I thought I was one tough trucker.

The American Trucker is often seen as the last American mountain man, a nomad of sorts traveling across America through some of the worst of conditions to deliver his freight. A way of life for most, a job for others but one thing is for certain.  We’re a tough as nails subculture who can  do more then tell you about what it takes to keep a nation running we can show you the bruises.

As I like to say “trucking is not for pussies“. I have seen men travel under some really bad conditions and when I say conditions I’m not talking about the weather in this case. Most people have the luxury to call out if they feel a cold coming on. Have you had the flu or a cold lately? did you call out of work?  When normal civilians can call their doctor and schedule a appointment to take care of their health that is often not a option for a trucker who could be thousands of miles away from his doctor, if he even has one.

I once had a medical emergency that was life threatening, So I drove myself to the ER in Pasadena CA they told me “you can’t park that big truck here!” I said “watch me #$@#$ I’m about to die!!”. Finding a legal place to park to seek medical attention is another huge problem in the trucking industry.

I have dealt with all kinds of medical conditions on the road before I could get home or to a qualified doctor to take care of myself such as: broken bones, abscessed teeth. pinched nerves etc.. No one should have to compromise their health, their safety and the life of everyone around them because no one is there to help in their time of need or they’re to stubborn to seek out help. When I first started driving I hated the idea of taking time of to take care of my health after many health problems and nearly loosing my life on several occasions I realized taking care of your health should be every drivers number one priority.

I digress, I want to share a story with you about one trucker who’s medical situation makes my “dealt with medical problems list”  look like a whiny excuse to write a article. Trucker Jason Ripley was cruising through Darlington, Co Durham when he hit a crash barrier. What is so strange about that, you say “it happens everyday” you say “stop wasting my fu#king time” you say.  Alright mother #$@$# I’ll get to it. What makes this different is not only that he was impaled by a 8ft pole but that he was conscious enough to call his boss and say “I’ve had a bit of an accident - I’m in a spot of bother sir.“  That is truly a tough trucker. Jason recovered and was back to work shortly after the accident.

“Ah shit look at the rookie driver f-up”, most senior drivers would say!

I would like to point out that this article is in no way a attempt to belittle a company or their driver, rather it is a way to drop a little knowledge on  new drivers and  those looking at entering the trucking industry. (this is not a reference manual, just a few insights is all)

Now I know you are saying to yourself  “now how in the hell did the driver get himself in that kind of a situation”. The answer is really simple actually, he failed to plan. Lets start by explaining what more then likely happened here and close with some helpful advice so this does not happen to you.

He either made a wrong turn or was given wrong directions, in any case seeing the road starting to look increasingly more dangerous he panicked. He was thinking my only way out of this mess is to go back the same way I came in, instead of stopping long enough to plan a course of action, you can clearly see how far his plan got him.

I’m very thankful to come from a trucking family dating back three generations, as a matter of fact almost all of my ken folk and friends drive to one extent or another.  I can remember my first over the road trip with out my father to babysit me, I was worried I would fuck up, get lost or have a accident. I turned to my father for a little bit of advice before I hit the road for Sacramento,Ca.

I said “pops any last words you could offer me?” he said ” Never run in a pack they will either slow you down or push you past your limit, run by yourself and sleep whenever you are tired. Run your own truck don’t let your log book run it for you, if you are tired sleep forget about that delivery. Did I mention sleep son?”. Most importantly he said “before you move your truck know exactly what you are doing, flying by the seat of your pants could get you killed.”

Almost everything I know about trucking came from my father who is a amazing driver with a recorded second to none ( 5 million miles accident free). I could see even when I was real young that it was not just driving for him, it seemed he had a gift for knowing what was about to happened before it happened. He has a read on his environment like he has the spirit of the road with in him. I feel honored when I get a chance to sit next to him while he navigates his big rig across America.

Now this article is getting extremely long so I am going to avoid a in depth explination of trip planning. If you are interested in learning how to plan right leave me a comment in the section below, if enough people are interested I will dedicate a entire article to such topic. The important thing when planning is to use all the resources you can.

• Atlas
• city index
• google maps or similar software
• cell phone
• State Access Policies sheet
• longer combination vehicle sheet
• weight and size provisions (federal,state,provincial)
• Bridge formula table
• Any state route map if available
• Common sense, etc

Planning is the key essential to avoding this situation however even the best of plans can get side tracked, how you get out of bad situations is what makes you either a pro or a newbie! NEVER, EVER, EVER think about doing a U-TURN in the middle of a road NEVER. If you feel like you are running out of SAFE alternatives call law enforcment who are more then willing to come out and give you a hand to get you back on the safe track. If that means coming to a stop in the road then by all means stop where you’re at. Get out your reflective vest set up your safety triangles and keep your head up as not to get hit by moving traffic. Now take a deep breath and learn from the experience we all have been there!