So many new drivers.

When I went through Bama, I mostly stayed on the bigroad. There was a stop that I had in Selma however that I did get hassled in. Its been decades since Ive been that way, and right off hand, I cant remember the route. I would leave Smoke and head towards Monkey and turn off somewheres and take this little 2 lane road full of stickhaulers to Selma.
There was this little no name town way out in the middle of nowhere where the speed limit would drop from 55 to 15 or 20 mph. First time I came through there, I see the sign saying "REDUCED SPEED AHEAD", which usually means 40-45 mph speed. I see the sign saying 20 with some bosshog looking deputy sitting underneath it. I flatspotted some tires slowing the truck.

Then there were those little hick towns that lined US78. All the drivers were nervous about running hwy5 because of the Ghost Woman. Youre right, Bama was rough.

But Bama was rough on cars too. They used to line up and down 72 between Bridgeport and Scottsboro harrassing everyone.

Thankfully, Bama isnt very big.

 

You worked for OTL too !????!

The guy was/is a complete ###. But that check was spot on without question. And the miles

 

I hope the economy comes around so they can go back to where they came from. At least winter is around the corner and a few will hang it up. They have all aspects of otr screwed up, getting road rage, can,t park in a spot at the truck stop,etc. There,s not many experienced drivers out there in my opinion, I try to run at night so I don,t have to drive around them rookies,since there afraid of the dark and park when the sun is going down.

 

I hope the economy comes around so that people don't have to struggle day and night. Hope the attitude is directed toward you in a much different way if the state of the economy (god forbid) punches your ticket. It's all too easy to scrutinize when you're sitting pretty.
So some people are choosing to sample driving a truck, I guarantee you none of them chose to to be stripped of their source of income.

You sir, are my personal hero. I can only dream and pray to become as miserable as you some day.:smt023

 

I share his sentiment somewhat and by no means does that mean we are miserable people. Although I have not driven as long as him, I have seen the decline in quality among new drivers and the industry as a whole in the last 7 years. It is frustrating. I was new once but had some common sense and courtesy - something that is definitely lacking now. I won't lump all new drivers in because there are many who will be assets to the industry, but they get over-shadowed by those who will job hop their way right out of trucking.

One thing I agree with V8-Mack about is night driving. I run night line-haul that takes me on a route most try to avoid. The nice part is the other drivers on those roads are generally regional or LTL line-haul drivers with some experience. We still ask if someone is lighter and wants to get around before the pull or will mention we have to take it a little easy down the grade. It makes a world of difference. You can actually run 19 and get to know some of these drivers instead of the usual interstate and truck stop crap.

 

You know where some of the animosity comes from?

The fact that trucking has been flooded with new drivers this summer. NONE of which have experience driving in adverse conditions with 80k lbs, and 75 feet of steel and plastic.

Loads for experienced drivers will increase this winter. But those loads will be above the snow line.

While the newer guys, will be doing one of 2 things...starving as they flood the southern routes with 1000's of drivers who have not tasted a tire chain yet. And most likely won't their first year.

Or, causing major backups through the mountain passes.

This is what the experienced drivers have to look forward to this winter. Absolutely NO southern route freight available. #### their home time, they live too far south. We need them north.

And truth be known....the NW is where the money is in winter. BUT, we need a break every now and then from the snow and ice. Or we get cranky.

I lived and died by those forcast maps last winter. Often pushing well past my 11, to ensure I was well in front of or past an approaching storm front that was dumping snow out the wazoo and winds approaching 60 mph. How many of the new guys are willing to do that? How many of them can?

 

How many of them are going to end up jack-knifed in a ditch, or overturned? And dead?

And it's not just them... it's the stuff they do in front of us that gets us involved because of their inexperience.

 

I actually feel sorry for some of these guys. This will be a trial by fire, for many of them this winter.

Feast or famine will rule the day. How many of them can afford to refuse a load into the high mountains? Even if they could.

If they avoid the NW & NE. They will suffer from even lower pay checks. And many companies try to keep a first year driver as far south, as often as possible during their first winter. Giving them just enough, to get a taste of whats to come.

How many are prepared for the 1-4 day waits that will be mandated on them by their company ?? IE Covenant mandatory weather shut downs for an entire state......

How many of them are prepared to get a $100 paycheck ???

How many of them will actually have chains on their truck, not cables?

How many of them actually know how to put them on, and when? Will they wait for someone to turn on a sign, tell them to,...or simply do it?

 

If what I've seen the last couple of winters is any judge, many of them will have never driven on black ice or even know what it is. Let alone an inch of clear ice. Let alone any of that on a grade.

Made it through that ice storm down in Oklahoma last year - downpours from thunderstorms onto highways that were in 32-degree weather all day, with dropping temperatures behind a cold front. I slowed down when I saw the outside air temp dropping through 28-degrees, and got a ration of crap on the CB about it. That's when I started to see these guys off in the ditch, jack-knifed, and eventually one overturned - all because none of these guys have a clue about driving on ice.

Heck, how many of these guys even know how to go down a grade without a jake? Like on ice???

 

Don't even go there... I like to #### my pants in Idaho a couple years back. Waiting on the sand truck as a set of triples barely missed my cab, with me standing in front of it.

I got off that mountain....without the sand. It was too dangerous to even attempt putting on chains, due to my location.

Me and the Big R driver with the triples...slept on the same ramp that night. How he recovered those pups...I'll never know. I don't think he knows either.