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TRUCKERS' STORIES * USA & Canada - Life on the asphalt
Make no bones about it: driving a truck for a living is a tough and dangerous job
Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -October 1, 2010: ... Even if drivers get home every night, it’s no easy picnic navigating today’s crowded and highly unpredictable roadways in a big rig for hundreds of miles at a time. Throw in bad weather – be it rain, snow, whatever – and it’s an even more aggravating task... None of this is new to any trucking industry veteran out there – it goes with the territory, so to speak. The problem, fewer and fewer “newbies” want to make a career out of driving tractor-trailers these days...
(Video fromYouTuybe, by ChicagoTribune -February 9, 2010: Truck driver Rollin Pizzala drives along Interstate 65 in Indiana with a cargo load from Racine, Wisc. for a delivery in Indianapolis, Ind)
Rollin Pizzala sums up pretty effectively why the traditional long-haul truck driving job doesn’t appeal to the next generation of workers... Recently, I listened to the CEO of a large for-hire TL carrier talk about how difficult it is to get younger workers into the driver’s seat – and this despite national unemployment hovering near 10%. On average, this executive said, company long-haul drivers take home about $45,000 a year. But in reality, it should be a $65,000 to $70,000 a year job due to the days away from home and family, the difficulties faced on the road, etc... That, of course, will result in higher costs for carriers – costs that will, by necessity, get passed on to shippers in the form of higher rates. It’s just the reality of the freight world that relies on people willing to travel the asphalt to get stuff where it needs to go... Here’s another view of life behind the wheel. Note in particular the re-telling of an accident caused by a four wheeler that made a last-minute, high speed decision not to take an exit ramp...
(Video from YouTube, by heavenwraith0 -25 March 2009: doin whats gotta be done)
* Canada - Trucking days over for badly beaten Good Samaritan driver
* Canada - Trucking industry rallying for attack victim
Langley,B.C.,CAN -Truck News -Oct 6, 2010: -- The trucking industry is rallying to bring justice to the perpetrators of a stunning, seemingly unprovoked attack on a truck driver who was simply trying to help a fellow motorist... Monarch Transport driver Alex Fraser stopped his truck Sept. 24 on the Yellowhead Highway just north of Blue River, B.C., when a motorist flagged him down for help. According to media reports, the Good Samaritan truck driver was then beaten badly by three men and later had to undergo reconstructive surgery. Fraser, 67, told media his trucking days are over... The B.C. Trucking Association (BCTA) has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the attackers. Anyone with information is asked to contact: the Valemont RCMP by phone (250-566-4466) or fax (250-566-9964); their local RCMP detachment; or, if anonymity is preferred, BC Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477... The BCTA is also accepting donations to assist with Fraser's unplanned retirement from the industry...
Labels: truckers' stories
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