Doing It

Today's Thoughts By Jeff Head 4/11/13 Doing It

For two days I sat in Cheyenne, WY as winter storm Walda passed over us. I was lucky in a way I guess because just before it struck, my truck needed to go into the shop and I had to get a hotel room.  The Kenworth dealership was nice enough to let my pet bearded dragon Sammy stay in the truck in the shop so that she stayed nice and warm from the freezing blizzard outside. So a really big thank you goes out to them.

 

Yesterday all the restrictions were lifted going west bound so off I go up and over Sherman mountain and out past Laramie, WY. The roads are  still icy and the winds are kicking just a bit but life is manageable. As I get about twenty miles from Rawlings, WY A car passes me on the ice and pulls back in front of me in the right lane and slows down. Many of us truckers knows what is about to happen here, I step out into the left lane to keep my speed up and not have to use my brakes on the ice and the car speeds up not letting me pass. So being a safe and professional trucker, I back out of it so they can go on but the car slows down even more.

 

As luck would have it, the roads dried up about then and I pick up my speed to pass, seventy five miles an hour in this state. Nope, the car is not going to let that happen so I drop my down to forty five and still this car is forcing me to ride two feet off its bumper. Now as a truck driver, it is not my job to know or understand why people do this. Forcing a fully loaded eighteen wheel to stay behind you is crazy especially on a solid sheet of ice. But people will do this and my job at this point is to pull off the highway and let them go about their way.

 

Unfortunately for me, I pull off into a truck stop and right into a two foot snow drift that Walda had left behind. You see out on the road a driver like that will force you to keep your concentration completely on them so that you do not run over them. You end up losing what everyone else is doing and that makes for dangerous driving. When I pulled into that truck stop still muttering under my breath because of this forced unwanted delay, my mind was still on the highway instead of what was going on in that parking lot. People, if you are going  to pass, then pass. Keep moving ahead and do not force the truck you just passed to ride two feet off your bumper. Safe and legal drivers like myself work hard to keep you alive out there and a little help from you would be appreciated. Ok, end of rant but it needed to be said.

 

Anyway, three hours of digging my truck out of the snow drift with help from a flat bedder from Alaska, I was free at last to travel on. I returned the snow shovel to the truck stop that I had borrowed it from and as the driver that had help me refused payment and I was ready for a break anyway, we sat down and I bought him a meal. I figured that was the least I could do.

 

Truckers in today's world are becoming more in tune with safe and legal trucking. We go far out of our way to insure that those highways stay safe for those we share them with. That dedication comes at a price though. Often you hear stories of drivers being fired for refusing to run in an unsafe or illegal fashion. Sometimes the courts will back the driver but all too often they do not. Drivers take a big chance putting their livelihood on the line each and every time they say no when no is the right answer. Yesterday the price to me was three hours of digging my truck out of a snow drift and the aching back that came with it. At least though I can rest easy knowing that my decision to pull off the highway instead of playing stupid head games at seventy five probably saved a life.

 

I wonder sometimes, do people know what us truckers go through sometimes to keep them alive out there? Do they even care? I guess that is not really important though. Recognition is not why we do it. What is important is that we do it and we keep doing it. And personally just from me, a big thank you to all those truckers that believe as I do  and take that extra step every day to keep those highways safe. I know the cost involved in it sometimes can be high. Making that decision though is what keeps people alive and for doing the right thing you deserve to be appreciated for a job well done.  

 

God Bless America

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