Driving with a heavy coat

I got used to it while running a tow truck that I had to be in and out of constantly and later on while running machinery that had no windows, let alone heat. It's the same as wearing heavy boots after a while. You just get stronger and don't notice the extra weight anymore. Sometimes on these short runs I forget to turn the heat on since I'm not cold. It does bother me on a long run. If I'm going to be in the cab for hours I shed the coat, a light jacket is enough.

 

A little over 10 years ago I was doing reefer runs out to the East Coast and my inlaws decided they would do me a favor and buy me a nicer winter coat than they thought I would have gotten for myself. I got out to my home territory of Los Angeles in late October just long enough to get a couple of days at home and then headed out but not before my wife handed up a package and said open it once I was in a colder area.

It was not until a few weeks later when I found myself sitting in a truck stop somewhere in upper Michigan that I decided to actually look in the package, which I did just far enough to reveal what I took to be a nice quality black bomber style jacket from the looks of it. It looked too nice to wear just day to day so I put it away and stuck to wearing my trusty old North Face nylon jacket and forgot about the leather jacket until early in December.

I had pulled into a small truck stop somewhere in Ohio and decided that after dinner and a hot shower I would start wearing the new jacket as it was cold out and looking like it would snow that night. Once I was done with the shower and done getting dressed I opened the package, took out what I thought would be a bomber style jacket and to my surprise was not. It was a very nice all leather trenchcoat, like you would see worn in old movies.

I thought it was not very practical for truck driving but for just going to and from the truck and wearing off duty it would be fine. I put it on and topped it off with my well worn Mack hat. I had not gotten 30' when an old timer stopped me, leaned over and quietly asked if I worked for KAOS, a reference to the old Get Smart TV show. I got it, laughed about it with him for a moment then walked away.

Just as I hit the exit doors another old timer coming in adressed me as Baron Von Richthofen, AKA the Red Baron of World War 1 fame and saluted me. I saluted back, laughed and then got my butt back to my truck where once I was safely inside I ditched the trenchcoat even as a couple of funnymen got on the radio and asked where the Red Baron had gotten to and if Snoopy was around too.

That was enough that I did not put it on again until a cold night weeks later at a truck stop somewhere in Missouri when I had to walk across the highway to a small store to get some supplies. Once in the store a couple of TSMT drivers noticed me and quietly approached. They stopped, said hello and then asked if I was DOT, Gestapo or a combination of the two. I just smiled, bailed out of there and never wore that thing again.

A couple of weeks later I found myself at a truck stop in Oregon and all I know about it is that there was a casino right there with a huge eagle on the sign. A younger driver I had once trained pulled in as I was fueling and came over with his wife to talk; she mentioned that she wanted go have dinner at a decent restaurant but he needed a nice jacket for that. One thing led to another and I ended up selling them the leather trench coat for what I thought was a fair price, dinner and $100.

They loved it and he paired it with a leather Harley biker cap so we were all happy with the deal. I went right back to wearing my comfortable old jacket and confessed to my wife in my next call home about selling the trenchcoat. She stopped fussing about it once I had sent her the $100 and from then on it was keep it simple and comfortable as others in this post have said, nothing more needed.

 

I wear a melton jacket with leather sleeves all winter. Many times I do not even bother to put it on to refuel or run in for a coffee or something. Mind you, the Canadian plates give it away and most just laugh with the 'crazy Canadian' comment. LOL

If I am wearing it, I strip it off on my way into the truck and hang it on the back of the seat. I just cannot get comfortable wearing a coat on long drives. Short trips, I will wear a coat just to save some hassle. I got into that habit during driving school and never looked back.

Between the Antarctic series parkas and the 3/4 gloves with no fingertips. I cannot get some of these "stylish" truckers. Oh, can't forget the huge boom on the phone headset they wear EVERYWHERE. I wonder if they are waterproof for the shower.

 

Always preferred my M1A1 OD green flight jacket.....

 

I throw on a Carhartt lined hoodie, and a ball cap while out of the truck. I take it off before I get in, and drive in my T-shirt all day. Thats what heaters are for.

 

as soon as i am in the truck i shed the jacket and boots--i might keep the shoes on if its a short run--but if i am going to be in there all day--shoes are off--and definately no jacket---
--unless going thru manitoba and sk--then the jacket is jammed up against the doot to keep the #### wind out

 

you drive barefoot?

 

no--i wear socks
i do have a friend who drives bare foot tho

 

<shakin head> won't take 30 seconds to take coat off before leaving, but will risk life and limb to do it on the road