Whats wrong with truckers?

Stompin Tom said:

And now tourism season starts, we get the joy of having the family of 4 pull over half off the road, half on the road to show little Johnny that bear sitting in the ditch have some dinner. Nothing better for an adrenaline rush than coming around a corner, seeing a stopped RV blocking half your lane and oncoming traffic headed your way.

Click to expand...

Stompin Tom said:

And now tourism season starts, we get the joy of having the family of 4 pull over half off the road, half on the road to show little Johnny that bear sitting in the ditch have some dinner. Nothing better for an adrenaline rush than coming around a corner, seeing a stopped RV blocking half your lane and oncoming traffic headed your way.

Click to expand...

Bnorth said:

fkin rental RV season is upon us. 70 in a 100 zone, pulling off the road without warning, pulling onto the road without warning, stepping out of the stopped vehicle without warning. Expect the unexpected when Europeans who are used to compact cars find themselves driving full sized vehicles on our mountain highways.

Click to expand...

Stompin Tom said:

In our area we have a local chip company who is speed restricted to 90 kmh, but they are allowed to go up to 100 kmh for a small period of time. Some of their drivers think its real cool to let the traffic back up behind them, then speed up on the passing lanes, they run some decent horsepower so they can roll pretty good in the passing lanes.

Well, we came with with a solution for that problem and man does it piss them off. When we get behind one about a km before the passing lane the first truck behind them backs right off then gets a real head of steam up and times it to blow by him at the start of the passing lane, but here is where it gets fun, as soon as the first truck gets ahead of him you jump into his lane and you back right off, hell slow down to 60 kmh if you have to, that allows everybody else to slingshot past him, passenger vehicles, other trucks, whoever is behind. You watch in the mirror and if it looks like the last couple of vehicles are not going to make it, you just slow down some more. The drivers of the chip trucks scream like wild banshee's on the radio, and everyone else laughs their asses off. In the meantime that lineup of traffic is gone, the passenger vehicle get out front and the slow poke is in the back. A win win for everybody but the chip truck.

Click to expand...

S.W.A.T. said:

Do highway guys run a points system like 25 for a rv of euro's or 50 for a sedan full of Asians?

Click to expand...

wheels said:

So I've posted in this thread before but I have a few more thoughts on the trucking industry crisis. I will start with how I entered the industry. After graduating in the early 90's I started looking for a job. there was always lots of driving jobs so I thought lets get a class one and see what happens. Went with my uncle on a few trips as a passenger learned lots from him. Took my training through a driving school in Calgary and learned lots from that. Passed the test and started handing out resumes. No one could insure a 19 year old rookie with no experience. Finally found someone that would hire me but to work for them I had to run team with a wiley old vet with a million miles experience. That's the best thing that happened to me. The lessons learned from him are embedded in my mind to this day. The hands on training and knowledge he passed on to me was something I could not get from a week of driving school. Ran team with him for a year before getting the chance to run single. Over the years I've seen people get hired on the spot no road test or even proof of the proper license just given the truck and a load go get it done. Scary to think about it but it happens all the time. Driver shortage is the excuse they say. I personally know a lot of very experienced drivers who no longer work in the industry. Why? The hours worked and the pay are no where close to what it should be so they've moved on took up trades or operating heavy equipment for more money benefits and competitive pay. As a driver on any given week my sitting waiting to load unload time can be anywhere from two to six hours a day. Time I don't get payed for as I'm payed by the load. Most shipper/receivers know this so making you wait doesn't cost them a dime. My costs of going up and down the road have gone up 25 to 30% in the last year due to costs out of my control. You explain this to the brokers and say you need higher rates to offset the higher costs thier answer is I can get someone cheaper than what I pay you now. Doesn't matter that your customer reviews are 98% satisfied or you haven't damaged or crashed thier frieght if they can save a buck by getting a less experienced driver/companies to do it they will.
After watching the news a few weeks ago when the big snow hit southern Alberta and they showed the Hwy closure between Canmore and Calgary with all the trucks jack knifed across the roads it really shows the inexperience of the drivers out there. Sometimes I'm embarrassed to be a truck driver. Not much professionalism left in the industry.
In my opinion for things to get better and safer driver training needs to improve immensely. This will mean higher costs for companies but so be it. A mentor type program like i explained I went through is a great start.
As a professional driver I believe we should have to retake our license every 3-5 years. Many other occupations out there have to get recertification after so long.
I believe if the pay for truck drivers comes up more good people will consider the industry as a career. Not to many young people even consider driving as an option.
Another thing that needs to be addressed is our so called highways. The amount of traffic and the sketchy roads we travel on it's a wonder there isn't more accidents. Where is all the money going we pay in fuel/ gasoline taxes plus our vehicle registration going?
Just my thoughts as I see it.

Click to expand...

tex78 said:

Should have seen yesterday, friggin guy pulls out in front of a loaded with lumber b train going east in front of the timmies in sicamous, guy must have been smart, cause he was already wearing his motor bike helmet in the big rig, new ppe Mabe??

Click to expand...

eclipse1966 said:

great comment! As a daily user of hiring trucks to get our goods to market I can appreciate your experience and surprised you don't get paid sitting time. The trucking firm charges us $75/hr after 1 hr free time if driver has to sit and wait beyond that. Some companies allow 2 hrs then charge. Are they not passing that down to the driver?? As for professionalism, boy can I tell some stories about drivers who need a crash course on customer service but I will leave that for another day.

Click to expand...