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Freight companys are pushing for longer,& heavier trucking.

I really don't think they have a choice. Every trucking outfit out there, can not find drivers. Most younger people do not want to live this kind of life style. To survive you most move freight some how. Longer truck or go and get more non Americans to work here. I think we have enough here, already.
 
papejr said:
I really don't think they have a choice. Every trucking outfit out there, can not find drivers. Most younger people do not want to live this kind of life style. To survive you most move freight some how. Longer truck or go and get more non Americans to work here. I think we have enough here, already.
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You are probably right, but it has not always been this way. This "notion" of instead of being a job, trucking is a "life-style", hasn't always been true. When I first got into trucking, it was a "job", a job that paid above wages for a working man. Money was what attracted me. This "life-style" crap reminds me of homeless people. But not to get off the topic, I can recall when a trailer did not leave the dock until it was full. Not now!

I ran as a team when I first got into trucking and I cannot ever remember anyone ever shouting, "this has to be in such and such, tomorrow morning. I was driving out of Charlotte and if it took me and my "buddy" several days to get to Boston, no one ever said a word, now it is, "get it there by tomorrow morning".

I cannot ever recall "fudging" a little on the log. We stopped, enjoyed the trip, made friends, ate home cooking at most truck stops(not now).

Every time anything in the Federal Regulations changes, it makes the life of a truck driver worse and worse. And who profits, CORPORATE AMERICA! Make the truck bigger, haul more weight, but pay the drivers less and the hell with their benefits.
 
I believe we will see turnpike style combos of some sort allowed all Interstate highways within the next 15 years.
 
The Best said:
You are probably right, but it has not always been this way. This "notion" of instead of being a job, trucking is a "life-style", hasn't always been true. When I first got into trucking, it was a "job", a job that paid above wages for a working man. Money was what attracted me. This "life-style" crap reminds me of homeless people. But not to get off the topic, I can recall when a trailer did not leave the dock until it was full. Not now!

I ran as a team when I first got into trucking and I cannot ever remember anyone ever shouting, "this has to be in such and such, tomorrow morning. I was driving out of Charlotte and if it took me and my "buddy" several days to get to Boston, no one ever said a word, now it is, "get it there by tomorrow morning".

I cannot ever recall "fudging" a little on the log. We stopped, enjoyed the trip, made friends, ate home cooking at most truck stops(not now).

Every time anything in the Federal Regulations changes, it makes the life of a truck driver worse and worse. And who profits, CORPORATE AMERICA! Make the truck bigger, haul more weight, but pay the drivers less and the hell with their benefits.
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I believe part of the reason is the concept of JIT methodology that had taken over in industry. Companies don't want to have to store a large raw material inventory and want just-in-time delivery on a tight schedule to implement that. That's primarily why we have so much rigid scheduling now.
 
If these company's would pay better and treat divers with respect maybe the younger folks would want the job. But who wants to be gone for weeks at a time and make 50k a year.
 
toilet paper said:
If these company's would pay better and treat divers with respect maybe the younger folks would want the job. But who wants to be gone for weeks at a time and make 50k a year.
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That's part of the reason, but I believe that young people today have been told they're "special" for so long that they actually believe they are. Why then would "special" people want these type jobs?
 
Triplex said:
That's part of the reason, but I believe that young people today have been told they're "special" for so long that they actually believe they are. Why then would "special" people want these type jobs?
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Are speaking of the same "kids" that we teach in our school system that do not learn cursive writing anymore, allowed to do math with a calculator, could not count change to someone unless the cash register told them how much to give back, whose parents will argue that they can carry laptops, and cell phones to school, and think facebook and twitter are more important than American history???? Why the hell would they want to do what we do??? It is too much work, that's why !!!
 
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toilet paper said:
If these company's would pay better and treat divers with respect maybe the younger folks would want the job. But who wants to be gone for weeks at a time and make 50k a year.
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Personally, I would never stay on the road for weeks or months at a time. Even if I was a single person, this "box" that goes down the highway gets a little hard to take after a few days. So with that said, I really can't fault the younger generation for not wanting this type of job.
 
I retired from trucking in 2008,after being a city driver 45 years with 15 different companies,all out of business.
Except Overnite which was rebranded into the freight division of UPS.

I remember the first pup trailers were only 20 foot long 96 inches wide& 12,6 high.
Dry vans where 40 feet 96" wide,12'6" high,the pups went to 28' long 102" wide & 13"6" high.
The vans went on to change 2,or 3 times till what they are today 53'long 102 wide &13'6" high.
Which in my opinion are big enough,that some of the older docks are only built for 45,or 48 foot long vans,max.
The 53 foot vans line up to low,for a lot of the dock plates to line up,& safely unload.
Anytime you have to deal with unloading longer trailers you wonder what people were thinking to make them any longer?

As for young folks wanting to be truckers,I agree there are very few,maybe the ones who want to follow their families.
Other than that type,less & less want it for a career.
 
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