Posted on 02/09/2022 5:40:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
A faint winter sun slides toward the frozen scrub as Stephen Graves guides his tractor-trailer across the cracked pavement of a truck stop parking lot in southern Oklahoma. Exhausted from another 400 miles behind the wheel, he needs the restroom. But mostly he needs an answer to the same question that dogs him nearly every day as darkness falls: Where can he park his rig for the night?
Graves is nearing the 11-hour limit on driving before he is legally required to rest for 10 hours. He could push on for another hour, creep closer to the Texas border and shorten the distance to his drop-off the next morning — a warehouse alongside the Dallas-Fort Worth airport.
The calculus is tricky. The next truck stop down the interstate is notoriously short on parking. He might get there and have to settle for the shoulder of a highway on-ramp. This stop outside the minuscule town of Springer is unappealing — its bathrooms rank and its dining options minimal. But it has parking in abundance. So he pulls in for the night and climbs into the bunk at the back of his cab for a few hours of fitful sleep.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
It may seem ignorant, but I’ve seen the same thing. And seen it enough to think they must be doing it on purpose. If they don’t like tailgaters, maybe they shouldn’t block both lanes going 60, and creating a miles long back-up of passenger cars that want to go 75. Maybe they like playing traffic cop.
Some trucks have speed governors, so they may not be able to go significantly faster than the trucks that they’re passing.
Do you know why that is? Many trucks are governed between 65 and 70 MPH. Depending on how heavy they are regulates how fast they can climb a hill. When climbing a hill, you do not want to lose what you got, so it is pedal to the metal and giving everything you got to get up the hill. No body wants to drop a gear because some four wheeler wants to go fast.
I wanted to learn how to drive a truck and see the country. I wonder if it’s worth pursuing now this late in the game?
Bingo.
#1
It’s the DOT and their impossible amount of regulations.
It’s way more than most people realize.
The Regulation books are thicker than the Holy Bible.
In addition to all of the Jerry Reed content, I believe "Orange Blossom Special" was done by the Charlie Daniels Band.
The Union is not your friend.
Personally, I was Management and not ever a Teamster, but I always have had Teamster friends. Some of them succumb to the lure of the Siren of that Cult. Others just want to work and take care of their families.
I was one who refused to ever be a part of of it. Perhaps long term that hurt me financially but I doubt it. There is no way that I could ever be a part of the culture myself.
As above, I have many friends who did. It was just not for me.
Well put.
Used to travel a lot for my business. Drove 50k most years in that travel. Got to know a lot about truck drivers. Generally a good hard working bunch of guys. Some were too impatient with stupid drivers and it made a bad situation worse. Most were great to have with you on the road. Used to communicate by CB in the 1965 to 2000 era. That helped a lot. Joined with truckers in a half dozen instances saving lives in bad accident situations.
6 O’clock in the morning, suns coming up, been driving all night, in the middle of Houston traffic east bound on I 10, sun is in your eyes, can hardly keep your eyes open, just need to shut down for a few, no where to go, just slap yourself, splash some water on your face, slap your thigh and turn the music up.
I’m Watching;
The Godfather.
.
“Leave the Gun,
Take the Cannoli.”
Bureaucrats have to justify their existence. Therefore they can never say, hey these guys are professionals, they know when they are tired. Let’s not make it hard for them to pull over and take a nap.
They can tell if you stopped at McDonalds or Wendy's even if they are in the same plaza. They know how long the stop lights are.
The DOT should be restricted to regulating weights or freights, but this notion of controlling Driver hours and screwing with their livelihoods by compelling them to stop and take breaks and overnights is simply BS.
Back in the day, hell 35 years ago, before cell phones, if you needed to get a message to the home unit, you could call on the CB for anyone on a base unit to give a call on the land line. I got them to cal my wife I would be home in 4 hours and could you tell her to go down and pick up 6 dozen minnows cuz we are going fishing at midnight when I get home. Greatest time of my life.
I can’t say regarding Amazon, but our Walmart is possibly the worst store we go to from the standpoint of keeping high demand household & grocery items in stock during the last couple years.
I say “possibly” because recently ALDI has been giving WM a pretty good run for “worst”.
Notice how the article blames everything but the government.
See my tag line.
Someone in the trades?
Most of the people I know "in the trades" are swell guys, and in demand among women.
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