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DRIVER'S STORIES WORLD WIDE
* Iraq - He says, "there is no other job" - For local truckers, job brings rewards, risksForward Operating Base Q-West,Iran -The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore,MAR,USA) , by Matthew Dolan -September 23, 2007: -- Compared with the American military, Khalid Nooh Karoomi looks like the most underdressed man at the war... The 52-year-old truck driver from a village outside the city of Mosul wears no helmet, no Kevlar vest, no protective goggles... His cab is not outfitted with armor, the latest bomb-sensing gadgetry or even a radio connecting him to his own military escort, who resort to beeping at him to get his attention in a supply convoy. His wife and six children live far away, and a visit to them every six weeks is a rare gift...
Like many independent drivers of military goods across Iraq, Karoomi is alone... On a recent blazing afternoon, Karoomi waited, as he often does, for permission to leave the convoy storage yard at this base north of Baghdad. It is a fenced, prison-like yard within an armed camp of a military base. Truckers from various countries, but mostly Turkey and Iraq, must wait here to join one of the convoys... If they're hauling fuel or potable water, the wait might be a few days. Carrying an empty flatbed or nonessential goods means the stay here could last more than a week... Only when the drivers complete their routes are they paid, at least $250 per load, according to American military officials. Waiting here earns them nothing. On this day, 500 to 600 trucks stand idle, but at times their numbers have swelled to 900... Drivers sleep in their cabs or just outside them on cots. They shower in the open, on the gravel yard lined with rows of tractor-trailers... The conditions - long waits, limited food, no working showers - can lead to scuffles and fights among the drivers, so be careful. Smuggling of alcohol, drugs and other contraband, they add, is fairly common... Like many war veterans, Karoomi has the battle scars to prove his service. His truck was hit by a roadside bomb Oct. 4, 2005. He had no insurance, so the $4,000 to repair his cab came out of his own pocket, he says. His driver's seat still has puncture wounds where the shrapnel tore into the cushion... (Photos by ELIZABETH MALBY/Baltimore Sun -September 6, 2007: * 1 (above)- In the cab of his truck, independent trucker Khalid Karoomi recounts the time in 2005 when he was wounded by an Improvised Explosive Device that also caused major damage to his vehicle. When asked what he does to protect himself Karoomi answered, "I pray" - * 2 (below)- Truck drivers sleep in the shadows of their vehicles, the only shade available.)
* Nepal - Big adventure, wild ride for truck driverKnoxville,TEN,USA -The Knoxville News Sentinel, by Linda Lange -September 23, 2007: -- Every aspect of life in Nepal interests Ed Main of Knoxville. With equal curiosity, he investigated truck stops. Main, a truck driver by profession, made his second trip to Nepal this spring... To strike up a conversation with local truck drivers, Main said, “They offered to let me drive their trucks"... But the poor condition of equipment and roads caused him to decline. “The last thing I wanted to do was have a clutch go out”... He complimented them on the highly decorated truck interiors and enjoyed convivial conversations. “I truly have deep respect for these men. They have to be good just to drive on their roads.”
Traffic is fast and chaotic. “They make turns across traffic by just turning, forcing oncoming vehicles to either stop or hit them. Traffic lines are ignored. Passing on any side of a vehicle is the norm. They honk to announce their presence as they pass. I asked people, ‘If your horn and brakes are busted, which one do you fix first?’ They all said, ‘Fix the horn. You can’t drive here without a horn.’ ”... * USA - Hello from JB Hunt Driver
So after 9 months what do I think about trucking driving and JB Hunt? I'll tell ya...
USA -The Truckers Report,by Papadave -22 Sept 2007: -- ... Next I signed on with JB Hunt to do OTR with my wife. Our goal was to be and work together as a team although JB really doesn't have team loads... If you never want to be home then truck driving is the job for you. We no longer have a home. We've put everything in storage and the truck is our home. My wife has made it her "little apartment". We have a refrigerator, oven, coffee pot, and a port-a-potty "chair"... Perhaps the greatest difficulty of being on the road is to eat healthy meals and get enough exercise. This is a area that we are getting very serious about changing. We even have a small stair stepper machine on the truck. Recently we witnessed a driver who had a heart attack and died in his truck at a truck stop and it was very sad watching the county coroner take his body out his truck... Perhaps the greatest BS in our industry is the "Driver Shortage" scam. Basic ecomomics would tell you that if there was a shortage of drivers then driver pay would go up! Driver pay hasn't gone up in years! Why? Because there are plenty of new drivers starting every single day. The great injustice of this industry is that the companies prefer new drivers because they make more money with a low paid company driver... However, truck driving is just like many other industries - companies make their money off of entry level inexperienced employees. There is no shortage of new drivers! The companies love driver turn over!...Labels: drivers stories
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