OK, so what's your solution, then?

That could be said for both parties. I agree that Party loyalists are hurting us all. Our system was designed to have balance. Extremism is not healthy. Balance is key here. A person voted for whomever would do the best job not because there was a "D" or an "R" in front of their names back before the cancer had eaten it's way deep into our core/culture. The Left has been taken over by Marixsts and the Right has been commandeered by Globalists. Both sides are two vultures picking away at what's left of America like the rotting carcass it has been turned into

 

Yea the middle of the road is the place to be, or maybe just a touch to the right because this america and we drive on the right side of the road.

 

The only thing that will make this industry safer, is the education, and finding qualified persons that have the mentality, morals, and good sense God gave a Piss ant. With the heroin epidemic, alcohol use by drivers, and every capable bodied person is issued a CDL, and a job. We will not see a decline in the accident, mortality, and stupidity of society in our industry. Regulations, technology, and supposed safety measures are not making a difference in the industry either.

 

We seriously need to reel it in and stop drawing lines in the sand over political views. Our division is exactly what they want. If we stood together we could ALL make the most needed changes ASAP.

 

Extremism is a disease. If we don't recall how to work together and compromise to solutions that work for everyone, then this great experiment in representative democracy will fail.

 

I’m not sure who you’re adressing... but I’m still awake so I’ll answer lol. I havent known trucking without elogs/HOS the way they currently are. By nature I say f regulations, but sometimes they’re necessary.
Just because you and MOST had a long safe career running several log books, and so on, does not take away from the fact that there was an issue. So i guess in my mind, elogs just make it harder/impossible to cheat the HOS laws. That being said, I truly do understand the hatred towards it from you guys who have been in it long enough to have had it both ways.

And to your other comment, If your asking about cable news, I don’t listen or watch any. It’s the same b.s just dressed up in different talking points. My other reply to you really wasn’t supposed to have emphasis on politics, maybe you missed my point.

 

Politics. What a choice we have as Americans (A #######, or fat ###)

 

A touch to the right on personal freedoms, and touch to the left to keep the major corpo’s from ##### us blind while laughing at us would suit me fine.

And for both sides... you righty’s toss Limbaugh, Hannity, Trump, and Pence and whomever into a fire pit, and I’ll toss in Pelosi, Reid, Hillary, and who the F ever and we’ll call it good.

Fair?

 

Have all new entrants treat the career with the respect that you apparently have given it.
If all that you've said is true... you've got my respect.
You have initiative and drive.
You put in the WORK to succeed, and applied learned skills to your trade to get into a position that suited your lifestyle.

It works if you're intelligent.

 

In my time there were only three Megas, so to speak. JBH, Schnider and one I forget (It really does not matter anyhow)

Training was not just holding the wheel but in those days it's going over everything in that truck. What's this gauge for.. that's right it's a pyro. Why do we have it, how do we use that information and when etc. Given a long enough amount of time in that cab you are learning. Before they let you out with some kind of load. It might take weeks before you are allowed to be loaded.

When you are handed the key to your first truck and first load, there is two thoughts. First, you are late already get going. And second God help you if you screw this up. And in those days there is no internet, no cell phones no nothing. What you learned and will learn is what you got. And that's it. You tried to learn something new every day.

At 21 you are not allowed to do too much. At 25 if you were good you might get into something really important like hauling gasoline provided insurance approves. Everything will take off from there with good payroll and so on. By 30 you were expected to be able to take on 21 year olds fresh from school with a class A. They WILL be tested and if they fail the testing, that means you did not teach them adequately. The root cause of the failure will be found. at least one of you will be out of a job. Follow me?

Well... the computers came along. Then the satellite. I remember learning about the wonderful satellite that promised to do away with all the payphones in the world. And what did my Fleet Owner/Dispatcher say to me? "TOO *&^% FANCY, Get out of my office with that crap, I run 40 #### years without it and I aint spending &^%$ for a pile of etc etc etc"

Well, him and his 40 years got buried in technology. First I was in awe and wonder.

Then the speed limitations hit. Then the air breathing engines went away in favor of computer engines that whine. Then the company started micromanaging. THen then then then. Death by a thousand cuts.

In the 80's when pulling upgrade for Scranton from say 78 up 81 we would sort ourselves out. Empties, and fast horse trucks up front. The heavies go into the Caboose and everyone else into the rocking chair. But we are all sorted and rolling.

Today? You have a herd of governed asthmatic trucks bunched on that road fighting to get past each other between 61 and 64 beyond reason for three counties if not two states.

And finally you managed to start building trucks that are all plush and no knowledge. If you needed something to fix the computer will tell you do this or that. Otherwise you as the driver are not fit to make decisions for the truck. You are told to get out while people hooked up computers to really find out what you did to it to break it. Oh I meant what's wrong with the truck. Follow me?

There were times I bit back at being treated no better than a coffee pot boy in some board room to be kicked around. They don't like my spirit. They do not respect what knowledge I have learned and how best I can get a load from here to there and so on. They only want that money now and everything else is simply wasted BS that stands between them and their precious dollar.

Im too expensive as a company driver with my experience now. It is way better to hire three immigrants for the cost of one of me. And it is better that these immigrants know nothing about our trucks. Or barely understand the english enough to get from here to there with computers doing the thinking for them (GPS)

And you wonder why every time someone screws up royally against a 11 foot bridge trucking gets a really bad reputation today.

But that's not here or there. Never mind all that. As far as I am concerned trucking is fun. But someone managed to take all the fun out of it.

I don't like that too much.