Posted on 02/09/2022 5:40:11 PM PST by nickcarraway
Ummmm...I’m going to go out on a limb...maybe it’s due to ...
RACISM!
Simple answer... 2 drivers. One drives, one sleeps. The truck keeps rolling along 24/7.
I traveled all over the area east of the Mississippi and from the Gulf to the Canadian border.
For 56 years.
Retired 20 years ago.
I have followed how many thousand trucks?
In the old days the trucks would bog down going up hill and be pretty annoying running side by side, but the trucks of today will run as fast as most of us have any business running.
Most of the class 8 trucks can hold 70 to 75 on any road except on the really steep mountain grades.
So anyone who bitches about having to wait for one truck to pass another......
Yes, in my day I was considered a FAST driver, but slowing to 70 for a couple of miles never ruined my day.
A truck cab & sleeper box is a small environment. Smells from the slightest contaminate last for days after removed. Food and laundry makes for terrible atmosphere plus the other stinking body if one drove teams.
I drove single and would not eat in my truck.
“The real reason America doesn’t have enough truck drivers.”
Better pay for less hassle in other professions.
I’m dependent on truck drivers because I’m a manufacturer.
Without them delivering materials, nothing would get done, more supply chain havoc would be the result.
However in America in 2022 we glorify the nonessential while looking down at the essential.
IMO its going to be a painful decade for non producers.
The supply chain problems are here to stay and the customer is always right crowd, will be thrashing around for scapegoats.
The scapegoat is right in front of the mirror, “Mr & Mrs do nothing” while being paid inflated salaries.
However, you have cotton in your ears and blinders on, so enjoy the ride.
There are youtube videos of semi truckers. Some say they make $10,000 a month after expenses.
I’ve thought about that. Back in the 70s I was thinking of an underground hyperloop or pneumatic system whereby driving would become a luxury, not a necessity. Al Gore’s internet took care of much.
At any rate and as with history, the tranistion will not be without turmoil. Steam engineers hated diesel at first. Someone is still manufacturing buggy whips. Great time to be alive.
They’re building untold acres of shipping warehouses around here. As of now, they’re mostly empty. Obviously they’ve got something in mind to use them for.
There may be way to adapt surface roads by painting them with a “smartstrip” for properly equipped vehicles to deliver goods unmanned. Or, put the strip next to current right of way. Boring would pertain to areas of congestion or natural barriers.
Don’t forget the bouncy castles and BBQ.
What would make them more desirable - a college degree in some useless field, and tens of thousands in debt?
College is a very good choice for lots of people, and lots of degrees are very useful to society.
But there is a great need for good minds and hard workers in the various trades. And the remuneration and head-start on wealth is superior in many of the trade fields. (You don’t have to stop being a student just because you drive a truck - and there’s always time to go to college, and more money to do it if you’ve gotten yourself a real skill first.)
We will be able to live just fine without sociologists, women’s studies majors, and many others who come out of University with practically worthless degrees these days - but we won’t live long without electricians, plumbers, Truckers, farmers, etc.
It’s a really fun movie.
They don’t make movies like that anymore.
I agree If I was 18 I would go into a trade as opposed to college, even with the skill to succeed in a STEM degree because STEM degrees and jobs are being distributed by quotas and not merit.
I did Tucumcari, NM - Toronto non-stop and when I arrived my logbook was legal. Can’t be done today. The fun is gone.
Sorry douchebag, we don’t care much for you car drivers either. Most of you are speed obstacles driving below the posted limits in all lanes.
Out here on the road, we are at our jobs, with a destination to get to on time. You’re in your car doing whatever, but it isn’t what you do for a living, because nearly all of you can’t drive worth a $hit.
By the way - stop buying ANYTHING. Grow it or source it yourself. Your little feelings are far less important than paying customers receiving their goods on time.
Oh, did we “inconvenience” you for a few minutes.???? Zero f_cks given.
The Real Reason America Doesn’t Have Enough Truck Drivers
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Because Joe Biden gave up driving the big rigs?
Amen to that. But I think that's going to change real soon, as people begin to feel real pain.
Team driving really sucks unless you love extreme sleep deprivation and peeing into empty gallon jugs. It’s effing miserable.
Big freight haulers that pay slave wages run that way, and that’s why they have “hiring drivers” painted on their trailers - their turnover rates are thru the roof.
My logger friend says the rules are so crazy now that it's practically impossible to find blue collar guys who can legally drive his log trucks. He made the comment that before long the only people who would be able to hold a CDL were going to be women because the average man will be disqualified under all the stupid rules. Any guy with a clean enough record to keep a CDL will be unaffordable because he'll be so sought after.
Perhaps if you asked the mods for special permission to write a special post with the proper “not safe for tender ears” warnings at the beginning, they would let you post such a “salty” article. Sort of your own Freeper based “mini series blog”. I bet Humble gunner would be scandalized!
LOL!
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