Drivers lounge....

Discussion in 'Road Stories' started by ghostchild, Jan 30, 2012.

  1. 07-379Pete

    07-379Pete Crusty Commando-Pete

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    Yeah back then around supper time alot of drivers would wait to get a table with a tv. Remember this was back in the cabover truck days so no one had room for a tv even if you could get one. No cable tv for these little jewels either. You got either 15 or 30 mins, I cant remember. Back then the truck stop restaurants were FULL at supper time too.
    My how times have in deed changed.
     
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  3. ghostchild

    ghostchild Road Train Member

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    [​IMG]

    I recently saw this movie...and instantly saw many parallels between what drivers go through, and how driver are percieved, and what the 'apes' went through in this series...

    The main and universal theme being 'Dignity'....

    The Apes simply did not get the dignity they deserved, or thought they deserved....

    But it took a leader amongst them to point that out...

    I've been in and around the driving industry for many years now...and I see the same thing with drivers...drivers are basically treated like 'apes'...sad but true...(ok, this is not meant to be funny, do not laugh)...

    But it's true...drivers are treated like apes from all those they come in contact with throughout the course of the day, from cashiers, to warehouse recieptionist, to DOT officers, to motorist on the highway, to movie directors, to 'street walkers', to judges, polititions and so on....

    For the most part we are related as creature who 'grunt'...and 'howl'...with no common sense...

    We are related as people who have to be dressed in the morning by our dispatchers and load planners and brokers....

    And to the brokers...never mind...i'll save that for later...you have a job to do I suppose...but why keep so many drivers in the dark??

    Why not share what you know?
    Why treat drivers like dummies?

    I'm certaintly not...I know things now, that could help many drivers succeed, why would I want to hide all of that?
    Why would I want to keep hard working veteran drivers on the lower level, benefiting from their labor?

    These drivers bust their bodies and bones for you, to help you earn a good living...why not help some of them out, why not help some of them transition into a better way of earning a living?, why hide all that information...which i now have?

    And some of you brokers are so very young...have never done anything in your lives, have never been to war, never faced combat, and somehow eased into that job...

    Well good for you...but don't treat drivers like their dumb?

    How are you, a 23 year old, going to talk down to a driver almost 3 times your age??

    What have you done at 23, that you think earns you such a right to do so?

    You make good money off the back of drivers...

    Brokers, broker agents, whatever....

    We're all in this together...but quit ripping off drivers...

    Quit thinking your better than us...

    Actually, most of you are 'cool'...and are just doing a job...

    We all have a job to do...in order for the process to move along...

    But how about treating drivers more fairly, since the bread you make comes so much more easily to you...

    And i'll leave it at that for now....

    Dignity, it all comes down to dignity...and how we treat others....

    And to you stuck up arogant receptionist warehouse clerks, who sit behind that plastic slide window...

    What's with the attitude??

    [​IMG]

    I mean for real, what's with the attitude some of you have??
    You sit behind that glass window all day in a tempurature controlled enviornment...and yet half the time have attitude?

    The drivers who approach that window have just risked their lives, traveled over mountain passes, covered in snow and ice, traffic, Dot scales, little or no sleep, basically risked their lives for that load to get there...and once there all you can do is play games with the window...

    To open or not to open...if he/she opens it...'Why did you open the window?!!'

    If driver doesn't open it...'You should of opened the window'....

    You leave drivers standing there, looking dumb, for your own amusement??

    To further tear down his/her dignity?

    Do you know what it's like to be away from home for weeks, or even months at a time, living in a box?
    To wake up around strangers, in a strange enviornment, and still try to maintane a smile and healthy attitude?

    You sit there behind that window with this pompus attitude as if drivers are suppose to acknowledge your supremacy or something?

    Why not come down from your high horse and just leave your attitude at home...
    And would it ever hurt you, even the warehouse, to thank a driver for delivering load on time, after risking his life to get there??

    http://www.articlesbase.com/automot...ing-deemed-deadliest-job-in-state-763184.html

    These drivers are not your door mat...they have kids, families, wives and husbands too...and are not your door mat to step on...so leave the attitude at home please...

    I don't care how bad your day was sitting in that office, chances are the driver standing before you had a worse day, and yet has a better attitude....get over yourself please...

    Drivers aren't paid extra to put up with your attitude...maybe your husband or wife does, but the driver is not your husband or wife...

    And quit treating drivers like they are dumb....
    There is no pecking order here...everyone simply has a job to perform.

    Most of you all do a decent job, and indeed are nice and kind to drivers...but a few of you all should be fired...or placed in a different position...

    Seems the people who do the least, have the most attitude...

    Including some of you Union guys who drag ###...when you know drivers are waiting on you...
    Lazy moe foes....

    I have nothing against Unions, but some of the people they hire or who join are some lazy moe foes....

    Anyways...it all comes back to dignity...and eveyone seems to want the truck driver to treat them with dignity, and to recognize what they do, but very few seem to want to recognize what drivers do and give us that same dignity, you so badly want...

    A bit of prophescy here: There will come a time in the future, when driver laborers will say 'Enough'...


    [​IMG]
     
    bulliver Thanks this.
  4. Emulsified

    Emulsified Road Train Member

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    the single thing I remember most about the 'old time truckstops' wasn't the coffee, the pumps or the fuel desk.
    Before pagers, cell phones, GPSs and every other electronic gadget that permeats our everyday lives, we had....
    Drivers.
    Drivers had to know how to plan a route, fix a minor mechanical problem and find their way.
    I'm thinking of the 60's and 70's here. I started driving in 72, but I pumped fuel at Burns Brothers on Union Ave in the 60's.
    Every truck stop had a large local map, usually behind glass, posted on the wall in the main room. You would find everyone from everywhere hanging around this map with a cup of coffee in one hand and a piece of paper with an address in the other.
    While we could find our way to Portland, Seattle, Salt Lake or Phoenix, we didn't know where our exact drop location was....hence the local map.
    And while we stood there figuring it out, we talked.
    I think that chatter that is missing between drivers today is what the oldtimers remember most fondly about the 'old fashion truck stop'.
    Now we mosey in from our trucks, get a cup of C and head back out.
    We don't have a place to 'talk'.
    When you get older, you really realize how much that friendliness means.
    But now it's gone.
    Just my two cents worth in a rambling old timer's mind.
     
  5. ghostchild

    ghostchild Road Train Member

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    Old timers are what we're missing out here...they have stories to tell...

    Valuable stories....

    I can remember when the industry first started trying to get rid of them, by the adds they would run...like Schneider and such, on their driver recruiter adds...

    The larger companies, who hired marketing firms to 'clean up their image' would start hireing actors, to present a more 'clean cut' socially friendlier driver image....

    And when those adds first started coming out, I remember thinking to myself 'Hey, that person doesn't even look like a driver'...

    Perfect hair, teeth whiter than chalk, creeced shirts and slacks...ect ect...

    The industry wanted, started, to clean up...

    They got new drivers alright, but what they lost along the way was 'soul'....

    Trucking was one of the last industries in this nation that still had soul...and I never thought they would take that...but they have...

    It's like the industry deliberatly drove out those who had 'soul' or personalities...
    And replaced them with robotic system drivers....

    When I first started...I remember you couldn't get an old timer to shat up...expecially if they knew you were new...

    [​IMG]


    'Boy I say boy come ova here and let me show ya something...'


    But it felt good...these guys may not have had phd's...but they knew how to make ya laugh, and how to keep your spirits up...

    How to encourage...how to keep you rolling...

    Not all, but most....

    To bad there's not a hall of fame for certain old timers...like they have with baseball and basketball and football...

    There needs to be a truckers hall of fame as well...

    Oh well...it's late...gotta get up early...
    We'll chat again soon...
     
  6. MUSTANGGT

    MUSTANGGT Road Train Member

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    The telephone in the booth was a handy thing indeed. It enabled one to consolidate their activities by being able to catch up on calls to work & home during mealtime.
    The alternative was to use a phone in the bank of phones lined up on the wall by the driver's lounge, usually annoyingly located next to the pinball machines.

    And I did have a TV in a cabover, a 5 inch B &W that worked on 12 volts. No inverters yet. And the same people that laugh at that could be the ones watching TV on their I Phone.
     
    Bellatrix Thanks this.
  7. ghostchild

    ghostchild Road Train Member

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  8. ghostchild

    ghostchild Road Train Member

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    Well, since no one could answer such a simple question...I already did the research and called that place up today...

    Bottom line, they want collateral...either realistate, other paid off truck or equiptment...

    If you have those things, they can help you...if not...tough luck...

    Now what was so hard about answering that?

    That's why I'm glad I have a local job now, where I'm around people daily, co-workers ect ect....

    Because at times, to think that I had to rely on the inconsistancy of forum interaction as a way to get by, out right scares me...and I'm glad in real life, when your actually around people, their not so 'funny'...

    Not so 'picky'....

    On line, I think we tend to 'cartoonize' each other...

    As if we're not really alive, but rather imaginary cartoon figures who don't really have souls....

    Cause in real life, you don't treat people like that....

    But on line it's easy to marginalize others or be marginalized...

    Anyways...I answered my own question, and got a lot of suggestions from people at work today...

    If people behaved in real life, all skitish, the way some behave online...the world would be a very scary uncertain place...

    And with that, I'm going to relax a bit after working my but off today...
     
  9. ghostchild

    ghostchild Road Train Member

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    Also, if I may add to the above...

    But also, in real life, if you act 'stupid' infront of someone or disrespectful, or condescending, you will get punched in the face....

    Plain and simple...(not by me, I would never do such a thing)...

    I'm just saying in general, people behave differently when face to face....it usually actually brings out your 'better' side...cause your there in person, seeing expressions, it totally changes things from the one dimensional flat cartoonize online interaction type of thing...

    But at least with guys, if you act stupid, or condescending to another guy or group of guys...they will simply beat you up...and you will learn not to act that way...

    It's also called being 'socialble'....

    But people who act stupid in real life, get their faces smashed in....

    Then they don't act so stupid anymore, and give you the respect you deserve....

    Again...I don't do that stuff...I'm just saying other guys do...guys tougher than me...it's like the rules on the streets, and in the backwoods...

    Expecially if your a slimey, talk behind someone elses back coward type...

    Online you can get away with that...but in real life...it would never happen...

    Even if I get out of line in real life...I will get beat up...

    Anyways...phone call...gotta go...
     
  10. ghostchild

    ghostchild Road Train Member

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    I want to elaborate even further...I can't stand 'weasels'....

    I can't stand them in real life, nor can I stand them online...

    A weasel is a dishonest person...

    If you don't like someone just come out and say...'I don't like you, because A, B, C'

    Just say it...

    Nor can I stand abnormal behavior...I mean in real life...if someone walked into a room and asks a question...they expect to get an answer...

    People just don't sit there and 'stare'....

    They answer....

    That's why in real life...one of two things occur...either people wise up...and act normal, or socialble...or they get beat up...or tore up...

    And after they get beat up, they learn not to act like a turd....at least not in public and while around others...or their peers...

    But to me, if one is a 'turd' online...why the hell would I ever trust them in real life???

    Either your stand up or your not...period...
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2012
  11. U4EA

    U4EA Road Train Member

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    True - but like Coke in green glass bottles; you won't find many of them (stand up people) anymore.
     
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