when did trucker image go from knights of the road to ???

[bobbieinok]

haven't been on highways a lot lately so this may be out of date

ca 10-15 years ago many truckers on interstates seemed to ignore cars and just barrel thru........and there was the 'convoy' image

in the 50s it was a big deal that truckers were the ones who would help you if you got in trouble on the road

if this is outdated, just ignore

[rzemanfl]

1. Now they throw gallon jugs full of piss on the side of the road for

other people to pick up.

[Systematic Chaos]

2. Early childhood memory I will never forget

This would have been during the mid to late 70's when I was no older than 7 or 8. My mother and I are driving down the highway in her AMC Hornet hatchback (remember those anyone?), late at night, doing 55 or just barely over as my mother was not the type to break traffic laws for any reason. It was an interstate so we had two lanes to work with, and she was driving in the right lane. A semi came up behind us and rather than passing in the wide open left lane, the driver proceeded to crank his high beams and follow us for a good two or three miles at a distance of no more than 5 yards. I was petrified, and there was nobody else around who could help.

Back in the early 90's I had the same thing happen to me on a divided highway near Minneapolis in a driving rainstorm, and I was in a badly rusted out Honda Accord. I wanted to kill that fucking prick driver and if I'd had a gun in the car I doubt I'd be here posting this today.

[Catherine Vincent]

4. That's one of the reasons I wouldn't want to carry a gun in my car,

because other drivers make you so damn mad sometimes that you see red. Cursing will have to do.

[MrSlayer]

6. Did it ever occur to you to get into the open lane?

All you or your mom had to do was get into the wide open lane, slow down and let him pass. Would have solved the problem rather easily, yes?





Edit: flipped letters.

[ken-in-seattle]

3. That would be when they started...

Making drivers pee in a cup...

[greendog]

5. deregulation

The industry was deregulated by Reagan in 1980. Since then the big corps have pushed down the profit margins to the point where there's no money in it for the driver.

The pay is low, the lifestyle is undesirable, and turnover is high.

The drivers typical lifestyle is two or three weeks out with two days off. 80 to 100 hour work weeks are the norm. All personal expences are covered by the driver. And all this for 35,000 to 45,000 a year.

As you can imagine, this situation doesn't breed "Knights of the Road".