[old curmudgeon]

Also remember that there is a lot more to driving a truck than shifting gears, leaving the stop sign in one piece when you make that right hand turn and backing up to the dock.

There is a little matter of knowing which streets you can use...low overpasses, bridge weights allowed, dead ends.... and where the heck is 2345 Black Street?

Military drivers will not have those skills.

[crz]

Ever try to deliver to the Chicago Trib?

I have. Helped a guy just starting out for a few weeks and he knew NOTHING about the route so you didnt get stuck under the L.

[FoundinTexas]

There is a bad highway intersection in my town. 18 wheelers always have issues. One took out power to the whole town and backed up traffic in 4 directions for 8 hours. Those were expetienced drivers.

[Radix]

I drove big rigs in Europe for a few years and there are a lot of road hazards there when one is not on the Autobahn. The first time that I drove through that medieval walled city south of Wurzburg I was amazed that I cleared the arch of the wall.

Some of the roads had 90 degree turns on 2 way streets. They had those mirror things mounted high at corners in order that you could tell if another big rig was coming from where you were going. All in all it was rather trippy, but always for me an adventure.

I loved that job because I was young and curious about a foreign land. I saw a lot.