Dateline 1982: 30 years ago. You were a new driver. Why were you....

I graduated in 1983 and had just got my license. I think I'm a better driver now than I was back then. I seem to pay more attention to laws, safe driving distances, etc.

 

because its them we're talking about.
THEY will always be better than anyone that came after.
of any later era.

 

An experienced driver will mostly always feel like they were a better driver than the freshest crop to come out. Even with just 4 years under my belt I'm guilty of it. My dad started driving 35 years ago with a man who said "You think you can drive that son?". Even the mega carrier training companies actually give more in depth training and education than guys like my dad had. However even with 4 years I'm no where near the driver my old man is. I ask driving related advice from him all the time.

 

It's a toss up. I started just 4 years earlier '78. Had a lot less creature comforts, 36 inch cabover single bunk. No APU or air ride cab or front axle. But also had a lot less things to mind, paper logs with hand written fuel receipts, no EGR, DPF or any other electronic gizmos to give me problems or fault codes.
But long lines at the pay phones too.
I think if today's drivers are truly knowledgeable about what they are doing and the machine they are driving, they would have to be better informed, but it is also now easier to be a steering wheel holder, or as they say in Ham radio an appliance operator, and be oblivious to how and why things work or don't. And have an automatic or automated transmission.
But I had it easy, and only had to learn on a 1 stick transmission!

 

I bet the lot lizards were a lot cleaner in '82 - probably didn't even need to wrap it up.

 

Trucks were trucks back then, not just big cars. I drove a Mack with a spring seat and no front brakes. We had yard trucks with armstrong steering. You had to know how to fix things yourself because there was no instant communication with your company. Well, we local guys did have Motorola radios.
I don't think most drivers went to "school" to get a license.
We ran overweight.
We grew up with the great trucking movies of the 70s!
We had pride in being a trucker as opposed to being ashamed of it now.
We listened and learned from the old guys.

 

I just seen an "old hand" today in Beloit, Wi throw his donut box full of cigarette butts out the window, when he was 40 feet from a trash can. Is that "old school" or did he learn it from the new guys that are always getting run down on here and the cb?

 

I'm sure I'm not the only "new" driver to be offended by your post. I can't tell you how many times I've heard "old school" drivers talking about driving drunk with a bottle of whiskey or whatever in the truck and stopping in the big cities on the off ramps to buy drugs in the city and stuff like that.

Bottome line: The trucking training is better now and so is the equipment. The laws are more strict nowadays, in large part due to the fact that the old school truck drivers screwed it up for the rest of us by breaking so many laws and doing unsafe things. I can't tell you how many drivers I've met that were trained by "uncle Bob" on his own truck and went down and passed the driving test by the seat of his pants.

I'm sure I'll get flamed for this post but I really don't care. I think the logic for a thread like this is backwards. You old guys should at least be able to admit your flaws and not just rag on us newer drivers.

And besides all that the quality of drivers out there on the road today is a direct result of the crappy, greedy trucking companies that have govt. officials in their pocket that get away with paying the drivers practically NOTHING for the amount of pure and total BS that they have to put up with while they are away from home. Not enough freaking truck parking, food at truck stops 20-30% higher than other places, etc., etc...

One of the biggest complaints I have about truck drivers then and now is that hardly any of you will stick up for yourselves! All these laws being passed that just make things harder on drivers and make the companies more money...WTF?? How is it that this has been allowed to happen all these years?? Once a law is passed it is almost impossilbe to repeal it. Call your representatives and b|tch once in awhile.

I'm not going to even come back to this. Yes I'm running on this one. I've said all I care to say.