Thank God For Truckers

Well, I'm running behind as usual. Something about when school starts, it seems like there is constant running, and half of it is to nowhere. But anyway, I'm back to blogging (again) and hopefully will find the time to keep it up. Back to being late though, I wanted to write about my appreciation of truckers. I know I missed National Trucker's Appreciation Week, but as my husband and my father and many family members are truckers, I figured they'd think, "Better late then never." So here it goes:

When I started dating my husband he was an over the road trucker. Not only did I learn a lot about trucking from him, but I told myself I'd never marry an over the road trucker. If any job had a "lifestyle" I think it would be this one, and not just for the trucker, but for his family too. For one, an over the road trucker is rarely home, they live out of the back of their truck and an occasional hotel. Depending on their employer, they may be home as much as two days a week or as little as a once a month. This is the main reason, I thought I couldn't marry him. I was already a single mother, I didn't want to continue to be a single parent 5 days of the week. However, I think it was the fact that I was already a single parent that ended up making me ready for this lifestyle, when in the end, love won and I married him.

Another thing I learned about trucking though, is how little control a driver really has. Sure, they control how they drive, how they interact with people and their cleanliness (to a degree). Even so, so much of their job is dependent on their dispatcher. The dispatcher tells them where to go, when to leave, when to show up and what they're next job is. Sounds simple, but more often than not the dispatcher is under pressure to keep the truck rolling ( a stopped truck gains no money) and ends up scheduling loads too close together, keeping the trucker from getting enough rest, or having to speed to make a delivery then a pick up right away. The truckers have to pay many expenses out of their own pocket (yes they do get reimbursed, but that can take awhile) such as tolls, fines (sometimes loads are overweight and the company knows it, but tells the trucker to go ahead with it) and lumpers. Lumpers are the people that unload the truck at each site. These people are allowed to charge the truck driver a fee on top of any wage they might earn from the company.

Probably the worst part of being an over the road trucker, and the least thought about, is being sick in the truck. There is no toilet in the truck, meaning you are parked in some public rest stop or truck stop, running to the bathroom to puke etc., and to return back to your bed you may have to walk through inches of snow or rain or other unnamed weather problem. If you want to see a doctor, you have to call a taxi or ambulance, because most of these places don't let semis drive right up. Not to mention, you may be twenty states away from home and not know anybody.

Most of us think of going to work as leaving home for an office or plant and coming home at night. There are some jobs that require some overnights away from home. But imagine your office on wheels and your home hooked to your office. With your life wrapped around you and you're on the road, you deal with traffic every moment of your life. That includes the people that pull ahead of you, just to turn 1/2 mile after they passed you. The people that slam on their brakes right in front of you, or speed up and slow down and so many more. If trucker is involved in ANY accident, they can be stopped for a day or more. There is always a chance of threat for a lawsuit, even if the trucker was by the book and now the law is that truckers get points on their CDL for every accident, to many points can result in the firing of the trucker. However, an accident where the trucker was at no fault will still garner points on their CDL.

So please, next time you're on the road and want to curse at the big bad truck, remember these guys are people out doing their jobs and have families waiting at home just like you. Their trucks do not stop on a dime like your car, can be pushed by the wind like a feather (when empty), and it is their job to get from point A to point B without hurting you. So please thank a trucker for bringing us everything we need from toilet paper to clothes to food and keep them in your thoughts and prayers, especially through the upcoming holiday season, when many of them are on the road, while we get to enjoy a holiday with our families.