Truck drivers are a special breed. They must be trustworthy, innovative, resourceful, self-directed and resilient. But, most of all, they must be self-rewarding, as they certainly wont get much respect from anyone else. One of the oddest things about our society today is that, in the name of diversity and celebrating everyone's uniqueness, we are only allowed publicly to denigrate two groups of people-red-necks' and truck drivers. The fact that they are often one and the same makes for some mighty big disrespect on the part of much of society.
After nearly 20 years on the road, I am still amazed by the lack of respect shown by shippers and receivers for the driver who drove all night through a major snowstorm to deliver his product, only to be told he's twenty minutes late and they wont assign a dock. If the astute driver noses around he will usually find that the snowstorm created a few employee call-ins and they are running behind. Instead of honest common courtesy and explaining the situation, many shippers will try to turn it around into a driver error.
I'm amazed at grocery warehouses that order their product on one size pallet and expect the driver to transfer it by hand to other pallets-broken down as per order for THEIR customers. Try as I might, I have a bit of trouble trying to figure out why, if they ordered the product, and sold the product, should they get my low-paid or unpaid labor to fill their orders. Thankless? You bet.
I'm flabbergasted when traffic is suddenly detoured off a truck route to . . .who knows? How many times have I been told to "go up there and turn around" and there is absolutely no place to turn a 70 ft vehicle around. And when I do as directed, I'm greeted by honking horns and some four-wheeler rolling the window down to give me the one finger salute'. That is designed to make me feel special? This is probably the same guy that follows me around on the interstate and when I'm forced to change lanes to pass, gets behind me flashing his lights furiously the entire time I'm passing. I know it's him-the finger looks the same.
I'm more than annoyed when legislators and lawyers, looking to gain votes and customers try to enact laws to take my basic human rights away-such as mandatory drug screens, maintaining a record of ALL of my activities, what lane I can drive in, uneven speed limits, lack of Fair Wage and Hour coverage and the like. What four-wheeler is regularly pulled off the highway just so some official can look him over and ticket him for a clearance light that burned out enroute? But I REALLY felt un-thanked when recently, a legislator tried to pass legislation that said every truck driver involved in an accident would be initially arrested as under suspicion of a criminal act. I've been in two fender-benders in my career-both occurring when a car hit me!
I got my initial baptism into thankless when, after promising me I'd be home for Thanksgiving, not only did the dispatcher make no effort to get me there but informed me they sell turkey sandwiches in the truck stops! However, these big disrespects are overshadowed by the more mundane, wait 9 hours to get unloaded-and you cant use our bathroom. Even worse is when, after the nine hour wait and unload, my own dispatcher leaves me sitting there for another 5 hours because he might' have a load to pick up just down the street in five hours. Of course, I'm only being paid for the miles I drive. He isn't losing anything-and he shows me how little he respects my time when he does this.
Thankless is when I get up at three am to drive two hours to make a delivery, then dispatch expects me to go back to bed for another ten hour break because they want me to drive overnight. Thankless, too, is when I'm faced with a bunch of "No Trucks" signs on the only way in or out of a shipper. You would think perhaps the shipper could work with the municipality to legalize the route, but they figure, "It's not my problem-you're the professional!" I may be a professional but I'm not a magician and I can't levitate. And my Gumby' truck cant make that tight corner with the light post right at the edge of the road, no matter how many time you do it daily with your pick-up. If you cant be bothered to see that your facility is accessible to the size truck you ordered, that's pretty thankless.
Thankless is when you expect me to observe strict limits on the hours I can drive-and then close all the rest areas and refuse to zone for a truck stop. Even worse, when the rest area is there and you limit me to two hours in blatant violation of the legal hours of service and ticket me when I move. I also feel pretty unloved when you expect me to sleep in a truck that cant be idled at 10 degrees or at 110 degrees. Not only do I feel less than thanked, I'm an un-rested and dangerous driver-giving the public another reason not to respect truck drivers.
For most truckers, just how thankless the job feels has everything to do with their employer. A good employer, who treats you with respect and appreciates the effort you put into moving his freight, makes all the difference. An employer that pays fairly, does everything in his power to see that you don't sit unpaid and makes sure you get home when promised can keep you at the job a very long time. An employer who delights in developing punitive rules and makes the job harder than it already is will have a hard time keeping good drivers. From what I have experienced, some of the largest carriers obviously don't WANT to keep their drivers. Carriers who expend considerable effort in finding ways to get you to work for free (only miles are paid and carriers promise our unpaid labor frequently to the shipper),who start every meeting with, "drivers are our biggest expense" and employ entire departments dedicated to denying valid workers comp claims obviously don't want drivers to feel appreciated.
What makes anyone continue driving a truck with this kind of treatment? We develop our own sense of accomplishment for a job well done and maintain it with little positive feedback. We appreciate the gratitude of our families and their cooperation to make our jobs easier. We develop friendships with other drivers with whom we can share our frustrations and our accomplishments. We appreciate fully the occasional respectful shipper with whom we can share a joke or a pleasant conversation. And we learn to savor the beautiful view, the gorgeous sunrise, the unusual sights and one-in-a-lifetime experiences. We learn to take pride in successfully one-upping the bad-attitude rent-a-cop guards at many factories. And we realize much of the bad treatment we get is likely the result of the fact that we are doing something that warehouse worker or guard secretly envies and is too afraid or too set in his ways to do. Sometimes, in a quiet moment, they will reveal they always wanted to drive a truck. In that moment, you realize beneath their disgust with the job they do or the distaste they feel for having to deal with endless truck drivers asking the same questions and having the same problems, there is a grudging respect.
It s a thankless job if you depend on externals to reward you. Only if you are able to internalize the rewards of doing a hard job and doing it well, will you be able to survive the stress of working as a truck driver.