HI!
You'll only find 3 graphics here (besides my logo of course)....on
the bottom.
Since "a picture is worth a thousand words" .....need I say
more?
Yup....I'm a very out spoken person ... especially when it
comes to abuse of "my drivers"!
I hope you enjoy this page and please feel free to email me comments.
For those of you that know me...nice to see you here! For those of you
that don't know me YET...glad you stopped in! First off let me tell you
that all remarks made here are of my own personal opinon and I'm very opinionated
when it comes to the trucking industry! OH, don't worry, most of it's good
where it concerns the drivers....it's the other idiots that bug me *grin*.
I've only been connected to trucking for a little over7 years...and
not as a driver but from behind a fuel desk. Now THAT'S
the place to hear a lot of interesting tid bits! I'd say that 99% of the
drivers I've met are wonderful people....the other 1% belong behind a dispatcher's
desk hehehe. And out of all the drivers that have passed in front of that
fuel desk (at Seattle East-Ken's Truck Town in North Bend, Washington)
I've made several very good friends (ya, and a few enemies too). I've heard
a lot of stories about this and that and a lot of bad remarks about the
industry's way of treating them. Let me rephrase that....about the way
the general public views and treats them. And, ya know, I gotta agree with
'em!
The good side *eg*
Let's start out with the "good" side. ummm errrrr aaaa mmmm give me a sec...I'll
think of something.
Believe it or not....they like their job! If I had the nerve
to drive something bigger than my car and further than town...I'd like
it too. You get to meet so many interesting people in so many different
places. Too bad everyone can't spend a week in a truck and
see just how well truckers are treated/related with (ya, sarcasm!)
DISPATCHERS!
Why God ever created them so ignorant I'll never know. Inaccurate directions,
or none at all (I just loved those that came in with only a P.O. Box for
a delivery address...I suggested they just drop it off in that post office's
parking lot hehehe). Arguments about layovers...jeeze...if ya ain't got
a load and gotta "sit"...what's their problem? Think you enjoy not making
money that day? And those damaged goods...couldn't be that they were loaded
wrong could it? Nawww. (I know of one certain truck that was loaded to
84,400 and then they "complained" that there were 13 damaged cartons....jeeze!)
(I also know of one truck I scaled, a B-train, that went ahead and headed
out weighing 118,800...just "slightly" over his 105,500 huh?) I wanted
to become a dispatcher...but couldn't get hired as I'd have been on the
trucker's side....not the company's. Just goes to show ya!
TRUCK STOPS!
I have to admit..not ALL truckstops are as friendly as Seattle
East. And it's too bad because their attitude doesn't bring back customers!
When I worked at Seattle East we heard many comments on how different we
were...and MOST of them good! We treated drivers with friendly courteous
service. We helped them with many things that the other truckstops wouldn't
think of. (We thought nothing of giving a driver a ride to/from the airport,
dentist, doctor, grocery store and laundrymat....it was just part of our
service) We went out of our way to make your stay pleasant. I always told
the drivers that were waiting for a load that they weren't "stuck" just
"temporarily detained". The main comment I heard from the lady drivers
is that they were treated so much better at our place....not like some
**&%$**. (Um, I think you know what I mean). Gee, why shouldn't they
be treated good? They're just doing their job too!
I also know that our place was noted for helping drivers find their
pickups/drops. Well, here I get to take some credit *smile*. I created
a direction book that was (and still is cuz I wouldn't do that to "my"
drivers) left behind the fuel desk counter for anyone to use. The directions
are easy to use and if it isn't in the book....the fuel desk is more than
willing to help find it. NOW...how many places do that for the drivers?
I'm still available to help now that I'm back in the area (in fact, in
a couple of hours I'll be going up there to do just that).
Most truckstops have outrageous prices on everything! I checked out
our place with the local restaurant prices AND the grocery stores AND the
drugstores AND the misc stores. Hate to say it but our prices weren't that
much higher. (You need to keep in mind that Washington's King County..
where the truckstop is located..is THE highest priced county in the state
with .086 sales tax). But most everywhere else...do they think the drivers
are stupid and don't realize they're being taken advantage of? Too bad
they don't wakeup and smell the coffee! If they'd keep the prices reasonable
they'd sure sell a lot more.
(Added 2/23/99) For those of you that are familiar with
this truckstop...I must sadly inform you that I am no longer happy with
some of the things they've done since I left there. First of all they've
succummed to the E.P.A. (through complaints of all those idiots that have
moved into their fancy $300,000+ houses...mainly from ummm well...a state
south of Oregon) and have closed the secondary (upper) parking lot. Acres
and acres of parking lost *frown of disapproval*. And secondly...they now
charge for parking *another frown*. The first 4 hrs are free...then it's
$10.00 after that (no...not per hr...per day).What more can I say...cept...oh
poop!
Officers of the Law
When it comes to cops..the theme song that comes to my mind is "Charlie
Brown"..."why's everybody always pickin on me?". *hehehe* The news media
has sure helped to create a bad image of truck drivers! Even if it's just
a pickup that's involved in an accident...headlines always read..".....hit
by a truck". Sure helps the image doesn't it. It's a darn shame that cops
seem to pick on truck drivers...after all...who brought that car they're
driving? (kinda like biting the hand that feeds ya) I can understand the
concerns of cops to make sure the roads are safe for everyone...but why
don't they place some of that "concern" where it belongs...on the drivers
that impede the truckers? I, for one, ALWAYS (yup!) give way to the big
rigs! (my motto is "never hit anything bigger than you or a different color
*grin*) Let them over...give 'em room....give them plenty of warning when
you're stopping..etc. Oh oh...I've gotten away from the subject. Anyway,
sure wish the cops would place the blame where it belongs on a lot of traffic
problems...the regular-type vehicle!
And then there are :
Don't these guys EVER get the message? Or can't they read the sign on the
back of the truck..you know..the one about "wide turns". In MY opinion,
part of test to get a driver's license should include "how to get along
with 18 wheelers". Subtitled....."it's bigger than you you dummy!" hehehehe
Seriously I do believe that the public needs educated, somehow, on the
truck they pass with scorn, follow with scorn, and just plain keep in scorn!
Maybe, and I said MAYBE, then it'd be a little safer out on the road....for
the trucker.
Added 7/14/00
Thanks for listening to my opinons...now....get out there and
DO something to improve truckers' rights!
