All good things must come to an end

Started driving a tractor trailer the day after I was honorably discharged from the US Navy (four years) on April 18, 1977 (over 44 years ago) and going into retirement next Friday, July 23, 2021. Today I type this on a 2021 iPad Pro. Before it may have been on a typewriter and posted on as bulletin board at a truck stop’s diner.

My first tractor was a 1962 conventional Mack. The “sleeper” was just an 20 inch wide, retro fit bunk. Didn’t know how to drive it as there were no schools. Went down to the DMV and took a ten question test that was really stupid (they didn’t know what to ask). Like: True or False, “Since you will be driving the largest vehicle on the road, do you have the right of way over everyone else?” AND “Do you have to follow the same rules and regulations as the people that drive cars?” After passing this simple test, I had to pay $16.00 for a two year Class A Chauffeurs License. Showed this to my new boss and he pointed to the Mack with a 12 foot wide, 65 foot long mobile home attached to it. I walked over to it and waited for them to come and train me, but they never came. Told them that I didn’t know how to drive a truck and certainly not able to pull this huge load. Asked if I could start with a travel trailer. His answer was, “You’ll be fine. Here’s the directions for the delivery. Good luck!” Then he walked away.

Now I knew how to shift a manual transmission like in my car, but this was very different. It wouldn’t go into gear the same way. Another driver said I had to double clutch and he explained it in 20 seconds and left. My destination was only 30 miles away, but it took me 3.5 hours to get there. Just couldn’t figure out the shifting and stalled out many times. When I got back I asked another driver to help me. He gave up quickly and then another driver tried. He said that I was untrainable. Finally a third driver gave it a shot, but before we started moving he told me that it depends on what the rpm of the engine and the speed of the truck is to what gear you should be in. I remember shouting, “You mean there’s a science to this? I thought you just put the sticks in what ever gear would fit”. At one time he told me what gear it should be in an`d it just slid `right in perfectly! A year later I was training new drivers. Even those that never used a manual transmission. Taught over 900 drivers over the next several years. Some for other companies. In 2010 we started using automated transmissions. There wEre pretty bad back then, but are amazing today.

Well maybe we’ll chat later. Next week I’ll be driving a rocking chair watching the grass grow.

 

These days I’ll often be talking with a new driver. Sometimes they would complain about their tractor. I would ask them, “Do you have power steering?” They would say yes. “Do you have air conditioning?” (Yes). “I wouldn’t complain. It took me 4 tractors to get power steering and 15 years to get air conditioning. All we had was a fan that blew hot air at us all day.” You could cook an egg on the metal doghouse (engine cover). I demonstrated this one morning.

Today the highways are full of trucks. In the 70’s and 80’s you would have to drive 10 to 15 miles to see another truck. Truck stops were mostly mom and pop with 20 to 25 parking spaces, but only 3-4 were filled every night. Rest areas were ghost towns at night. The parking lots were dark for cars and trucks. Just a single light up by the rest rooms. This is why people stayed away from them at night.