The Fuel Hauler Thread

Hey guys, the rack up here at Kinder-Morgan San Jose is horrendous with the port-potties. Just absolutely disgusting... we have a very respectable job, we're not just truck drivers. It's a shame people can't have more pride in their work than this. It shows a serious lack of respect for themselves.

Haha but you think you have it bad? I was leaving Stockton last night with my first load. I got on Hwy 4 East and, as I am getting on the on-ramp, I start passing up what is probably one of the largest homeless camps in a 100-mile radius. So I look to my right, and see something so unbelievably obscene. A homeless dude, is going to town on what I assumed was probably a prostitute, or some other unkempt lady who probably also lives on the street. These people were just uh, screwing each other on a mattress, right on the freeway on-ramp entrance. In full view of rush hour traffic. At 6:30PM on a Friday evening. I knew Stockton was BAD but Jesus, this was a first for me--and I've seen a lot of crazy ####. I couldn't get the horrible image out of my head for like two hours.

 

The writing has been on the wall for years with everyone dissolving their private fleets. Apparently high volume high turnover low pay is a better business model than a stable roster of elite highly paid drivers. This is one of the things I have been very concerned about over here. And it comes full circle back to the porter potties. We do a job that can be performed by low class vandals and as long as that's where the bar is set for us, it's only going to get worse.

If you want a bright side, I can tell you that you still make more money working 4 12s than the majority of drivers working 5 or 6 12s. But management probably sees that as a problem.

Good luck with your fight.

 

Moloko yea dude... I loaded at KM San Jose. It was pathetic. Guys writing on the walls of the portas talking #### about Toro or #### this operator etc... I mean come on we are all grown men. We only had 2 stations that were Valero that needed to be loaded at KM. Every other station we did was Chevron so we loaded down the road and had bathrooms inside like civilized humans. As GasHauler said... We all need to carry it out for our generation and be an example. Let's be role models and have some pride and deal with the ######## bc it's not going to get any better. The old man that trained me hauled gas for 40 years since he got out of Vietnam. He is still today one of my best friends. Watching him load and unload is amazing. The guy has so much knowledge and carried himself with so much pride. He was an elite GasHauler.. The best of the best in trucking. And he said when he started out he was nothing in comparison to his peers. A true inspiration and watching him do crazy maneuvers in a truck and trailer really pissed me off lol. Stick with it fellas and be the old men that the young dudes look up to.

 

Stick it out guys, I am a young driver 24 y/o hoping to one day haul gas or any kind of tanker. It's gonna be tough .. you guys already have experience and are pissed about some things but hey this is the career we chose gotta do it.. like Beau said stick with it and be the old men young guys like me look up to.

 

Yeah, this defaming speech against coworkers, is exactly why I became a truck driver. I want to avoid the drama and "office politics" (rack politics?) because I just want to do my job and go home. For the most part, that is what happens. Going out of your way to demean somebody else at work demonstrates a lack of professionalism and maturity in the work place. I'd expect this type of behavior from the swine who work in cubicles all day, but not from us civilized men. Haha.

I really do enjoy this niche of truck driving. In lieu of a college degree, this is the best career for me. It is a job where one can really carry oneself with a sense of pride. I just sit there and drive, by myself, in the middle of the night. I have my radio, my little beverage, and eleven hours of mind-clearing alone time.

Really, this job is the best kept secret. Nobody wants to be a truck driver because of old stereotypes that we are all felons, methamphetamine abusers, anti-social criminals. I only meet two of those three criteria, and I'm not going to specify which ones on this forum. We do better than a lot of guys with "college degrees" and 75k in loan debt. Uh, alright that's all I have to say about that.

 

Ah 10-4 Cali kid. My company was great but had issues like anyone else did so I moved on to other tanker work. I miss that station work. I dig what I'm doing now though. I feel ya man it's getting tough out there... I can't speak for the rest of the U.S. but as far as this thread goes... The majority of us are in California. Some of the commons are bringing us down. Like most on this board, I got into trucking to get into gas. In my area, the pay and benefits were not good enough to support my newlywed wife and baby. It broke my heart bc I LOVE hauling gas. We may move to another state in a few years so I'll probably come back to fuel but until that day I gotta do what I gotta do for a family. California is a rough state if you live near the coast. The valley ain't so bad but it'll go from $25 to $16 or less an hour. But then again if I made 40 or 50k a year I could probably have a nice house in Bako or Fresno. But stick it out fellas, we are the next generation of tanker drivers... Let's tell our stories and give these new drivers some hope bc this is one of the last blue collar professions that you can support a family and live a decent life.

 

Beau, I too was trained by legends. They were old Richfield drivers and they made the truck sing. Very laid back but extremely tentative. They went on to retire with 30 years safe driving awards and those are the drivers we consider legends. It's one thing to drive mile after mile and get an award for keeping the truck safe and it's another to drive in the city for 30 years and not have a single scratch on the truck. I'm now retired and miss the job. The more I hear the more I must have been with a special group of drivers. We all got along and helped each other if it was needed.

Now I hear that common carriers are going to take over. It will take some time but if these companies watch the cost they will soon realize that a dedicated company will beat out a common carrier in overall expense. Just like the company driver beat out the dedicated company. But they seem to want to cut corners and cost. Sooner or later there will be a huge law suit because the lesser trained driver rolled the truck or had a spill. It's coming and maybe some of you guys that may still be driving when they go back to professionalism will reap the awards.