I don't know why some ppl are so down on truckies. Have you seen the sign on the back of most trucks that says, "without trucks Australia stops"? Its true, I looked around my house this morning and apart from me I cannot find one thing that at some time would not have been on the back of a truck. The clothes you wear, the food you eat, the furniture you use, everything. A lot of drivers are doing their job while you and I are tucked up cozy and warm in our beds or out having a good time with family and friends. Its one of the most underpaid, over regulated and stressful professions there is. We look at them sitting in the cab of their trucks and think, that cant be so hard all they do is sit on their bums all day (or night). Take a run from Sydney to Brisbane for example. If they are an independent driver they first have to spend hours on the phone trying to find a load that pays enough so they can actually make a quid at the end of it, once found they have to make their way to the depot (usually through heavy traffic), and wait in line to be loaded or to load themselves. Hopefully they leave the depot some time between 8pm and 10pm. These guys have to eat at some stage but you try finding a truck stop that has something healthier than fast food junk. Good luck. God forbid they need to take one of their mandatory rest breaks. Where are they supposed to do that? One of the few rest areas that hold half a dozen trucks if you're lucky. Pray that no weighbridges are open or if they are they are not manned by some over zealous twit on a power trip or that his wife gave him a hard time just before he left for work and he is looking for someone to take it out on. Did you know that a driver could be fined for misspelling the name of a town in his logbook? So this poor bugger has run the gantlet for the past 10 hours. He arrives at his destination somewhere between 6am and 8 am. They line up to be unloaded get a few hours zzzzzzzzzz and then do it all over again. Did I mention that on the way back to Sydney the load is classed as a backload and is only worth about 2/3's of the money. Same time, same fuel, same wear and tear on the truck but less money. Work that out.
So net time you see a truckie, wave, smile, don't cut him off, be friendly. You just might make his day
So net time you see a truckie, wave, smile, don't cut him off, be friendly. You just might make his day
