What is an OTR Driver?

I think this is a good question. I too have noticed that over the years the OTR truck driver has become a more reclusive beast. In the '70s we used to stand around BS'n all the time and if we were layed over somewhere we would bust out the barbeque and cook food and hang out in the back row of whatever truckstop we happened to get stuck in. If we were rollin' down the road late at night and gave a "smokey" report someone would almost always jump in and the next thing you knew you'd been rollin' down the road for three hours shootin' the breeze about this and that...It was a much friendlier industry in those days!

We have become a more insulated society over the last 15-20 years and now it seems that we have no use for each other. Everyones got headphones or earbuds and are driving down the road texting or typing into their laptop or qualcom. Another factor that I think is involved is that there are a lot more guys out here these days that really don't want to do this for a living and are just stuck in it because they don't have any other options.

I never wanted to do anything else from the time I was a little kid! I was always fascinated by trucks. When we used to go on family vacations I would sit in the back of the station wagon with the fake wood on the sides and listen and watch the big trucks rolling by. I would wonder...Where are they headed? There used to be a lot of guys like me in this business but now...Not so many.

I'm in my 36th year in this business and have been around these trucks since about '71 and I am just as happy to get between those doors today as I was when I bought my first Freightliner Cabover in 1975! There are not many things that a guy can do for a living that are as cool as what we get to do. Some stuff sucks! It always has but for the most part it's better than anything else that I could think of to do for a job.

 

From where I sit, you need the deodorant more.

I think the hours of service really have an effect on the way truckers are. The 14 window makes you run without the stops that used to be available. The companies also push for drivers to sleep at the docks.

But then again, the older days, we had a tv maybe. Now there is movies, dvds and the computers.

 

The CB has been so quiet lately, Sometimes I'll talk to another one of our drivers on it. A few others drivers will join in and we have a good talk. Most drivers that pass me won't wave because they're on the phone, I get tired of looking over at them after a while. I love being out here. Should have started a lot earlier.
If the truckstop has a "watering hole" nearby, you'll find a lot of truckers and always have a good time. Be responsible.

 

It's not just trucking it's people in general. we have become a society of ME ME ME NOW NOW NOW. When I was growing up I new everyone that lived within a mile of me and everyone looked out for each other. I live in a town of 500 people now for 2 years and have never met 1/2 my neighbors on the same block. People just don't care about anyone but themselves these days.

 

Sad isn't it?

 

Extremely sad!

 

Everything is changing. Lots of folks on the roads these days are not even from this country. More and more you hear foreign accents on the CBs and this is not necessarily bad... but the culture of the road has changed for sure. Many are out here to make a living, not a life. I often do not turn the CB on for two reasons. First, it's usually quiet. Second, I get sick of the absolute garbage people talk about. Driver, I don't really care who you slept with last night, where, what you did, and whose wife it was. I don't care about where the best t***y bars are or what you wish you could do there. Earbuds, etc. have replaced the CB for OTR entertainment, helping fill the empty miles.
ParkRanger, even having said all that... a shower once every couple days and some deodorant at least once a day would still be a good idea!

 

Yeah, but your one of the 5000 that key up and say why is traffic at a stand still???

 

At the Pilot, they have a new trucking magazine. It's written in Russian. There's a couple of ads showing mail order brides, I think.