We are living what will be termed in a few years the good ole’ days and I for one am sure glad to be here during this time. Why yes, I have rose colored lenses that I see out of and they are permanently attached to my retinas.
When off duty I like to walk and often that walking is around the truck stop over and over again. A choice is consciously made to either concentrate on the one bag of trash left behind or to look at the other 100 or more parking spots that are clean and watch as trucks come in and out without leaving any sign they were there. How much easier it is to see the positive instead of the negative.
While sitting at a table in the corner of the truck stop restaurant working and watching drivers come in, sit down, chat with their neighbors, eat their food, wish their neighbors a safe ride, and then off they go for destinations unknown. Most are dressed casually, some are dressed very nicely, and one or two might look like they just crawled out of bed. Most though are dressed for the day’s work, are clean, and fresh shaven.
When traveling on an any two-lane road and a vehicle is disabled alongside of the road, trucks move over to the other lane while cars often appear to see how close they can get to the disabled vehicle. Truck drivers will flash their lights to let another driver know it is safe to move over and flash their lights to thank another driver. Not very often do we witness a car driver thanking another car for letting them over.
Truck drivers also do their best to let others know of their intentions. When backing into a parking spot flashers are used so others know they are in reverse. Turn signals seem to work better on trucks as we switch from lane to lane then they do on smaller vehicles. When traveling through a parking lot there is often a line of trucks from both directions waiting as a driver backs into a space. Horn are not blown as we wait for them to make their maneuver as we all know our turn will be coming when we hold up others as we back into our space. When we see, a driver having problems even in the rain another driver will often get out to help guide the driver into a tight spot.
Our goal each day is to remain invisible, do the right thing, leave no sign we were there, and if someone does remember us it was for a good reason. When talking to a family member many many years after an incident she still remembers that one truck that did not see her and moved over into her lane forcing her to the shoulder. Does she remember the hundreds of thousands of trucks that have passed her since? Nope just that one truck that frightened her.
Comradery is alive and well just look around you to see the positive instead of the negative. In the past drivers had to rely on the CB or ask questions when stopped. Now we are able to use the phone or the computer to quickly look up weather and to see our routes from one side of the country to the other. The computer is also used to learn more about trucking and to ask specific questions. There are Facebook pages like Women in Trucking and company pages to learn more about our industry. Times have changed and the opportunity to learn the facts about our business is at our fingertips. Enjoy the day as we are living in the best times of trucking!