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Truck Driver Shortage
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routerock, You brought up some good points. Showers were a problem out there. Alot of other things like trash was also a problem. I think the last 5 years up until December of '01 it was pretty bad with the amount of garbage. I am talking actual trash like snack bars, soda pop bottles and unmentionables. They were either too tired to dispose of them or did not care. <br /> <br />My wife and I were two hours from home when dispatch stopped us and had us run our wheels off into Voss MO truck stop and retrieve a flower load. A load of Cut Flowers is one of the hottest time loads in trucking. Those things you gotta get a star trek transporter to keep em fresh. <br /> <br />Upon arrival in Voss I learned that the trainer had a student driver who apparently could not drive. The dispatch told us they spent 10 hours in Phoenix and again in New Mexico another 10 hours lost. It was my judgement that the trainer failed to remedy the situation by sending the trainee home on a bus and trading off to a team while still in Phoenix. <br /> <br />When problems develop you want to reach out. Not wait for someone important to say "OMG! EHAT THE HAU_LL IS WRONG WITH THAT L:OAD!? CALL ME!!" <br /> <br />In the days of quallcomm a satellite message stating "CALL ME" means that the dispatch has already gone volcanic and you are up to here in trouble. <br /> <br />Back to flower load. We grabbed the trailer and ran non stop that evening to Chicago despite having just completed a 1800 mile run. We made it at midnight to a grateful customer. They fed us, coffeed us and gave us first class treatment. IF we did not make it it is quite possible that stores would not get thier flowers and it will roll all the way uphill "Downhill" to the trainer who wasted the 20 hours while out west. <br /> <br />There were diversions like casinos. Some of these have truck stop facilities and for what it is worth they are truck stops. But they also are a place to waste time and money while under a load. I have seen many a driver stumble out ashen faced after wagering that "Last 10 dollars" in hopes of a good hit. I myself enjoy the tables but always when off duty for several days and wife and I bring in 200 dollars to spend that day. If we make something then we go home. Otherwise we are in for a decent rest, meals and a bit of cards. <br /> <br />Some drivers just toss a comcheck down and spend the money without thought to the needs that they may have, meals for the week, tolls, family bills etc. These are the ones that wind up back home broke with creditors calling. What a waste. <br /> <br />You mentioned Mount Eagle. You will find it in TN at the Alabama/GA line on the interstate. It to me is a small mountain but to many a very dangerous one. You knew one of two things. You knew the weather at the bottom and are about to find out the weather at the top. <br /> <br />I think out west in the Sierra range it is quite possible to eat breakfast while it is 60 degrees out, climb a pass and be in roaring winter with chains out and cold penetrating the cab by lunch and down in the blazing 100 degree desert by dinner. Fortunately for me such extremes in one day were not too common. <br /> <br />You mentioned the "Cabbage" that refers to the Blue Mountains in Oregon. (Correct me if I am wrong) in winter that is a pretty challenging and dangerous drive. Sometimes a winter storm hits the coast and spreads over the NW so fast that you may find yourself coming out of Oregon into Utah on chains for many miles at 10 mph at 4000 feet for a hundred miles. <br /> <br />Alitiude was important to the trucker. You may sit in Philadelphia at sealevel and it would be 50 degrees. Above you it may actually be snowing only it is too dry for you to see it unless you got high enough. Sometimes wild weather plays a role. <br /> <br />One more story before I head out. I was past Rapid City SD heading west trying to out run a winter storm warning for Rapid City. I figured I had some time to get into the Wyoming range and get "Past" it with a chance of not having to deal with "Split ice" <br /> <br />Well it caught me at Sturgis at the 13 yard stick when I heard the CB say... "westbound" "Yea come on, pick it up and kick it back!" "I just come out of the worst whiteout a mile behind me I'll pray for you" "Thanks driver, see you on the flip side." <br /> <br />A mile later I was wrapped in a total whiteout being lashed by hurricane force winds and actually by feeling the steering wheel bumping the rig against the barrier rail as far right as I could get it without regard to damage to get off the pavement as I hollered for those behind me to stop where they were. <br /> <br />The whiteout was so total you could not see the hood of the rig, the mirriors and the temperature reading from the outside combined with the wind meant you dont ever open the door or anything. Just hold what you got and wait. An hour later I was free to move again luckily the snow blew up, not down or sideways and did not pile up anywhere serious. <br /> <br />5 hours later I learned that Rapid City got hit with 3 feet of snow forcast by morning. I made the right choice by going but was to hit Ice on the back side of the storm. If you can walk on it, you can drive on it... but dont take my word for it. Especially those little bitty 4x4's that think they can OWN the winter. They cannot. In fact... if truckers stop, everything else should stop except maybe trains.
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