Commercial Drivers
Article by Igor GavricTransportation companies power our countries. The drivers, who perform the duties for these companies, in my opinion, have the best job in the world. Much like other jobs out there, there is the good, the bad and the ugly that comes with them. From having the best seat in the house, having an amazing view of what the scenery on the horizon offers, to sacrificing their times with their families, to health risk, it can be the best job to the absolute worst.
Hinging on my personal experience (mostly really good), I have a pretty healthy view of the transportation industry. Asking around, though, may offer you a different view.
Professional drivers come from all races, creed, and denominations. I've spoke with drivers who were in high paying management positions before they were drivers, to drivers who had history with low paying, nasty jobs, which I would never even dream of doing. From drivers of Caucasian descent to drivers born in Africa, their stories about the transport industry can be very similar.
Some of these people say goodbye to their families and are on the road for 14 days to months before they return home again. They travel coast to coast of USA and Canada, risking everything from having health issues due to extended sitting periods, to periods of fatigue from spending too much time on the road. While modern trucks can be very comfortable, they are closed quarters with little room to stretch out. Price of healthy food is higher, so a lot of drivers opt out for cheaper food, or even “junk food” on daily basis, causing even more health issues.
The rules of the road can be anything from the "unwritten courtesy rules" to the black and white rules written on legal papers, endorsed by various law and enforcement agencies, depending where you travel, and can differ substantially. You are expected to know them all, before you enter certain states, provinces or even cities, or you will bathe in violations and citations. Even though most rules are governed by the federal government of the country you travel in, there are a lot of rules which differ province to province or state to state. One example, just for arguments sake, is: Most United States let you travel with a 41′ bridge law (gap between the axles of the truck and trailer), while California law states 40′ bridge law, and actively cites for it. One foot you say? That one foot can amount 1,200 – 2,000 lb. of weight on your trailer axles, especially when the customer loads you wrong and you're unaware until you've arrived at a set of truck scales 120 miles from your pick-up, and have to turn around and head back to the customer (unpaid trip, by the way).
On a federal level, USA has different rules for Hours of Service, and how much drivers are allowed to drive per day and within their working week. Example, Canada lets you operate 13 driving hours per day, for up to 70 total on duty hours in a 7 day period, while USA allows for 11 driving hours daily, and up to 70 hours in an 8 day period. Canada allows higher weight loads to travel throughout certain areas of the country (say 87, 500 lb. on a tandem set-up), while USA limits you to a lower weight (80,000 lb.) on the same combination of vehicle.
You, as a driver, have to remember every rule, and conform by it while you're traveling throughout the region where those rules are in effect. If you're a driver who travels "Open Board", you better remember every rule for every state and province you will ever travel in, or you're looking at high dollar tickets, because law enforcement agencies have low tolerances for mistakes, if any at all. A good example, I've seen a ticket written for $400.00 to a driver who was 15 minutes past his daily limit, and was pulling into a truck stop to get their rest. Why was he over? The customer loading him, had a problem with their equipment, and he was stuck at the customer waiting on the load for 6 hours, causing him to run over his hours of duty allowed in a day. The officer did not care at the fact that driver was pulling off the road, or that he came from the customer 15 minutes away, where he was not allowed to park on the property after he was loaded, not to mention the fact the driver was sleeping in his bunk for over 5 hours while waiting on his truck to be loaded. This is a true sample giving you an idea of how hard enforcement agencies can be on the drivers.
Drivers, day in and day out, wake up, deliver everything from basic needs, to the very material our buildings are made from. Some work locally, some work over the road, most (let's be realistic, there is bad apples out there just like in any other business), following the rules and regulations set out by various governments, while trying to make that hard earned dollar, and ensure loads get to the customers in time, all this while leaving their families at home, sometimes across the country.