Truck driver b.s.

So far, so good. Let's get this done!

 

I hope today is a better day than yesterday. Supposed to pick up my truck today and swap trailers again.

 

Off to work again...

 

First load of the day, 71k in the box.

 

Killin time til 1, then mine safety training at Eveleth taconite, turning into a unusually easy day!

 

Week half done!

 

Bolts.

 

Got a weekend horse haul in the works. Starting to get excited.

 

Good morning, friday for me! have a good day guys,

Precious cargo! easy on the braking

 

Got my truck back today, yay! I got 26 hours in for 2 days. Other driver is supposed to be back Thursday so hopefully it will slow down a little.

 

Driver shortage will come to an end now, welcome the new 18 year olds

 

Morning drivers, Thursday, getting closer to the end. I think I'll be working Saturday though.
Be safe drivers! Cold and windy here.

 

Yeah we'll see how that works out. I gotta feeling there's gonna be a lot of wrecks. But seriously most young people really don't want to work like we do. I've got 36 hours in for 3 days, do you really think they will work like that? Some will, most won't.

 

I don’t see it really helping much. They just need to pay more, but that’s the last thing they want to do.

 

Worked a couple of summers during HS as the yard jockey, driving whichever POS tractor was too unreliable for even local deliveries. Today that operator is known as “R&L”

Worked a college summer for GMC as an engineering co-op. First day, the HR lady asked why I had a CDL. Uh, oh.

Turned out that GMC and Pontiac provided vehicles to various Hollywood studios. Nine of us “engineering” co-op’s convoy’d from Pontiac, MI to a warehouse in Ontario, CA where we delivered eight vehicles to be used by The Rockford Files and BJ and the Bear. The ninth vehicle was a GMC motor home; our ride home.

My CDL meant I drove the GMC General. It was not yet being sold, but was hardly a secret. We would do one pre-planned meet & greet each day at a truck stop. PR would arrange for detailers, a couple of pro photographers and models to meet us … to pose for photos with whoever wanted their pic with a movie car and hottie.

The General was fully bling’d out. The amount of chrome was obscene. Fruehauf had loaned the trailer - polished & clear-coated. It might have as well have been chrome’d.

GMC and Pontiac PR arranged for us to have a meet and greet at Universal Studios. Jim Garner and Claude Akins were delightful. The monkey, not so much.

The rest of the story:

Part 1: GMC had a grizzled olde Group Leader check me out in the General. My first task was reversing into a dock. No problem! Fluke? Do it again. Twice lucky? Do it again. Again! Again! Damn; kid, where did you learn to drive? Then he wanted to do a round trip to Flint. It became evident that I had little experience beyond Reverse and First. I was also rather timid on narrow city streets. We spent another full day running city streets.

Part 2: A couple of us sneaked our girlfriends along for the x-country adventure. We had sworn each other to secrecy, but the PR photos were the smoking gun. My GF was Asian and cleaned-up pretty good. The photographers used her and the redhead for some of the pics with pro drivers.

One of the dirty olde men in PR at Pontiac noticed her and the redhead appearing in pics taken at multiple truck stops. Oops! We all do our best Sgt. Schultz denials. https://youtu.be/jbWmIHhSRvg

Part 3: A few years later I am working for GMC. Engineering Xmas party. GF has managed to upgrade herself to Wife Mk I. VP of PR is making the rounds and introduces himself and his wife. He has a confused expression and asks my bride if she works for GMC? No??? We learn that our dinner table assignment has changed … and we are seated next to Mr. and Mrs. PR. He tells a story to the whole table about when a group of summer co-op’s snuck their GF’s along for a Hollywood delivery trip and how they almost got away with it.

Hey, Rainsux, weren’t you an engineering co-op? Uh, um, mumble, look at shoes.

 

They are going to pay more… to insure the youngsters. That money has to come from someplace so guess who’s gonna take the hit?

 

I got 3 1/2 years and I'm out.

 

I don’t see many 18 year olds doing otr and staying out 1 or more weeks at a time. Fresh out of high school and doing this kind of work, what an education they truly will get.

 

This is scary just because I know how I was at 18….