Appreciation of elders

That freightliner you are talking about was Wicked Cool... it was the FLC model-(I believe they were in production from the early 70's until 1987-88?) Anyway... That was a real eye catcher...Im not a freightliner fan, But that truck was Cool, it had Split windshields And a Hood that was more Bold than a 359....

The Tiny split windshields just made it look Bad ###......Someone post a pic .

 

5 of us ran out of Florida to near Madison Heights, Michigan. We pulled into this big lot and waited. There was a Denny's across the street and so we went in. A Typical truck drivers for the time. It was winter, so we were all wearing ball caps and flannel shirts, jeans and boots. I don't know the names of the rest of the guys but one of the guys with me was known as Captain Caveman. ugly, hairy, fat ####, looked like a ZZ Top fanboy. Well, we walk into Denny's sit down and started telling war stories, you know, truck driver stuff. Had a bunch of women in the restaurant. And they're looking at us like a fat girl does M&Ms.

We sat there, looking around, kinda worried. Something's wrong. Did we enter the Twilight Zone? A Mediterranean looking woman walks up to me and asks me if I was a driver. She then asks how long would I be in town. I tell her 2 days. She then asks me out on a date. "Absolutely!" I'm feeling good about myself but the other women approach the other drivers and set up dates. Even Cavemen. "Wow...even the ugly fat ####, I guess I'm not all that special."

 

I love hearing the old stories. My uncle tells the same stories over and over again about his days at Don Ward out of Denver hauling cement powder...started in a '59 KW watching sparks come out of the stack in the dark. Running from Denver to Durango, up to Rapid City and then to Craig and back to Denver before the day was done.

And then when he worked for NW Transport. The story about getting teamed up with a former Swift driver who got "snow ulcers" every time the road got slick and could not drive, couldn't put chains on. Or the blizzard in ID and needing an exit to drop the third trailer. Kept missing them the snow was coming down so hard. Then getting passed by Yellow..."If he can do, I can do it". Or 55 mph across TX in the middle of the night listening to Bill Mack getting passed by all the real trucks like he was up on jacks.

When I was a kid I used to roll my eyes when he'd start telling the same old tales but at 79 years old someday he won't be around to tell them. Nowadays I never miss a chance to hear it again. I wouldn't be in this business if it wasn't for him.

My kids now roll their eyes at me when I talk. I guess it's the natural cycle of things. Maybe someday my BS stories will be to them what my uncle's stories are to me.

 

I was a company driver. Drove for a small fleet known for extremely fast trucks. Had a 48ft stainless spread reefer. There wasn't even terms like "Steeringwheelholder" and "Supertrucker." The only stupid drivers were the occasional bonehead JBS or Schneider driver. Now it seems as if Stupid is the biggest fad of all time. I got off the road in 99 and got back on in 07. In 8 years, the whole world went stupid! It's unbelievable...how did Stupid take over the entire industry so quickly? Everybody is Stupid. 4 wheelers, drivers, cops. Well, I take that back...everyone on the interstate.

Amazingly, most of the stupidity ends as soon as you get off the bigroad. The bigger the road, the more stupid everyone becomes. Why is that???

Broad is the road leading to destruction and many are upon it.

Could it be? Was the zombie apocalypse foretold?

"Six, are you bible thumping?"

No, problem solving. Went by Sheffields and it's now a Pilot. For the life of me, I will never understand how you can build a Pilot or a Loves, serve garbage in a sack, and have drivers cramming in there to eat garbage. How do they convince you that you want to eat garbage? Every single day. Garbage. It doesn't make sense.

Had a burger last week. Was sitting in this Wateringhole that MJ would approve of, had a barkeep that looked like a young, very hot demon possessed Crystal Gale. Ordered a burger and they brought this thing out, on a fresh roll, with bacon so thick it looked life beef jerky. Chased it down with a half dozen Killians and a shot of Patron (for you fearmongers: goeth intercourse thyself. Useth thine broom and the corner of thy walls. Plungeth thy fears away). They even put sharp cheddar on it. The real stuff. Haven't had a burger since I went to Nelson Brothers a year ago. But how do you guys eat Burger King and Arby's and Subway 7 days a week? Then sit all week in a POS truck. No wonder you guys hate life. I'd hate myself too if I ate garbage every day, and stayed for weeks on end in a truck set up for a moron.

Speaking of life, was in a Petro a day or so ago. This girl walked in, and every waitress in the place ran up to hug her. She was wearing a shirt with a guy's picture on it and a date X-X-1984 to 2-28-2016. "Whoah...that just happened!"I asked the waitress the deal and she told me that the girl's husband had a heart attack. Geeez, that's young! Heart defect? She said, "I'm not saying" and turned and walked away. I said, "Drugs." She stopped turn around to look at me, dropped her eyes and kept walking. All the drivers in the restaurant looked in amazement.

When I was young, it was important to be cool and tough and make the girls like you. Now that I am older, I realize why all of those old hands did what they did.

You only have 1 shot at being a man. That includes work ethic. How can you be a slacker and call yourself a man? What do OJ Simpson and Bruce Jenner have in common? Both of them lost their ManCards. If Bruce Jenner gets tired of boobs and women's underwear, and decides to grow a beard and chest hair, do you think he could get a new ManCard? Nope. He's done. 20 years from now, sitting in a old folks home, and his grand kids want nothing to do with him (mark my words), and his 'Woman of the Year' award revoked, and he tries to sit among the old guys, that lack of a ManCard will hinder him. Getting old is unavoidable. Getting old without that ManCard makes you useless.
That's why we bring that A Game. No slacking allowed. That A Game enhances that ManCard.

 

Six, I like your writing style. If you're not writing a book in your free time you're cheating all of us.

 

No no no! If he wrote a book we'd have to pay for his musings. Right now they're free!

 

Well, as a new driver, I just want to say thanks for sharing. It's been a refreshing thread to read. Keep the positive stories coming!

Stay Safe,
MD

 

That's something I'd pay to see!

 

Agreed...

 

Like this?


This is what trucks looked like when I was a kid, even as a full blooded farm kid I always liked trucks.

If trucks would have looked like this I honestly would have never became a driver.