Trucking USA

Back in the day, we ran convoy as often as possible. That is to say, the ‘garbage haulers’ as they used to call us. Hauling fresh produce from CA to NY. I guess they called it ‘garbage hauler’ because in the old days, it wasn’t a refrigerated unit, it was ice and re-ice across the [...]

In the heart of Knoxville on I-40, traffic was being directed off the freeway and back on because of a wreck that spread from the underpass to almost the end of the on ramp.
This, of course, was back in the day of driver’s helping driver’s. I was in the bunk and my co-driver, driving. He [...]

This was an incident that happened to a friend of mine, many years ago. A trucker, hauling furniture.
You have to remember that back in the day, there were no interstates. The finest of highways were divided 4 lanes with side traffic.
In this particular situation, he was on a 2 lane road, driving on packed snow [...]

Yup, that really did happen one night. You see, night drivers, back in the day, were just a little nuts. We drove flat out and in convoys.
I was headed out across Arizona, heading west and just after the POE. I wasn’t alone, there were 2 trucks ahead of me and 1 behind. Well, that is [...]

Or should I say, ‘mis-adventures’. Yup, those were the good old days.
I was working with a friend of mine, who hauled containerized furniture on a step deck. He wanted me to learn the business.
Out of 3 tarps, I don’t think there was a one that weighed less than 300 pounds. So one of the first [...]

That name sound familiar to some of you older folks?  I really did work for them for about 2 weeks.
There was a guy, from my home town, who desperately wanted to find a co-driver. He wanted to hire on with Sam Tanksley and they only hired teams. So I decided to go along.
I’ll never forget, [...]

Yup, I had one of those too. This was some years into my road days, I can’t remember how but I ran into a guy who I’d met out in CA once. We partied there at the Ontario truck stop, one of those 3 day lay overs.
We had sat for 3 days, waiting on dispatch. [...]

Yes I was. Remember those were tough times for women and things happened.
I had a good friend from my home town,who was also a trucker. I happened by the truck stop one day and a man approached me, saying that my friend had told him to help me find a job. According to this guy, [...]

OK,now this one will kill ya Not like things happen today.
I happen to go with a friend, who hauled a flat bed with containerized furniture. He was having eye surgery and would take something like 6 months to heal, before he could go back to work.
He was leased out to Cartright Van Lines [...]

Setting: Back in the late 70s
Back then, I kept trying to get on with Yellow Freight. The first time I went in the guy told me their insurance wouldn’t cover a woman unless she had 6 months verifiable on the road. I couldn’t offer verified miles so I went back on the road and drove [...]

Hey! Back in the 70’s and even the 80’s it was dog eat dog, when it came to finding a decent job and hanging onto it. If a woman was alone and wouldn’t put out, she was out of a job.
That even happened to me while driving for Whitfield tank lines. Now there was a [...]

I’ll have to fill you in on who or what I am, before I go on. I started driving in the 70’s. Actually, I started out pulling mobile homes and it just seems like it was a natural development, that I eventually went into long haul.
I actually went to a school the company provided. Two [...]