Tag Archives: truck

Image of my comping shower bag

The Makeshift Shower Conundrum

Picture the startling scene

It could be any truck stop or rest area, at about 11pm, on a warm late summer evening. A large and nearly naked man stands beneath his truck’s ajar passenger door. In his hand he holds a spout that trickles water from the droopy bag which hangs above. He moves it quickly over various parts of his head and body, trying for a decent initial soak. He turns the small lever on the plastic spout to the off position and reaches for his container of Nivea Men Shower Gel – the ‘Energy 24 Hour Fresh Effect’ kind – that sits at the edge of the open door. He squeezes a medium amount into one hand, puts the container down, pours some into the other hand, then speedily spreads it over his exposed body, legs and feet. Within a few minutes he reopens the spout and fastidiously washes away all the gel, making sure to leave no skin untreated. Once satisfied with his work, he looks around, twice, to confirm there’s no one watching. Why would they watch, he wonders. He clumsily pushes his free hand down into his quick-dry shorts and feverishly soaps then washes the parts that will forever be unknown to unfamiliar eyes. All before the water in the bag runs out. Continue reading

When The ‘Going’ Gets Rough

Highway 19, west virginia, hico, mount nebo, summersville, truck driver

An incredible view along Highway 19 in West Virginia – a place no one should ever want to soil.

I lament the very idea of ‘going’ here

There’s no denying the beauty of driving along Highway 19 in West Virginia. The green covered mountains and lush valleys make you forget – even if just briefly – how poor this state is and how hard life is for its people.

The vast hilly region is absolutely underappreciated. In fact, I’d heard remarkably little about the area until I started driving through it weekly as a long-haul truck driver. That was in the spring of 2017. Prior to then, I knew nothing of the spectacular New River Gorge and the mighty bridge that spans its width.

This entire part of the country is far too beautiful to soil. It’s a shame when you have no choice. Allow me to explain the messy details: Hundreds of trucks pass through these parts daily, en route to destinations where they deliver and pick up freight. It would make perfect sense that any route travelled so heavily by transport trucks would have ample facilities to support the volume. It doesn’t.

For cars, small trucks and motorcycles – plus most campers and even motor homes – it’s easy enough to pull over into any roadside restaurant or store parking lot, in Summersville, Fayetteville or Oak Hill, for instances. These drivers and passengers don’t have to ‘dirty’ the gorgeous environment. After all, no self-respecting human wants to leave behind a remnant of their visit. Continue reading

Tragedy at Jane Lew Truck Stop

truck stop image, tractor-trailer

A random truck stop parking lot, at dusk

Sadly, it’s not news when a truck driver dies. At least it’s not news to most truck drivers. But what happened on Wednesday, December 5th puts a devastating new spin on truck driver deaths. A young trucker was walking through the Jane Lew Truck Stop and was run over by a rig that had just entered the lot.

I learned of the tragedy on the Twisted Truckers page on Facebook. Initially, I saw the altered image of a truck driving upward toward heaven. That was unusual. Then I read the text and discovered the horrific truth. The last sentence of the post read: “Everyone needs to slow down in these truck stops and pay more attention to everything and everyone around you.”

A follow-up post on Twisted Truckers, a day or two after the tragedy, showed a picture of a set of truck keys, which the author said belonged to the deceased driver. She said the driver had a wife and children who now had to spend the holidays without him. She said she can think of no reason that anyone should be traveling fast enough through a truck stop to kill someone.

Details unknown

I asked my friend Tony if he had heard any of the details. He stops at Jane Lew frequently when he’s passing through West Virginia on his way back from the Carolinas. He later told me that he talked to a waitress at the truck stop’s restaurant. She said the truck in question came barreling into the lot and ran over the victim with all five axles.

How exactly the calamity happened, I don’t know. No doubt an investigation has started that will look at all the possible angles and answer key questions, such as:

  • Was the truck travelling at too high a rate of speed?
  • Was hitting the victim unavoidable? (Were his clothes too dark to see? Was he wearing reflective clothing or carrying a flashlight?)
  • Is it possible that the driver was unaware that he hit the victim?

Continue reading

City Truck Driving: Thrilling or Soul-Killing?

driving in the city streets of Cambridge, Ontario

Steering through the streets of my old haunt: Cambridge, Ontario.

Feel the Fear

I’m going to scare the hell out of you without even trying, if you’re up to the test. Hop into my cab and we’ll go for a ride around the city – any city. I want you to see how tricky and dangerous it can be driving a tractor-trailer through busy streets. By the end of this unique day, I’ll want your answer to this question about city truck driving: Is it thrilling or soul killing?

Pretend real hard that you’re sitting beside me in my Freightliner cab. I know most of you won’t know what that looks or feels like. So, imagine that you’re in a massive truck that’s loud and powerful. You’re sitting up high and have a superb view of all nearby vehicles. If you look down into any regular car driving beside you, you can stare at people on their phones. Yes, it’s illegal for drivers but they do it anyway. You’ll also have a bird’s eye view of passengers playing with their hair and slouched in their seats looking unabashedly bored. Sometimes they will look up at you with ostensible fear. In this case it’s probably your truck they’re scared of, not you.

My cab has a sleeper bunk in the back; it’s called a sleeper cab. The added length makes driving even harder. Plus, I have no rear windows. I rely entirely on my side mirrors to see what’s behind and beside me.

I’m pulling a 53-foot trailer. The tractor and trailer combination weighs between about 32,000 to 80,000 pounds, depending on how much freight I’m hauling. That number is important because it affects everything, namely how much time it takes me to come to a complete stop. If I’m heavy, it could take 5-8 seconds to stop. It may take longer than that to build speed again. I do a lot of stops and starts in the city, so you’ll need to use your patience. I use mine hourly.

One more thing: the cab and trailer are each just under 4.14 metres high. That’s 13 feet 6 inches. When we’re nearing a bridge, we’ll want to look for a sign that says the bridge has enough clearance. On the highway that isn’t usually a problem because most every highway bridge is truck-friendly. Not so in the city.

Are you scared yet? Continue reading

Circle and Check: My First Week of Truck Driver Training

truck driver training, AZ truck driver

Me and the red truck I have been training with.

Secure and damage-free.

Working (in proper working order).

Free of obstructions.

These are key measuring points in the circle check, the round-the-truck pre-trip inspection that every driver needs to complete each day before hitting the road. This is what I have spent the majority of my first week of truck driver training on, trying to memorize.

Most people don’t spend a lot of time walking around their car or truck and carefully examining it for possible defects – namely that everything in view or under the hood is secure and damage free, working properly, and free of obstructions. In the trucking industry, it’s a whole different story. You spend a lot of time doing exactly that, in the name of safety. Safety matters most in this business. Nothing else is even close. Continue reading