I will listen to this later, but I agree with the premise. 20 years in and I’m still learning every day. There’s no other job out there that puts you in a position of being responsible for so many lives with so little training. CDL mills will always take shortcuts because there are huge incentives to do so.
1,000,000,000% – work tangently, in insurance for commercial trucks, see the carnage all the time. The good drivers are true professionals and unfortunately are becoming scarce
Here in CA … I used to TRUST the truck drivers to be the most mature, cautious, and experienced drivers on the road. I used to trust the trucker would use restraint and caution … even as idiot automobile drivers played chicken with them as if they were invincible.
No longer.
Now, I look over in the semi cab, and I see a twenty-something heespanick Yahoo who is driving with reckless machismo. My driving strategy on CA freeways is to stay as far away from semi trucks, box trucks, and Rental trucks as possible. The trucks are being driven by immature idiots … most of whom probably don’t speak comprehensible English.
Kenji, we have the same problem in Canada,only the drivers are young east Indian immigrants who are hired by others in their community because they work cheap and don’t complain about the shitty treatment.
Look up the Humboldt Broncos for a real tragedy in which this was the main factor.
“…we have the same problem in Canada,only the drivers are young east Indian immigrants…
Worked in a distribution warehouse about 30 years back, shipping, receiving, picking orders. New trucking company based in Winnipeg starts showing up, all east Indian drivers. The yard was smallish & the only way to back in to the building was from the blind side. Often times we’d stand on the dock waiting 20 minutes or more while they attempted to successfully back in.
Once that was finally done, they were supposed to count the freight on. Means multiplication tables. We’d give the block size (number of cases on a layer), they were supposed to count the layers, do the math, tell the forklift driver the number to verify & update the tally.
Charitably, let’s just say that their math skills were on a par w/ their driving skills.
Lol! My shipping receiving, trucker watching back-up record, was about 45 minutes. He came to me twice to ask which way he should turn the wheels! I finally told him I had shit to do, ring the bell again when you figure it out.
Also watched a 5-Ton driver totally miss turning into the loading bay and 45 degree angle smoke into the neighbour’s building.
Always good times, having a smoke while watching the show, sipping on my coffee!
I too give the trucker’s a wide berth on the road, and speed up a little more than normal to scoot by them before they crowd my lane. God Bless Canada!
We hire trucks almost every week to move oversize dimensional and overweight loads from Canada to the US. Our hauliers can’t get qualified drivers anymore. Almost 50% of the time now.
And yes, it’s mostly old, white guys who are timing out. Nobody is coming up behind.
Part of it is because small family specialized firms are disappearing. F.U. Mullens, for instance.
At least I don’t have to do this for to much longer.
” Nobody is coming up behind.”
Two other contributing factors are the additional costs & bureaucracy to get a class one after Humboldt and the border being closed to purebloods.
Whereabouts? I’ve done plenty of OS work. I am contracted to a small 10 truck family outfit out of Manitoba.
I will listen to this later, but I agree with the premise. 20 years in and I’m still learning every day. There’s no other job out there that puts you in a position of being responsible for so many lives with so little training. CDL mills will always take shortcuts because there are huge incentives to do so.
1,000,000,000% – work tangently, in insurance for commercial trucks, see the carnage all the time. The good drivers are true professionals and unfortunately are becoming scarce
Here in CA … I used to TRUST the truck drivers to be the most mature, cautious, and experienced drivers on the road. I used to trust the trucker would use restraint and caution … even as idiot automobile drivers played chicken with them as if they were invincible.
No longer.
Now, I look over in the semi cab, and I see a twenty-something heespanick Yahoo who is driving with reckless machismo. My driving strategy on CA freeways is to stay as far away from semi trucks, box trucks, and Rental trucks as possible. The trucks are being driven by immature idiots … most of whom probably don’t speak comprehensible English.
Kenji, we have the same problem in Canada,only the drivers are young east Indian immigrants who are hired by others in their community because they work cheap and don’t complain about the shitty treatment.
Look up the Humboldt Broncos for a real tragedy in which this was the main factor.
“…we have the same problem in Canada,only the drivers are young east Indian immigrants…
Worked in a distribution warehouse about 30 years back, shipping, receiving, picking orders. New trucking company based in Winnipeg starts showing up, all east Indian drivers. The yard was smallish & the only way to back in to the building was from the blind side. Often times we’d stand on the dock waiting 20 minutes or more while they attempted to successfully back in.
Once that was finally done, they were supposed to count the freight on. Means multiplication tables. We’d give the block size (number of cases on a layer), they were supposed to count the layers, do the math, tell the forklift driver the number to verify & update the tally.
Charitably, let’s just say that their math skills were on a par w/ their driving skills.
Lol! My shipping receiving, trucker watching back-up record, was about 45 minutes. He came to me twice to ask which way he should turn the wheels! I finally told him I had shit to do, ring the bell again when you figure it out.
Also watched a 5-Ton driver totally miss turning into the loading bay and 45 degree angle smoke into the neighbour’s building.
Always good times, having a smoke while watching the show, sipping on my coffee!
I too give the trucker’s a wide berth on the road, and speed up a little more than normal to scoot by them before they crowd my lane. God Bless Canada!
We hire trucks almost every week to move oversize dimensional and overweight loads from Canada to the US. Our hauliers can’t get qualified drivers anymore. Almost 50% of the time now.
And yes, it’s mostly old, white guys who are timing out. Nobody is coming up behind.
Part of it is because small family specialized firms are disappearing. F.U. Mullens, for instance.
At least I don’t have to do this for to much longer.
” Nobody is coming up behind.”
Two other contributing factors are the additional costs & bureaucracy to get a class one after Humboldt and the border being closed to purebloods.
Whereabouts? I’ve done plenty of OS work. I am contracted to a small 10 truck family outfit out of Manitoba.