No one can argue that the world of trucking has been through so many changes in the past twenty years are so that many are having a hard time keeping up. Just as we begin to learn and understand the rules and regulations, we are faced with new ones to learn. The morale of the “trucker” is down and so is our reputation in the public eye. It didn’t used to be that way. Truckers used to be a happy group of people loved by everyone. The truck stop diners used to be “The Place” to take your family for sunday dinner. The American trucker was one to be respected because not only was their job important but as a whole, truckers used to be respectable people who our kids idolized. Anymore, some parents are afraid to bring their kids to a truck stop just to use the bathroom. Why is this? What happened to the respectable American trucker’s image?
As our nations towns became more populated, our roads became more crowded. The demand for products to be hauled from place to place went up and more truckers were needed to get the job done. I’ve heard many drivers say that some companies lowered the standard by putting just about anyone with a pulse behind the wheel of a truck. Then what happened? The 
government stepped in and implemented the “CDL”. Companies started doing back ground checks and training became mandatory for most carriers. I believe the growing pains of this industry are far from over. I also believe that many of the new rules and regulations we are dealing with as well as the ones being proposed are necessary. Think about it. The work ethic is down, attitudes are bad, drug use is still a problem, the divorce rates are high, and driver health is worse than it’s ever been. Piles of human feces in plastic bags, plastic bottles with urine and other disgusting garbage is constantly littering the truck stop parking lots. Every day we see more drivers that can barely get in and out of their truck because they are in such bad health. How many times have you been standing in line at the cashier and wish you had a bottle of air freshener cause somebody just walked in that smelled so bad you were gagging. And the language coming out of the mouths of some of these drivers is just downright vulgar. So why has the american public seemed to have turned their backs on us? Hmmmmmm I wonder.
The days of the “bad boy hero” are over! It’s time to clean up our act and hopefully, sometime in the future, truckers will be respected again. It’s not going to be easy. We all need to take responsibility for this task by learning and following the rules. What? You don’t like all these new rules? Well, the way I see it, we do not have a choice. We either get with the program or get out. Yes, it’s that simple. Sitting around bitching and complaining gets nothing accomplished and when others overhear us doing this it brings our reputation down even further. I am not like this and maybe you aren’t either,but there are so many out here that are and they are ruining it for the rest of us.
I am grateful for the opportunities that have come my way through tucking. My life has changed in so many ways. I have become a much simpler person and less materialistic that I used to be. we are able to participate in charitable events, make new friends, experience new sites and even visit relatives and friends. I must admit though that not all my family members are happy with the path I have chosen and a few are even embarrassed to admit that they are related to a truck driver. Yes, it’s sad but when you think about it, who could really blame them. I don’t let it bother me. In fact, it motivates me to accept the changes and do my part to make the trucking industry better. I can’t change the rules, but I can follow them and I do realize the reason they are there.
Many of you are probably cussing me right now and think I’m crazy. Maybe I am. All I know is that by accepting and following the rules, I feel safer on the road and confident that I will always have a job.
It doesn’t matter if you a company driver, leased on to a company or an independent owner operator. The rules are the same for everyone. I don’t like some of these rules anymore than some of you. I have the same fears and concerns as everyone else. But, is bitching and complaining really the answer? I just don’t see where it will get me anywhere.
Some say that I have a positive attitude to a fault. We have worked for large companies, small companies and even an itty bitty one for a short time. I have been ripped off by employers to the tune of thousands of dollars that I will never see. I’ve seen some illegal activity taking place not only by one of the companies I used to work for but by drivers as well. On the other hand, I have also been treated very well by most of the people I have met in tha past ten years. I have had the pleasure of meeting so many like myself that care about each other and about themselves. People who take pride in what they do and aren’t afraid to follow the rules. Well dressed, clean mouths, and respectable behavior and driving habits are becoming more and more common. Safety has become a priority. This is a good thing and I hope it continues.
No matter what happens, there will always be those that are not happy and things may not always be fair but if we try to keep a positive attitude, play by the rules, and be the safest drivers we can be, we will know in our hearts we are truly doing our best. We will, one day at a time and one driver at a time, raise the bar for this industry and we will all eventually benefit!
Have a Safe Day!
Sounds to me like what yall want is for the government to take complete control and tell you what you can do and when you can do it, put you in little uniforms with numbers on them and run you up and down the road like robots!
The cleanliness of the driver boils down to personal selfesteem and uniforms will not change that. Maybe if the companies and truckstop employees stop treating truckdrivers as second class citizens it would help the situation. I’m not saying this is the only reason but I can tell you I am heavy and try very hard to control my weight problem. It seems if you are over 300 pounds you are automatically considered (slovenly) or unkept. I personally am over that 300 pound mark but trust me it is not something I am not reminded of everyday and everytime i recertify. I can tell you I shave daily, shower when I can, and use deoderant and aftershave because I would be embarrassed to think that I smelled. Unfortunately some drivers don’t care what others think. There are skinny and fit drivers that fall into this category as well. This is becoming a discrimatory and a stereotyping industry. There are bad drivers out there just like there are bad D.O.T officers and bad cops out there. Like the CDL and other regulatory enactments like CVSA2010 will do nothing about the morale of the drivers out here. It starts with us as individuals and our upbringing and the way we are taught to respect others as a whole. It is not just the trucking industry that is plagued with thjis problem. It is just that we are in an industry where our actions are seen, and affect the motoring public safety and that is why we seem to be in the hot seat. So what is the solution? Respect! Respect eachother more and respect yourselves as individuals. Be proud of the job you have chosen and if it gets to be too much to handle then get out of the industry and go work at Mc Donalds or something. I am proud of what I do and I see daily about how the lack of respect is so prevalent on our highways today, but the only thing we can do is fix ourselves, you can not fix someone else. The government needs to follow the same advice. All the regulations in the world will do nothing but drive the good drivers out of this industry. The drivers that fill those seats will be less qualified and be of less experience and that will be the death of the industry. Just my two cents worth. I don’t claim to be Einstein on this subject, but it is how I see it. RESPECT yourselves first than RESPECT all others around you and the problems will fix themselves.