Trucker Screenplay -- Need Input from Truckers

Someone has done this I think. It was 60 Minutes or 20/20 and it was several years ago. The best way to do is go to a truck stop and talk to drivers. Have to be careful and sort the BS out from the real stuff. Go to school, get a license and go drive for awhile maybe.

 

I would stick to the '70s format, makes for a way more exciting story than running late, sleeping 10hrs a day, and driving a truck set at 60mph, which you can only do when not sitting in traffic for 5 of your allowed 11hrs driving time.
"willieboy48" feel free to P.M. me for more serious Q&A

 

I would contact some companies rather than dealing with truck stop inquiries. Most of us could not give a ride if we wanted to. Four or five companies from across the country and of different sizes will give a view from different angles. There is a ton of difference when working with a company with 5 trucks, 50 trucks or 500 trucks for instance. Also, what a guy is pulling gives him/her a different outlook. Hopper bottoms are a world apart from refers and neither has much in common with a heavy hauler. Give me a shout if there is any question I might be able to answer.

 

Look around the truckstops for the guy with the ten-gallon hat, pieplate belt buckle, chain drive wallet and smokes rolled up in his t-shirt sleeve. His truck should have about 400 running lights and a lot of chrome with ladies on the mudflaps...then you can get the real scoop!

Oh Gawd, I kill meself!

 

My husband and I are owner operators. I think it would be important for you to grasp the difference between company drivers, owner-operators and the independent truckers.

Another important issue is the difference between men drivers, women drivers, same sex teams and male/female teams (not all are married). Some of these differences can be addressed through humor.

I am a woman who came out on my own and drove solo while my husband retired from his job of 30 yrs. Yes.....for a lot of us this is a second career.

When my husband retired he went through a truck school and then came onto the truck with me. I was responsible for fine tuning his green experience. My husband is a brave man, some may think of him as a saint. He climbed into a cab that is smaller than most prison cells with a woman who was menopausal, had quit smoking and was his boss....

Another issue that I hope you may consider is the solitary life that we choose. Drivers deal with this in many different ways. The solitary life impacts each driver in a different manner also. Some deal with it better than others.

Lastly, the most important topic may be the public's view of truck drivers. I tell relatives that to many we are 2nd class individuals. Similarities of the public's opinion may be drawn between the European Gypsies and the U.S. truck driver. We are becoming less and less welcome whether it be in our hometowns and being able to park our equipment on our own property or if we are even able to enter a city limits for the business of delivering our load.

This is also an industry that is double and triple taxed and is at the verge of buckling under that very extreme burden.

We also are one of, if not the most, regulated industries.

My husband and I specialize in hauling A A & E; Arms, Ammunition and Explosives
We have been through and have had to pay for:

1) Our individual State's Hazmat background check and State endorsement

2) The federal government's Transportation Workers' Identification Card (TWIC)
for accessing our U.S. Ports.

3) U.S. Passport

4) New York and New Jersey's Sealink Card which duplicates the the above TWIC

On top of the above we must pass a physical every two years and are expecting the regulations for passing that physical to become considerably more complicated.

In other words, we don't just crawl into a big rig and start driving.

If anyone reading this finds anything to add it sure would be welcome.

Kind Regards,

Dale and Laurel Simpson
Team Express Transport, Inc..
leased to Landstar, Ranger

P.S. I forgot to mention the record keeping and bookkeeping which is a nightmare.

 

Eactly the problem. To make it interesting, you have to add the Hollywood sensationalism. Who wants to see some mascara wearing, skinflute playing, 105 lb Hollywood douchebag portray a trucker?

 

Or, if it's summer time, a tank-top instead of a T-shirt.
Might ever be wearing spurs.
OH!
And look for tatoos.
Should be a lot of 'em.

You forgot to mention that those chrome "ladies" are naked and have pert nipples.

No doubt 'bout that.
That's 'bout as real as it gets.

You're killin' me here too, Red Fox.
Don't stop now.

 

Nevermind that...if youre going to have the lead role be pretty and feminine, use a woman. Dark hair, beautiful eyes, great rack, mankiller legs, driving a hood. And give her a rig that truckers dont normally see a woman drive... like a cattle truck (sorry, doorslammers, but I dont think spending time with lumpers should ever be in a movie...its bad enough you guys got to deal with that in real life). Farm girl, not a trucking school graduate, owner operator with her own authority.
She shouldnt talk alot (the cute women drivers rarely do), and she doesnt follow a guy around like a puppy whimpering after she drops her drawers. Have her be able to to hold her own in a bar fight. Give her a dog...something huge... like a Malamute.
If youre going to give her a love interest, give her a real man (200+ lbs, has a job, and not pretty.)