[Rebels1972] truckers

[Rick Peek]

Hey Susan,
My sentiments on truckers are with you also. Driving from Gadsden to B'ham
on the interstate for 8 years, all my dealings with truckers have been
negative also. I have been run off the road several times myself and have
seen them cause numerous accidents, some of which I barely missed being in
myself. I have hit debris many times that was left in the road by truckers
and almost made me wreck and once hit some scrap metal that fell off a truck
and shredded my new tires and almost made me wreck. I have also had my
winsheild cracked and paint knocked off by flying rocks that fell off
trucks. I'm on your side.

Rick P.


On 6/15/06, machen2081 at bellsouth.net <machen2081 at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> Ah Fred,
> I read and re-read your article with great interest.  I wonder why you
> would put so much time and energy into such an article.
>
> You see truck drivers really strike a chord with me and I'll tell you why.
> I'm sure there are many great truck drivers on the road with a safe
> driving
> record. I haven't met many. You stated that people feel anger towards
> truck
> drivers because of the manner in which they drive on the open
> highway.  You
> are so correct.   My article may offend you....
>
> In 1984, I was taking my mother to and from Birmingham for her chemo
> treatments three times per week.  On one Wednesday afternoon, I was
> driving
> her red car home with her reclined in the riders side. I was on the left
> side of  highway I-59 and a "wonderful"truck driver flew by and took off
> the
> entire side of her car( my mother's side.) He swerved over into my lane.
>
> He never stopped and kept going at approx 90 miles per hr. I'm sure to
> deliver his goods to a store! I had to chase him down and lucky for us a
> statetrooper was a few miles away.
> I finally got the truck to stop. The driver jumped out(all 4'10" of him
> and
> proceeded to cuss me out and even hit me.I was pregnant at the time)
> He was stoned out of his mind. At this point,  I was all over him and
> since
> my mother was only slightly injured she had to pull me off of him. He
> denied
> the hit and run---cars were pulled over for witnesses and the trooper had
> arrived.
> Long story short---This precious trucker was stoned on Demerol, morphine
> and
> being serviced by his boyfriend(also stoned)when he nearly killed us. Red
> paint was all over his wheels--he went to jail with many charges!!! This
> wasn't the first time for him either.
> How do these guys pass drug testing?  Is there drug testing?
>
> Like you said.... It isn't whether or not he's at fault that matters. You
> may have run into him but the question is.. could he have done something
> to
> prevent it from happening?    You figure it out!
>
> My parents live next door to a trucker ....This trucker steals goods, lets
> his 14yr drive his 18wheeler on long trips while he sleeps, and is
> addicted
> to crystal meth.
>
> My daughter and I just went to Anniston yesterday and were run off the
> road
> by a 18 wheeler and then the thing kept
> chasing us for miles. I called the police but the truck had left by that
> time. A report was taken.
>
> As you can see, I have little respect for truckers. My dealings have not
> been good. Many are slaves to drugs to keep them going these long,
> grueling
> hours.
> My hats are off to the good ones.
> Susan
>
>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "Fred Atkinson" <fatkinson at mishmash.com>
> >>> To: "Rebels 1972" <rebels1972 at mishmash.net>
> >>> Sent: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 8:52 PM
> >>> Subject: [Rebels1972] Economic Slavery on the Highways
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>>    I'd like to share some ideas about some of the people who make
> this
> >>>> country great.  They are often the most unappreciated people in the
> >>>> world.
> >>>>
> >>>>    We take them so much for granted despite all that they
> do.  Everyone
> >>>> seems to think that the goods on the shelf at your store just appear
> >>>> there
> >>>> magically.  The materials to build your home, school, or workplace
> were
> >>>> not
> >>>> always there.  The fuel that makes your car run does not just appear
> at
> >>>> the
> >>>> pump.  And there are many other material goods we rely on to maintain
> >>>> our
> >>>> standard of living.
> >>>>
> >>>>    There are thousands of good Americans that transport these
> materials
> >>>> to
> >>>> us.  They aren't heralded and they get no fanfare.  Man live a
> >>>> lifestyle of
> >>>> separation from their families and work an incredible number of
> hours.
> >>>> It
> >>>> is their plight I wish to discuss.
> >>>>
> >>>>    When the economy went sour at the end of 2001, I spoke with a
> >>>> recruiter
> >>>> for a national trucking company, she arranged for me to travel to
> >>>> Memphis,
> >>>> Tennessee and attend a three week school that would help me get a
> Class
> >>>> A
> >>>> commercial driver's license with all the required endorsements and
> the
> >>>> training required for the company to hire me as an over the road
> truck
> >>>> driver.  The cost of attending the truck school was over five
> thousand
> >>>> dollars and I was expected to be responsible for the cost myself.  I
> >>>> was not
> >>>> compensated in any way for the time I spent in school.
> >>>>
> >>>>    I went to truck driving school with a lot of people from different
> >>>> parts
> >>>> of the country and different backgrounds.  After we completed our
> first
> >>>> week
> >>>> in school, we passed our written exams to get our learner's permits
> and
> >>>> our
> >>>> medical certificates, which were required to operate the big eighteen
> >>>> wheelers.
> >>>>
> >>>>    The next week was range training.  We learned all manner of
> backing.
> >>>> Backing was not like backing a car.  It required a whole different
> >>>> twist.
> >>>> To back a truck to the right one must turn the wheel to the left
> until
> >>>> the
> >>>> truck jacks to the right.  Then you turn the wheel to the right to
> >>>> follow
> >>>> the trailer and keep it on the right path.  Even backing in a
> straight
> >>>> line
> >>>> was difficult.  But we learned our required backing skills during the
> >>>> second
> >>>> week and went on for the road training.
> >>>>
> >>>>    We drove all over western Tennessee, eastern Arkansas, and
> northern
> >>>> Mississippi.  To the end of the third week we completed our training
> >>>> and
> >>>> passed our road tests.  When we returned to school the following
> week,
> >>>> we
> >>>> were taken to the DMV to get our Class A commercial driver's licenses
> >>>> and
> >>>> late we were assigned to a driver who would train us while we were
> >>>> actually
> >>>> transporting goods all over the country.  We were paid only fifty
> >>>> dollars
> >>>> per day while we trained regardless of the miles driven.  Since a
> >>>> driver
> >>>> often drives between four and five hundred miles per shift, that
> >>>> amounts to
> >>>> as little as ten cents per mile or less.
> >>>>
> >>>>    These three weeks of driver training was done with no compensation
> >>>> and a
> >>>> legal requirement that you repay the company for the training.  Of
> >>>> course,
> >>>> they pro-rated the cost over two years and made the payments for your
> >>>> as
> >>>> long as you worked for them.  But if you found it necessary to leave,
> >>>> you
> >>>> were on the hook for the pro-rated part of the money you owe.  This
> >>>> makes it
> >>>> difficult to leave if you are unhappy with the working situation.
> >>>>
> >>>>    After I completed the training with my instructor, I began to
> learn
> >>>> things I never knew.  I knew that truck drivers were typically away
> >>>> from
> >>>> home for months at a time.  I never knew that they are not covered by
> >>>> the
> >>>> wage and hour laws (overtime?  What is that?).  Truck drivers don't
> get
> >>>> overtime even though they constantly work in excess of sixty hours
> per
> >>>> week.
> >>>> They get paid for the miles they drive and (on occasion) for loading
> or
> >>>> unloading a truck, not for the time they work.
> >>>>
> >>>>    Many responsibilities that truck drivers perform are without any
> >>>> compensation.  The Department of Transportation requires that they
> >>>> perform a
> >>>> complete and thorough pre-trip safety inspection each day, which
> takes
> >>>> fifteen minutes of their time.  They receive no compensation for
> their
> >>>> time
> >>>> to perform this.  When they weigh and balance a truck to make sure
> the
> >>>> load
> >>>> is legal on the highway, they receive no compensation for that,
> either.
> >>>>
> >>>>    When they hitch or unhitch a trailer, they receive no compensation
> >>>> for
> >>>> that task.  When a shipper or receiver makes them stand around and
> wait
> >>>> for
> >>>> their load to be loaded or unloaded from a trailer, the driver
> receives
> >>>> no
> >>>> compensation for the time he is there idle while the shipper or
> >>>> receiver
> >>>> focuses on other things (unless he is paid for loading or unloading,
> >>>> which
> >>>> isn't often).
> >>>>
> >>>>    And the driver is never guaranteed to get a shipment to
> move.  There
> >>>> were a number of times where I sat at a truck stop in a strange city
> >>>> with no
> >>>> load.  Our company compensated us forty dollars per day if they had
> no
> >>>> load
> >>>> for us.  Imagine that, only forty dollars for a single day of your
> life
> >>>> (and
> >>>> not all drivers even get that) away from your family, community, and
> >>>> friends.  And the per mile rates for new drivers are very low.  One I
> >>>> was
> >>>> asked to pick up a trailer, weigh it to make sure it was legally
> >>>> balanced,
> >>>> and transport it to the nearest company terminal for
> >>>> reassignment to another driver.  For my several hours of work, I
> >>>> received
> >>>> approximately twelve dollars for my efforts.  It amounted to less
> than
> >>>> minimum wage.
> >>>>
> >>>>    Truck drivers get no respect.  Once when I was at a truckstop near
> >>>> the
> >>>> Canadian border in Maine, a driver told me that his CB handle was
> >>>> 'Caucasian
> >>>> scumbag'.  He said that he chose that handle because of what his
> father
> >>>> (also a truck driver) told him.  Truck driving is an honorable
> >>>> profession,
> >>>> but you will never get any respect.  Sadly, I found myself agreeing
> >>>> with
> >>>> him.  A few examples follow.
> >>>>
> >>>>    Once I made a delivery at a warehouse.  After 'bumping the dock'
> (an
> >>>> expression used that means you have parked the trailer at the loading
> >>>> dock
> >>>> so it can be loaded or unloaded), I found a door marked 'driver's
> >>>> entrance'.
> >>>> When I stepped inside the door, I found myself standing inside of a
> >>>> cage
> >>>> (subhuman treatment).
> >>>>
> >>>>    I once made a pickup at a major customer.  As my hours were almost
> >>>> used
> >>>> up when I made the pickup, I parked the truck outside the front gate
> in
> >>>> an
> >>>> area where truckers were allowed to park and get the required time in
> >>>> the
> >>>> sleeper before they were allowed to drive again.  When I walked back
> to
> >>>> the
> >>>> gate requesting to use the restroom, they refused saying that
> driver's
> >>>> weren't allowed to use the restrooms in the facility.  I had to go
> and
> >>>> relieve myself in the middle of an open field because there was no
> >>>> other
> >>>> place provided for the drivers.
> >>>>
> >>>>    People often feel anger towards truck drivers because of the
> manner
> >>>> in
> >>>> which they drive on the open highways.  I did not engage in such
> >>>> driving and
> >>>> I did not approve of those who did.  But think of what it cost me.
> >>>> Slowing
> >>>> down reduced the amount of money I made.  Remember that many of the
> >>>> lesser
> >>>> experienced drivers are not all that well paid (contrary to the
> stories
> >>>> about how well truck drivers are paid).  When you are paid by the
> mile
> >>>> at
> >>>> such a rate as twenty-seven cents a mile and only allowed to drive
> for
> >>>> a
> >>>> limited number of hours, making more money requires that you floor
> it.
> >>>> When
> >>>> a driver is caught in a traffic jam, he is sitting there burning his
> >>>> driving
> >>>> hours and getting no compensation for it.  He cannot drive extra
> hours
> >>>> to
> >>>> make up for it or the Department of Transportation will fine him when
> >>>> they
> >>>> audit his driving logbook.  To that end, some drivers falsify their
> >>>> logbook
> >>>> to drive more miles.  This means that they are driving over the
> number
> >>>> of
> >>>> hours it is safe for a person's body to be alert enough to handle an
> >>>> eighty-thousand pound multi-vehicle truck and creates an additional
> >>>> hazard.
> >>>>
> >>>>    Truck drivers would like to see that changed, but it's difficult.
> >>>> 'Over
> >>>> the road' drivers are away from home for months at a time.  Because
> of
> >>>> that
> >>>> they don't get to vote.  Politicians look at those statistics and
> they
> >>>> realize that spending time helping truck drivers does not yield them
> >>>> additional votes.  This does not motivate the politicians to make
> >>>> things any
> >>>> easier for them.  Once, a driver told me that he had tried to get an
> >>>> absentee ballot.  He was asked where he'd be on election day.  He
> told
> >>>> them
> >>>> he had no way of knowing because he was sent to different places
> often
> >>>> on
> >>>> only a few hours notice.  Because he couldn't tell them where he'd be
> >>>> on
> >>>> election day, they denied him an absentee ballot.
> >>>>
> >>>>    As long as we continue to pay our over the road drivers 'by the
> >>>> mile'
> >>>> instead of by the hour and pay them for the things truck drivers do
> for
> >>>> no
> >>>> compensation every day, the way many truck drivers operate their
> >>>> vehicles is
> >>>> not going to change.  There is significant legislative reform needed
> >>>> but no
> >>>> political incentive to perform it.  And many of these good people
> >>>> continue
> >>>> to suffer while making a living to support their families (with whom
> >>>> they
> >>>> are able to spend very little time with).  The next time you enjoy
> your
> >>>> breakfast, buy nice new clothes at the store, fill up your tank with
> >>>> gasoline, or partake of any number of other countless things, you
> >>>> should
> >>>> remember that truck drivers brought those materials to you.
> >>>>
> >>>>    Imagine if the trucks stopped rolling for a week.  We'd experience
> >>>> gas
> >>>> shortages, food shortages, and have to learn to do without many
> things.
> >>>>
> >>>>    When a driver is involved in a traffic accident, it isn't whether
> or
> >>>> not
> >>>> he is at fault that matters.  You may have run into him but the
> >>>> question is
> >>>> could he have done something to prevent it from happening?  Even if
> he
> >>>> was
> >>>> not at fault in the accident, it often is still reported on his
> driving
> >>>> record as 'preventable' (which stacks against him when his driving
> >>>> record is
> >>>> reviewed for insurance or for possible employment with a different
> >>>> trucking
> >>>> company).  Imagine that, you caused the accident but they hold it
> >>>> against
> >>>> the truck driver anyway.  He is responsible for managing *your*
> driving
> >>>> safety habits.
> >>>>
> >>>>    These dramatically under appreciated people live a lifestyle that
> I
> >>>> don't understand how they continue to live day in and day out year
> >>>> after
> >>>> year.  Essentially they are slaves to our system and we continue to
> >>>> take
> >>>> advantage of them paying many of them low wages and working them at a
> >>>> schedule that would cause most of us to experience complete
> exhaustion.
> >>>>
> >>>>    My hat is off to them and I think about them from time to
> time.  God
> >>>> bless our truck drivers.
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>> _______________________________________________
> >>>> Rebels1972 mailing list
> >>>> Rebels1972 at mishmash.net
> >>>> http://mishmash.net/mailman/listinfo/rebels1972_mishmash.net
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Rebels1972 mailing list
> Rebels1972 at mishmash.net
> http://mishmash.net/mailman/listinfo/rebels1972_mishmash.net
>



-- 
Rick Peek
Tech450 at gmail.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/rebels1972_mishmash.net/attachments/20060615/7c6f9ed9/attachment-0001.html