Serious question that needs an answer. Why do so many truck drivers just bend over and take it?

My first truck had 20" wheels with locking rings, spring suspension, spring seat, rigid mount cab, no A/C... it *did* have power steering, though, and a 3-position Jake with a floor pedal switch. 400 Big Cam Cummins and a 7155 CAT transmission. Had a cigar lighter, too. I used that to power a boom box I put on the floor in order to have tunes. Ran out of gear at only 72 mph, but the speed limits were 55 when it was built, so it didn't matter. Rated to 105,000, and the trailer had a tridem with Dayton wheels.

Got a flat? Break out the spare and change it on the side of the road with a couple pry bars. If it was an inner, you'd have to make it an outer to change it, and then on those Daytons, hope you got the wheel properly centered with the wedges or it would be a LOOOOONG bouncy ride. Have to tarp the load? It wasn't nylon, it was heavy canvas you were dragging around.

That's one reason it paid more back in the day... no creature comforts, harder work, and more self-reliance. Its also why truckers weren't so fat back in the day... sweating all summer when driving, combined with the long-removed physical aspects of the job kept them naturally in shape. That high speed chicken feed didn't hurt, either.

 

Good times....

 

I had to drive one of those OLD grain trucks from the 50's with no power anything on the farm.... NO spank you very much for the thought of taking that out on the road for days...

 

As a new driver it is hard to get a job what has decent pay and I’m taking about more that $50,000 a year. The hiring process takes about 3 to 4 weeks. If you need a job right away you better have some back up money in your account to pay for your rent and expenses. Being unexperienced for what you can ask for makes it also hard to find a good company who is fair and will take care of you when you start out.

 

Gramps ran 3 rounds a week Youngstown Ohio to Chicago Illinois in a Super Service White. 250 Half track gas flat head. Single axle, Single axle trailer. 50k steel and no interstates hwy. Said you walked beside it to pull some hills. No one had sleeper trucks around here. When he started hot rodding his stuff, the old timers called him a "Prima Donna". 1946-47ish.

 

Sigh..

 

That’s the cure right there.

 

I drove 556 miles today, Started my day at about 4 AM this morning was done by 2:30 PM. I have a late delivery tomorrow so time to kill. I got on my Instacart app and ordered some fillet and some jumbo shrimp and stuff to make a nice Caesar salad. Prepared it on the truck, took a nap, woke up a few hours later went for a walk, after it cooled off a bit, oh and the nap was in a perfectly climate controlled truck. Complete with all the basic amenities crammed in it that you might have at home.
After I sleep for probably at least six or seven hours because I’m in no rush tomorrow, if anything does break I simply pick up my phone and call the yard in within an hour or so someone will be out to rescue me. No worries.
I’ll drive the rest of the 374 miles to my delivery point, drive a few miles from there and hook up to my next load and off I go, or if I like, I can call it a day and just sleep there and leave early in the morning.

The old timers would never have a few days strung together like this. It didn’t even exist back then. We got it pretty good y’all.

 

The good old days were always better, except when it comes to the better future days of better equipment and communication.

These future days we all have cell phones, and most of us have onboard computers that keep us in the loop 24/7.
We have inverters and fridges and AC and so much more that keeps us comfy. Power everything.
Big bunks, lots of storage space...

And still people like to complain about how it was so much better in the stone age.
Remember when you had to find a pay phone to call in?
How about breaking down in the middle of nowhere, with no way to call anyone?

The lizards are pretty much gone these days, which is nice.

 

Driving truck is what pushes me to get back on a rig and get out of this country away from everyone on the road and the DOT.