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

I'm suprised he didn't change his oil and drain it right there in the parking lot too.

 

Question..... what makes you think he was an "old hand"? Notice that today we're getting more than a few guys and gals at 50 plus whose "real job" dumped em by the side of the road. Alot of them are very bitter about finding themselves among we "lesser beings" and act accordingly.

Wish they'd just go home.

 

Luckily I'm not one of them. I had a "real" job, but I have enough respect for myself and the profession not to do the things that have been cited earlier.

And yes, I'm a "50 something" type too.

 

He might have been old but he could have graduated from the Swift Trucking Academy last month.

Don't assume he was a trucker his whole life.

Probably another laid-off janitor doing the "drive-the-big-rigs-see-the-country" thing as a last resort before unemployment.

 

That's because I think you missed the point. If it was a dig at anyone it was at the "old" drivers asking how they were any better when they were new...

 

LOL to many posts here.

Truth is that we live now in a totally different time of trucking.
When I turned 18 in 1983 I got a cheuffers (sic) licence and learned to drive from my dad for 6 months, but no one would hire me because I was too young. When the cdl came along I was able to grandfather in so I had my cdl when I went to truck driving school, just to get a job somewhere as I was 22 and most places wanted you to be 23 to hire ya.

The first 2 jobs I had were Flat bed hauling jobs, my dad had taught me how to tarp and chain so no big deal there. The first truck I drove had armstrong steering and was a GMC Astro with a 8v71 Detroit. I never drove a truck with air conditioning till 1991. I never drove a conventional truck till 1991, all cabovers before that.

I did, and still do, carry a tool box with me. Back then most trucks and trailers had dayton rims so if we had a flat we changed our own tires, never thought once about being paid for keeping the truck on the road. I about got frostbite on 1 hand while totally rewiring the rear lights on a trailer in Indianapolis once because Ice and snow had shorted them out and burned up the wiring.

New drivers back then had to know how to work on the truck to keep them on the road, something that is totally missing with the new drivers today. Yes many of us were branded rebels because we liked Fast trucks and fast women, hauling overweight loads and running 3 log books, but you know what? Trucking was sure alot more fun back then!

BTW.....all these new regulations are not from the sleezy old timers! But rather from too many people with too much time on their hands that think they know trucking better then we do without ever having spent 1 moment behind the wheel.

 

Speak for yourself! If you ashamed of the job you do than you should find something else to do.

 

No one post answered the op's question. Who is better now as a noobie as was back then.

Gees, it's not a hard question. Every one was new once and made mistakes, goofs, hard decisions that turned out wrong. We all pay.

Once again, it's a question: who will help the new driver, to pull up the young (figure of speech) driver to the level that WE the PROFESSIONAL driver think is the pentacle of our trade. We do not. No one cares about those under us to carry on, we only consider them as competition for a proverbial local good gig, a ltl home every day gig, or someone who is an annoyance in a slow truck. I wish we could pass the torch as in back in the days when trades were given to our offspring, but we've placed ourselves in a box where everyone thinks that what we do is less than trash.

 

If training and equipment is so much better why is there such a high failure rate with CDL mill graduates ? They pass the DMV road test by the seat of their pants then fail the road test at orientation or get rejected by a trainer .
I agree poor pay by BFI's is a major problem . Decent pay would result in a lower turnover and drivers would stay longer and gain experience .
Yes , some regulations are the result of driver violations but they couldn't violate regulations if dispatch didn't give them the loads .
The last round of HOS wasn't the result of driver violations . It was the Obama administration catering to Teamsters after receiving over $2 million in contributions in 2008 .

 

thats why as a "greenhorn" I talk to my uncles and the seasoned vets out there to get advice on so I DON"T end up a whiny ##### steering wheel holder .... I love hearin the story's bout goin over lookout pass before it got widened during the middle of winter