Questions to Truckers... For a fiction story!

There are quite a few videos (too many,really) of truckers on youtube. You could get alot to glean from them.

 

Never had that feeling. You seem to suffer from agoraphobia. I doubt there are many people who drive for a living who do.

CB radio is barely used anymore. You've been watching too many shows from the 1970's.

You work either for 1 company, you are an owner operator who works for 1 company, or you are an independent owner-operator who drives by the load.

I'd suggest that if you are writing fiction, you stick with something you know. You know nothing about this business.

 

The true daily grind can be rather repetitive.

That long open interstate is just the ribbon to an end.

Had a short haul guy doing several 100 mile round trips every day, 5 days a week, described it as"wearing a groove in I-295"

Rinse and repeat.

 

I'll try to answer your questions sequentially, based on my own experience.

It never bothers me being alone out on the highway. As a matter of fact, I love it. I enjoy the scenery and I also enjoy being away from others. It's not that I hate people, but I have a dislike for the vast majority. I have a condition called PTSD (no, it's not like in Rambo movies where I want to go around killing people because I'm having flashbacks of being tortured) and I just really don't trust people too much.

The culture in trucking, for me, is one of essentially doing my own thing. Although I work for a company and use their equipment (trucks, trailers, etc.), I'm at my best when I'm alone (see my answer above). I personally haven't experienced much in the way of a brotherhood or camaraderie or, as you put it, community among the people where I work. Half of them can't even speak proper English, so there's not much to base anything on there. The rest seem preoccupied with themselves and many are backstabbers, so I just go on my merry way. I do my pre-trip inspection and hit the road. When I get back to the yard, I do a quick post-trip inspection and then head for the door and then home.

I work for a major logistics company. The pay is adequate, but the people suck. I'm big on safety. My number one concern is to move freight efficiently and safely. I have a duty to the other vehicles on the road and pedestrians to ensure my vehicle is in good working order and that I drive like a professional. The last thing I want is for someone's life to be at risk because of me.

So to sum it up, I enjoy the solitude out on the open road and knowing that I'm doing my part to keep the roads safe and to keep the economy moving.

I appreciate your curiosity into this and I respect that you're a writer. Even though I'm a trucker, my first passion was always writing. Despite the stereotypes, not all truckers are fat dolts who can't form a proper sentence lol.

 

I was brought up by a group of old timers. Family and friends that were truck operators not drivers. An operator loves the sound an old diesel makes from the time it fires up and as it pulls thru top gear. An operator can make sweet sounding operatic music with a toe on the throttle peddle during shifts. The shifter sticks become the conductors stick while the engine cylinders and straight stacks are the orchestra. It used to be that way for some. But it has always been just a job for most.

 

Now , from what i've read , the orchestra is the beeping and whirls from proximity sensors . There is a bonus , its a light show from the dash , like a Christmas tree . Dark side of the moon can be que'd up to take advantage of said light show . Smdh.

 

Only older trucks make the real music. IMO, you can’t beat the sound of a pre emission engine breathing easy through strait pipes, while an experienced musician steers and gears it. Back when Freightliner was a trucking company instead of just a manufacturer, the owner said once that the smoothest driver he ever hired was a retired drummer. Had rhythm down pat. I like the phraseology of truck operator, not driver. Most “drivers” nowadays can’t even drive a manual

 

Those long stretches of road become familiar, just like the roads you frequently travel in your hometown. The only time I get nervous is when the weather gets icy/snowy/foggy, or when I'm going somewhere I've never been before on 2-lane roads or on surface streets within cities. And I never get nervous on the open road, the satellite is always tracking me and sending telemetry data to the company. They can look on a computer screen and see where I am, how fast I'm moving, or how long I've been sitting.

Those of us who are employed by a trucking company drive for that company for the duration of our employment - I've been driving for the same company for over 11 years. Owner-operators who have their own truck usually lease on to a carrier and only haul that company's loads, or if they have their own operating authority they can haul for anyone who tenders them a load, typically a freight broker, but they may also haul directly for a shipper if they have a connection on the inside.

 

This.