE PRESENTABLE THAN MANY DRIVERS I SEE EVERYDAY THEY EVEN COMBED THEIR HAIR TOO

I’m a retired truck mechanic and just starting a career as a OTR driver. Even as a mechanic I can manage to stay fairly clean throughout the day, and working on trucks is not a clean job. I have climbed into trucks that were so filthy and smelly that they almost made me sick, and consequently the driver looked the same way. I have also climbed into trucks that were immaculate inside and out, and the driver usually looked the same.
Lets face it, people judge other buy the way they look. I know the local DOT cops pretty well and all of them have commented that they take a much harder look at a guy that looks like crap than someone that is clean and neat. To me it is a matter of personal pride. It you don’t have much respect for yourself, how can you expect others to have respect for you. A clean body, clean cloths, neat appearance and a clean orderly truck makes a big impression on others. Whenever I worked on a truck where is was obvious the driver took pride in his equipment I always took a little extra care in the service I performed on his or her truck, it is just human nature in my opinion.

If you build it, they will come.

Where do I sign up? I can handle it!!!

I have to agree, first impressions are lasting.
I may not have many teeth left, but I take care of the ones that haven't been knocked out yet. And I can't wait until I can afford to get some new ones.
What gets me almost as drivers not trying to keep clean, is what they choose to wear.
Come on people, professionals do not meet customers, ( and let's face it,those shippers and recievers ARE customers ), wearing ragged baggy shorts, or whatever those mid calf length rags are called, and ragged t shirts with wild slogans all over them.
I get embarrased just watching these guys walk across a parking lot. Have a little pride in yourself. Sweat pants and sports attire have their place, but a shipper, reciever or a public place is not it.
Call me an old fogey, but please, wear something that shows a little pride in your appearance.
And while your at it, pull your pants up and get a belt. Geesh.
If I've offended anyone, please, feel free to make fun of the way I dress right back I was raised with the rules that if a shirt doesn't have a collar, it's underwear, and pants come with belt loops for a reason and it's stuck with me.

BigkahunaFl, ill let you no when i get started...

DannyB, i like you. i like everyone on here that is agreeing with this
" issue ", and i am calling it an issue because it really is with-in this industry. when i tell people that i am a truck driver, they have a hard time taking me serious, cause this is what my " wordrobe " consist of.
during the summer, you could call me " Prepy ". what i wear during the summer is kaki pants/shorts and a golf shirt. my shirt colors range everywhere from black to white to pink, and every color inbetween. with an under shirt, and the most important, a belt, not only do i wear belt but i also wear pants that fit me the right way. and white sneakers and or brown boots.
winter months, i wear proper fitting jeans, with belts, and still have my golf shirts, or bottoned down shirts on.

my truck is always kept clean, my company pays to have it washed once ever 25 days, i pay $50 out of my own pocket to have it washed every other week, sometimes every week depending how dirty it gets. the inside is always kept clean. never any trash on my floors, always kept in the trash bin,.
the one thing that gets me going the most is the amount of clutter that i see all built up on the dash boards of the trucks...why and how can you live like that.... yeah, ill throw my bol's up there for a few mins, but once im done with that, they go right back in my tri-fold. when i see the dash boards coverd side to side with all that crap, it really makes me wonder just how bad the rest of the truck is... no mechanic or dot will fear climbing into my truck for anything.
i am one of those guys you mentions, clean looking, no smelly odors, the same with my truck.
my truck is an 04, 459k on it, most people dont bileave me that its an 04, they always say " nah! gotta be atleast an 06 or 07.." nope, its an 04 but its kept clean 24/7

just this past week, i was at the pilot in Hagerstown Md, right at 81 and 70, not the small one, but the new bigger one, inside they have a Mc-D's i was in there wacthing tv and this guy came in, a white guy, prob 45-50 years old, could smell him before he was seen, has on this black t-shirt, or maybe it was just a bunch of rags tapped together, jeans, or maybe the were shorts, or maybe they were actual jeans, it was hard to tell with the amount of holes in them, boots, or what was left of them one sock on one foot, or actually what was left of that sock, more toes then sock were showing, looked like he missed the toilit more then once, his hair had more greas then all of the mechianical parts of our trucks, he was coverred in more dirt on his body then a landfill, boots had no shoe laces, he smelled like pee, you no. that old smelly pee, often lingers around some of these truck stops when your walking from your truck to the actual building where they actually have weird things called bathrooms, yeah, thats pretty much how he smelled, for a few mins i thought i was walking around a major city, where the homeless people live, but even at that, homeless dont pee them-selfs, they pee in an allyway somewhere, and dang it, you really do see bums brushing thier hair, not this guy... then i realized that i was inside the truck stop. it was bad, and for a few mins i really thought it was a homeless guy comming in to by food with money he collected/found, then the next night i seen him getting out of a company truck, looking, and fearfuly smelling the same way as he did the previous night, i chose not to venture back inside behind him for fear i would walk into something and hurt myself from my tearing eyes ( <~~ is how it would have looked im sure ),
but instead i went over to his truck, making sure not to stand to close, wrote down the name of the company, the truck # the trl # jumped online googled the company name, found thier website, sent them an email explaining what i have ofserved from one of thier drivers, and also explained what kind of reputation he is giving the rest of the industry.
the next afternoon when checking my email i got a reply from this company and they filled me in that they have have numerous complaints about this driver, but usally from shippers/recivers, and that this was the first time they got an email from a nother " concerned " driver, they said they would inform me as to what thier actions towrds this driver would be when they decide.
I wrote them back saying that i apreciate a reply, and that i was not expecting one at all, and i also informed them that i was not a
" Concerned Driver " but that i was a " Extreamly Disgusted Driver "
i hate that the rest of us real people who have pride in our rids, and in our selfs have to take on the " trucker image " based on these smelly, dirty, grimy, nasty, the list can go on and on and on, other drivers, i hope that my generation of truckers can change this " Trucker Image " to something better,
sorry for the novel, it just irritates me to no end that people, who are working, hard, cant find 20 mins A WEEK, to shower.

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my dream of becoming an o/o and making something of myself is starting to become nothing more then a fairytale