My Trucker Notions Debunked

      Before Dad got into trucking, I had a bunch of pre-conceived ideas of what truckers were like. Here are the main two:

1. Truckers have bad hygiene
2. Truckers aren't very smart - I mean, most people can drive, so how hard can it be?

      Well, this trip has de-bunked those notions and more, in fact, the longer I travel with Dad, the more impressed I become. Allow me to share my new-found viewpoints with you :)

      Being that I can get pretty germaphobic at times, notion #1 was a big deal starting out on this trip. How often would I get to shower? Would the showers and bathrooms even be clean? What about laundry?

      Thus far, I've found that truck-stops usually have pretty clean looking bathrooms and showers - a huge relief to me. I've also had ample chances to stop and take a shower during this trip. Basically, you have plenty of facilities available to stay as clean as you'd like :) I'm sure there are truckers that embrace the grunge, but so do other people who have bad hygiene by choice, not due to profession.

      Notion #2 was a big deal to me - I felt like whenever I told anyone my dad was a trucker, they would think less of him. I think this is because I was still dealing with my own opinion of truckers. I've since learned that trucking really is a complex job.

      For starters, before you get to truck, you have to make it through 6 weeks of trucking school, and 7 weeks of riding with a mentor - you don't just get to start driving on a whim.

        Then there is the simple fact that manoeuvring this giant machine takes major skill - every tight turn Dad takes, makes me grateful that I'm not driving. I've also been surprised to hear of the varying backgrounds different truckers have. Today Dad came across a guy who was a biomedical engineer for 20 years and just recently got back into trucking (a job he'd done before in the 80's). Seeing this guy, made me realize that Dad isn't the only trucker out there with a higher education.

       Finally, one of the most interesting things I've learned so far is what goes into fueling a truck. When we put gas in our cars, all we have to think about is how much money we are willing to pump into it pre visit, truckers don't get off that easy. If you have a heavy load (over 40,000 pounds) that you're pulling, you need to first weigh your truck on a scale. After weighing the truck, a little math skill is needed to see how much fuel you can take on while still keeping within the legal weight limit. Once you've crunched some numbers, and put in the fuel, you'll want to swing by the scale on last time to double check that your weight is legal. The exception to this is if you have a "light" load (under 34,000 pounds) - then you don't have to worry. This blew my mind - what a lot of thought for simply fueling a truck!

      There are many more examples I could give to debunk #2, but I'll stop there before I bore y'all with too many facts :P

      In conclusion, there is way more to trucking than just getting to drive around all day. I hope this encourages you to think a bit harder about other not to "glamours" jobs that you might have pre-concieved ideas about - are they factual or not?