Truckers’ Message For You: Chill Out, Stop Texting, And Have Respect

Boy, how great would it be if I didn't have to spend 10 minutes putting a small paragraph under a microscope to attempt to understand what the person is trying to say.

Guys, there's no need to argue every point or every opinion someone may have, you know what I mean? The article asked a simple question, "What would you say to four wheelers?" and drivers answered. The article didn't ask, "Are all truck drivers perfect?" or "Are four wheelers to blame for everything?"

And let's not kid ourselves. What percentage of four wheelers drive consistently at a professional level, versus the percentage of truck drivers that drive consistently at a professional level? I have 1.5 million miles behind the wheel and I promise you there's a huge disparity in driving skills and attentiveness between four wheelers and big rigs as a whole.

And Cornelius, do I need to point out crash statistics to you? Like the percentage of the time that four wheelers are at fault in big rig accidents? Or the number of accidents involving four wheelers versus big rigs? And considering that big rigs are 65 feet long, 13.5 feet high, and weigh in upwards of 80,000 pounds do you think the comparison is even fair to begin with? Not to mention big rig drivers average over 10 times the number of miles per year that a four wheeler averages.

Even with this tremendous disparity in vehicle size and weight, and miles driven, the statistics show we are far, far safer and more attentive drivers. And what you don't see in the statistics are the moves that truck drivers make, almost on a daily basis, to avoid wrecks that four wheelers almost caused by being inattentive or aggressive.

Cornelius wrote:

Don't put all the blame on the 4 wheelers ..........do you know how many clients I go to and they want to show me what their 18 wheelers drivers text them as pictures? which is why I am so against 18 wheelers posting any pictures that my suggest they were taken while in motion leading to the smaller companies shutting down because of the effect on their insurance prices and the what you do not realize you the driver that did it gets blacklisted because companies see you as a liability

I'll bite Cornelius, obviously I do not know the answer to your question. Here is my perspective on your question; "How many clients have been dumb enough to show their insurance man incriminating pictures/texts taken by their drivers while they were in motion? Images that can potentially raise their already insanely high insurance rates"? How many? Every chance you get,...you have an insurance angle, perhaps exaggerating facts for effect. Look, I appreciate your alternative perspective, many times it's important, valuable, and interesting, but in your above reply, not so much.

So I'll ask you one; "If I had a dollar for every 4-wheeler driver I've observed texting (or evidence of it), how many dollars do you think I would I have at the end of a day?" I know, "rhetorical". Ask the same question about truck drivers texting and on average I'd have enough for a daily cup of coffee. Although 1 is too many, the percentage of professional drivers illegally using their phones as compared to 4-wheelers is laughable.

I love baseball, played for many years, and know the game better than the average "Joe". Even so, I am just a knowledgeable fan and in no way can I claim to be a professional ballplayer; have the expertise to effectively critique their skill, or truly understand their world. I know my place.

great article. I wish all the papers would print that. I'm about to go to cdl school with Roehl and I've always had the most respect for truckers. I wish others would feel the same and everyone that drives should read this. Maybe they would care a little more and think about what they do. I've seen far too many accidents around here involving people not putting that phone down. Just saw one the other day. Young girl turning left off the highway on a very wide turn. She ran over the curb onto a bike trail and ran over a sign for the bike trail. Very scary. Lucky for her, nobody was biking there at the time but its a very used trail.

The New York Times just published another article about truck drivers:

Truckers’ Message for You: Chill Out, Stop Texting, and Have Respect

They asked truck drivers "...what they would say to drivers of four-wheeled vehicles if they got the chance."

They also published some funny and interesting pictures from inside the cab.

I replied to the author, Trip Gabriel, a National Correspondent for The New York Times, that I really appreciated the positivity in the comments he chose to publish. We all try hard here at TruckingTruth to be professionals and to promote a more positive and professional image for truck drivers, and it's very much appreciated that someone of the stature of the New York Times is choosing to do the same.

Who knows? With enough persistence maybe someday more carriers will begin expecting the same level of professionalism from their drivers that they would expect from their office personnel and our image will come full circle to what it was many decades ago - The Knights Of The Road.

We certainly have many Knights here at TruckingTruth. We're still outnumbered, but we'll keep pushing forward to change that!