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Saturday, September 8, 2012

A Truckers Reward

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 9/8/12 A Truckers Reward
Truckers that run legal. Ok, OK, stop laughing. I have been putting this out there for years. There are thousands of us that bust our butts to run as safe and legal as we possibly can. I myself have been doing it for years and as such, I am finding it harder every day to continue. With the failing economy and a complete over regulation of the trucking industry, it is becoming darn near impossible to do so anymore. But many of us continue to demand to do so. Well at least to the best of our abilities anyway.

And as we do, we often find ourselves having to chose between working and making a payday or walking away putting our whole life at risk because we simply refuse to break the laws or run unsafe. I know the cost that I myself have lost in the past and still to this day, I am paying that price. It is sad to watch as my truck deteriorates because I refuse to run illegal or unsafe loads. I know that for me, there is only so much time left.

What about other drivers though? I am not by a long shot the only trucker out here that demands to run safe and legal. I found out today that a friend of mine walked away from a company that demanded he run in an unsafe or illegal manner. The company I bet covered the load with another driver that was willing to do what needed to be done so no big loss to them. But what about my friend? Car payments, house payments, about fifty grand owed toward his truck and trailer and because he stood his ground, now he has the pleasure of praying like hell that he does not lose everything he has worked for all his life. What a crock.

As I see this, because my friend did the right thing, walked away from a company that demanded he break FMCSA regulations to tend to the needs of a customer. Because he chooses not to put the lives of the families that he shared the highways with at danger, this is his reward. The DOT sees him as no better than a truck driver that just started yesterday. The press and the politicians still label him as a killer truck driver, and the world to include the family that might have been killed still sees him as nothing more than a piece of crap that needs to be removed from the highways before he kills someone.

This man, this safe and legal truck driver just put his whole life, his whole career on the line to remain safe and legal and the world out there both outside of trucking and up there on capitol hill could care less for this valiant act of this trucking hero. To them, he does not even exist.

It is time I think that we found a way to recognize heroes like my friend. No, they may not have pulled someone from a burning car or found a way to be present in front of some news crew TV camera somewhere. However, the fact is, it is the steadfast hard headed attitude that it takes to stand up to outlaw companies that is saving lives out on that highway. It is that willingness of a driver to put their whole life on the line to keep our highways safe, that is saving lives out on that road. Personally, I think it is high time that drivers like my friend start being recognized as Highway Heroes. If you ask me, they are saving lives out there on that highway just like the driver that comes across a wreck and pulls someone out just in a nick of time.

To my friend all I can offer is my prayers and any help that I can give as I see you need it and I can supply. I hope your stand finds you in a more lucrative place in the near future. And I also pray that one day, the world recognizes the sacrifice that so many truckers make each and every day in keeping our highways safe, in keeping our families alive and safe so that they may return home to their loved ones.

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1 comment:

  1. Thanks for this Jeff. As I said, I have never looked at it in this context, nor do I consider myself a "Hero" by any means. And you hit it square on the head; he shoved the load on his one company driver that had started his day earlier than me, and he of course accepted and ran the load. And we're not talking about "Post Toasties" either, we are speaking of 8,500 gallon loads of Gasoline.

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