I would love to see a tractor trailer at all driver license stations and have all LOOK at that rig close up and sit in it BEFORE they get their license. I would also like to see every driver start it up, put it in gear and move it forward/backward a few feet. That may educate a few on trucks.

I am not mechanically inquisitive and if you have not read my PRE-TRIP story, you might want to take a look at that one.

The things a driver puts up with is unreal and it would not be allowed at “normal” jobs. We are truly PROFESSIONAL TRUCK DRIVERS no matter what the government thinks or what the public thinks.

Thanks for the lesson on trailers… I had no idea that the axle could be moved on trailer! Being mechanically inquisitive, I’m one of those guys that like looking under the truck when passing to try and figure out what all those dingleberrys do. While the tanks, hoses, levers, baskets, and big clunky things appear to have a purpose, I usually can’t identify what half of them do.

I used to think that all it took to drive a truck was to read one of those drivers information pamphlets at the DMV…, learn how to shift…, and then hit the road. After seeing what TruckerMike has gone through for his CDL School and hearing about his time on the road with his trainer, I think government bureaucrats have vastly under valued the knowledge and skills that takes to be a truck driver.

Trucker compensation for their skills, risks on the road, and personal endurance does not seem commensurate with compensation received for less demanding jobs. Maybe it’s the high turnover in the trucking industry, or the competitive and entrepreneurial nature of the industry that regulates the value of a good trucker… Whatever the reason, my opinion of truckers has vastly changed!

A new term should be used to refer to long-haul trucker… “Professional Truck Driver”

–TruckerMikeDad–