Truck safety at rest/truck stops

Luckily I really didn't have anything bad happen in my years OTR..

The only two things that stick out were thefts...

1) I had someone steal fuel out of the tanks last summer when I was sleeping in Columbia, SC...That really made me mad because the truck was shut off all night and I still never heard them..

2) I bobtailed into the Landstar Laredo yard to get my load info from my man Rick wasn't inside more than five minutes and some scumbag stole a fuel cap off the Pete...The LS yard is fenced in and policed by private security so it was another LS driver that got me I'm sure.....Don't believe that crap about LS only hiring the best in my years with them I saw quite a few that slipped thru the cracks and got leased on..

 

Digger, you seem like a hell of a guy but I know you're new out here. I came to realize very quickly that most drivers out here don't give a rat's arse for anybody but themselves and cannot be trusted to do the right thing. You'll see ample evidence of this during your trucking career.

For example, drivers that pull up to the fuel island and go inside for coffee, lunch or whatever. I kind of understand that if you are in a small T/S that's always crowded (the Pilot in Denver comes to mind) but I see it all the time in a T/S with loads of parking. Or the drivers that actually fuel and then take 15 minutes inside the T/s doing whatever. Thankfully, with pre-approved fueling, that's much more rare than it used to be.

Drivers that make their own parking spaces. I understand that sometimes you have to work late and parking can be at a premium but more than once early in my career I had parked in a spot that was wide open but when I woke up at 0300, I couldn't get out because some moron was blocking me in. Then when you go bang on their door, they have the nerve to abuse you for waking them up.

Last but not least, the lazy ######## who leave piss bottles lying on the side of the road, on on on ramp or in the T/S parking lot. Seriously, you can't dump them out and dispose of the bottles in a trash can?

Rant over, everyone drive safely.

 

My real wallet is the on with twenty dollars in it! LMAO

 

Yea, most drivers don't give a hoot about others, except if you bump into their rig.
I try not to piss anyone off while I'm in the T/S, 'cause that could lead to some retalliation. And of course I do a thorough pre-trip before I get back on the road.

 

My real wallet had $20 in it too. I bought the second wallet and now both are empty.

 

only real problem i had was some ***hole that i got into an argument with at the truck stop pulling my 5th wheel release while i went inside to take a piss

thank god my grandpa taught me to always check that some clown didnt pull it......i got myself in that habit a long time ago and just do it out of instinct.....i was madder then a wet hen when i saw that he did it but he was long gone

 

Where at in Columbia?

These stories have me alittle worried...

 

How did you get into an argument with him if he was long gone?

 

Not a whole lot to tell here, as far as incidents go.

There was the Bowman driver in MD who pulled into a spot as I was backing into it. After an exchange of words, he got his tubby ### out of the truck and approached me with a tire thumper. Since I'd never used it before, and didn't feel particularly threatened by him, I gave the pepper spray a try.

Only lot lizard ever to knock on my door was at the Flying J in Randolph, MO. This was during the Winter of 02-03, and I wasn't actually in the J - I was on the side of the road across from the J which ran by the FL dealer and the Blue Beacon. Simply told her I wasn't interested, and that was that.

Two instances of people knocking on my door to panhandle for money. One occurred at the same Flying J as mentioned above... this was either March of April.. and this time, I actually was in the lot. Other time was at a truck stop in Goodletsville, TN. This woman claimed her ex- had ditched her there, yet she had a car following her with two other occupants in it (one of whom appeared to be smoking something in the back, and I don't get the impression it was tobacco). Eventually, the police came, searched them, found something, and arrested them.

Had bungee straps stolen on three occasions (again, flatbedder). I keep them in the cab now.

One instance where a driver bumped my trailer as they backed into the spot opposite of mine. As I was getting out, there were walking up to my truck to tell me what had happened. We took a look at the trailer. Their dock pads were lined up perfectly with mine, and no damage was done. Since there was no damage, and since the driver did the right thing, I let it go.

I stopped at one of the service plazas on the PA Turnpike. On my way out to the truck, some kid (late teens, early 20s?) runs around me, stops a few feet in front of me, starts breakdancing, and walks away. He was pretty good at it, so I'm pretty sure that means I got served. Not a particularly terrifying incident, but one of the more peculiar ones.

When I drove for Swift, cards from JB Hunt recruiters being taped to the mirrors was a pretty common thing.

So, all in all, nothing particularly terrible.

 

Yeah. In the area I come from, and the work I did, there wasn't really any nastiness, in fact there was a lot of comraderie. You do not find a whole lot of gravediggers. Most of us had each others cell numbers. If one guy had a breakdown and needed help, you could pretty much count on one of the others to come help and charge less than they would normally charge a cemetery. Also being in the headstone business I would visit many different cemeteries to install headstones. If I'm digging out for a foundation under a headstone and see a fresh grave nearby that has sunk a little I would add my dirt to it, or if a grave wasn't completely sodded I would put whatever grass I took out from my hole and help them out. Then should I have a problem in the cemetery I can count on the guys there to help me out.

Karma is real folks. If you do well by others it will come back to you. You may get crapped on a lot at first but eventually I have found it pays off.

Kinda off topic but heres an example:

I was at the end of my third week at school. I had just failed my dot cdl test (parallel park, instructors were teaching us wrong and several of us failed it). I was hoping to go home that friday for good but instead had to ride 400+ miles on my motorcycle that friday evening to go home and take care of some things, then ride 400+mi back on sunday. So I was feeing pretty irritated and hating life.

As I'm riding the long boring stretch of 30 through IN towards OH I have the bike up to 85MPH just to get home sooner not realizing how fast it is eating gas. I normally fuel every 150mi but at 120mi I run out of gas in the middle of nowhere. I turn on my reserve and keep driving looking for some sign at an exit saying fuel is available (there are none). I spy a sherriff car parked in the median and stop to ask him. He directs me to the next exit and about 2 miles after I take the exit is a gas station. I make it to the exit and run completely out of fuel. I coast to the first house I see and the owner is apparently taking his girls to a soccer game. I could tell he was nervous about me (bald, tattooed, pierced, long goatee riding a motorcycle). He agrees to take me to the gas station and drop me off but I have to ride in the back of the pickup. I chuckle and thank him. I get to the gas station, thank him again, and go inside to buy a gas can, some gas, and start walking or trying to hitch a ride back to my bike. I finish paying for the gas and the guy that gave me the ride shows back up. He dropped his girls off and came back to give me a ride back to my bike. First thing he asks when I get in (I'm allowed to sit in front this time) is "you aren't going to kill me are you?". So I tell him I could ask him the same question. We laugh and have a good convo back to his place. I'm fueled up and on my way. I gave him the gas can I bought since I have no room for it.

Later I'm close to the OH/PA border and stop at a rest stop to have a break and a smoke. I reach in my cargo pocket and find cigs but no lighter. It must've fell out while I was riding. This rest stop is deserted and I am bumming bad when another guy on a bike pulls in. We start talking and I tell him my predicament and ask for a light. We have a smoke and before he leaves he gives me his lighter telling me to keep it he always carries a spare. Not a big thing but it really made me feel good.

3am, I'm on top of cresson mountain 25 miles from home and freezing my ##### off. It's 45 degrees and I left my sweatpants at the hotel because they weren't dirty and I didn't think I'd need them. I'm parked at sheetz warming myself in the mens room with the hand drier. I go outside to smoke a cig and get talking to another guy parked there that also rides bike. I'm pulling my dirty clothes out of my pack to stuff in my pants to help block the wind and keep me warm. The guy there tells me to hold on, he gets in his car and hands me a pair of sweatpants. Unfortunately they were a little damp and would have only made me colder, but I thanked him for the gesture.

So I started that trip feeling pretty low. And during that trip I experienced 3 acts of random kindness from 3 different total strangers who had no reason to try and help me. There are still decent people in this world. And you can find them in the most unlikely of places.