Is it common for truck drivers to be methheads?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by Nyseto, Feb 12, 2019.

  1. Nyseto

    Nyseto Light Load Member

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    Growing up, people always used to tell me that a lot of truck drivers take all kinds of stimulants to stay awake. Is that just a stereotype, is it more of a back in the day thing, or what?
     
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  3. TripleSix

    TripleSix God of Roads

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    That was the case until the mid 90s. They were easy to spot. That crank would either turn all of their teeth black or blow all their teeth out of their head and all the hair off the tops of their heads. So there were a whole bunch of people that looked like a toothless Friar Tuck roaming around.

    The thing is, they could truck. Performance Enhancing Drugs. Now, you will just see a whole bunch of Neckbeards, smell like arse and crying about having to drive at all and how challenging it is to wipe their arse after a dump.
     
  4. Rubber duck kw

    Rubber duck kw Road Train Member

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    Mostly a stereotype thing, there was idiots who would do it but not as many as people seem to think, or at least I've never known anybody who did.
     
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  5. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    Back in the day probably some did. They have random drug testing today and can't really drive more then 11 hour today with Electronic log books. You start a new job first thing you get is a drug test before you get hired. Some place are do hair testing now.

    No reason to be doing that today. Safety is a big thing today
     
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  6. Moose1958

    Moose1958 Road Train Member

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    That was the case in the past. Drivers used legally prescribed meds. In the 80s the Feds changed the label use of those meds and they cannot be prescribed for weight reduction. Today as far as I can remember these class meds can only be prescribed for Attention problems and Narcolepsy. A driver today has to be very careful what they take, a lot of these substances will show on a drug screen.
     
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  7. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    Not methheads, Hell no. That drug was a product of a 70's era biker culture in a very small section of the USA. I think it's beyond the scope of this post to explain the history. I refuse to touch the stuff. It's hazmat and lethal as far as I am concerned. I already have bad teeth from trucking and want to keep the chompers a little longer.

    HOWEVER, I did have a caffinee pill habit at 21. Bought a box of 40 in Doswell to tide me over in Norfolk standing around all #### day from 6 am until 6 PM for a dispatcher to decide how I need to get back to baltimore. With chassis or a particular box. No sleeper. Port East was told the day I resigned in a written letter that they should buy sleepers, even if they are small. They did. However it was not a very good letter because one round trip to Norfolk at 55 dollars a day for a 20 to 24 hour day (Logs be ######.) had the Owner asking if I was independantly wealthy and did not care about making money. Say WHAT? That ticked me off.

    Anyhow one box of 40 pills (Each one rated at two coffees) became two boxes then three. I almost killed 4 people on 95/US1 after my body and mind went to sleep with eyes open at 80 mph. Ever since that particular day I have never ever fallen to actual dream sleep with eyes open like that processing the running people trying to save themselves in a detatched manner or out of body actually. That's with three boxes, 120 caffinee pills prior to leaving norfolk. And smoking and more coffee. It's disgusting. I quit. Easier said than done. I knew I had to quit Port East. God knows I love them very much there in Baltimore by the docks but I had to leave them or kill myself or someone on that stimulant #### for certain. Maybe a crack head which was beginning to go into North Ave back then. Meth was not even a word.

    I cannot handle drugs that stimulate. What I do instead is get angry. I keep a stack of memories or retained issues in my head against certain persons in my life and just thinking about them makes me really angry. that drives the blood pressure up, hacks the body to wake the hell up with fight or flight chemicals in the blood and I can lose my temper for a few hours and be fine. But when that burns off. That is totally IT. I am done. Going to BED. Mr Dispatcher will just have to wait a while. The yelling can start later at his or her leisure.
     
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  8. Chinatown

    Chinatown Road Train Member

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    That's not true; on a run from Nashville, Tennessee to Stockton, California I only stopped one time at the Petro Truckstop in Amarillo, Texas for a 2 hour nap. I did that through pure discipline and love of the road.
     
  9. Brandt

    Brandt Road Train Member

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    You can't even have a beer can in the cab of truck today. That violation if they catch you and any company would probably fire you. They don't play around with that stuff today
     
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  10. nikmirbre

    nikmirbre Road Train Member

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    Probably not but last Thursday at a truck stop in Savannah the container driver parked next to me was smoking weed... and yes I would’ve called in on him had he had a license plate or even a company name on the side...
     
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  11. REO6205

    REO6205 Trucker Forum STAFF Staff Member

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    Is it common? No.

    Does it happen? Yes it does.

    I started driving in the late 60s and stimulants were common. Bennies and diet pills were available at just about every truck stop if you knew who to talk to. Drug testing has pretty much eliminated that and that's a good thing.

    What we see now is a broader spectrum of drug abuse and it's mainly recreational rather than vocational. Again, drug testing helps keep a lid on it but I doubt if the problem will ever go away entirely.

    I don't preach. In my younger years I popped as many pills as it took to get the job done. I'm glad things have changed. Most of the guys I worked with doing that kind of trucking are either dead, in jail, or disabled to the point of immobility.
     
    Last edited: Feb 12, 2019
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