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Thank you for visiting my Truckers Page. This page is devoted to all the Truck drivers around the world who do more then their fair share to make life simple and easy for everyone else. The opinions on this page are mine and may be shared with others around the world. If you already have an attitude as to what a trucker is or what you think they resemble then this page will do one of two things
I hope to inform you about Trucks and how life is for the truck driver and all of the family members. It takes a certain kind of breed to be a truck driver and an even more special kind to be a truck drivers wife. I am a truck driver and a truck drivers wife, so I hope to give you some insight as to how things are from my families way of life. I hope that one day everyone will realize just what the trucker and his/her family go through and have more respect for the industry that suports life on this planet we live on. 
The trucks that travel our roads and country side do all of us favors each and every day we live. If it were not for the trucks that everyone seems to like to dislike we would not have food, water, furniture, electronics or the tolit paper we use each day in our bathrooms. Seems like no one ever thinks about how important the trucking industry is to our lives. Trucks transport goods from one side of the country to the other in a timely manner so we can have the nice things and basics that we use everyday. Do you know what would happen if it weren't for trucks?
America would shut down.
You are proubly thinking,
"yea, right. We would make it."
Wrong!
You might make it for a few days or maybe a week but after that what would happen?
I'll tell you what would happen. Your stores would start running out of food and supplies. Your service stations would run out of fuel for your automobiles. A lot of people would be without jobs and life would be going on around us, but we would have to revert to times of old when you walked somewhere to get there and you ate what you killed or planted.
Could you imagine having to kill what you ate from just using your brain and your hands. Eating only what you could find or grow. Drinking only water you dug for by hand or caught in containers when it would rain. Heating your homes with only wood that you had cut down without the help of modern day things like chainsaws. Wearing only clothes that you made from cotton you grew or animals you killed and skinned. Things would be so much differant then they are now.
Would you be able to do it?
Everyone is woried about Y2K right now but did you know that has been something to worry about for years and the society around us has only gave it a new name and a date of significance so everyone would think about it again. Y2K could happen at any moment, not just 1-1-2000!
Trucks have came a long way since the first days they traveled the roads. Now they are under constant restrictions for safty by The D.O.T and The Office of Motor Carriers along with other federal agencies. Working to make the roads a safe place for the trucks and others that travel our countryside. You can keep up with what is going on and changing by reading The Truckers News Magizine. There are lots of other things you can find there to read, these are just the tips of the iceberg to get you started. Once you understand the things that truckers have to go through it makes since as to why Truckers tend to get so upset at inconsiderate people on the roads with them.
Lets all give'em a brake.
Let's all be kind and considerate of others.
Let's all do our part to make the roads a better place for everyone.
As I said, I will tell you how things are for our family. Our family lives each week not knowing when will be the last time we get to spend time together as a family again. The stress level gets high sometimes for us.
For the kids it's hard sometimes. They miss their daddy and want to spend as much time as possible with him when he is home. They cry when he has to leave out and miss him all week till he comes home. Then they are at the door waiting on him to park that big rig and come on in. They almost attack him trying to get in the door sometimes.
They miss him at school functions and special moments in their lives while they are growing up. They have to depend on phone calls and waiting till he comes home again to share something or hear his voice.
We have a 6 yaer old and two year old and it really gets tuff on them. They see their friends with normal lives and two parents at home and it hurts and breaks their hearts sometimes. They wish that their daddy was home and their daddy was playing with them or helping them with homework.
For me it's totally differant. If you have ever herd of "Truckers Widow", that's what I am during the time he is gone. I am left here to tend to raising the kids, paying the bills and keeping everything on the home front going smooth. It's almost like being a single parent of two for a while and then getting help on the weekends. I am not saying this to get sempathy or make any one feel sorry for me. Sometimes it is very hard to deal with alone. I talk to him everyday on the phone but on some days that just doesn't seem to help enough. Days when everything goes wrong or one of us is sick are the worst. I do the best I can though as do a lot of other trucker wives. Not knowing when I will talk to him from on the road again or what will happen just around the corner makes everything seem so harsh and hard for me. I miss him and worry about him daily, as do the kids, but I know that he is as carefull as he can be and that he misses us too. A safe return is what we all hope for in the end.
Winter and Spring are the worst because of the weather elements involved. Snow, Ice, Tornadoes and the rest keep me tuned to the radio, TV and The Weather Channel most of the time. These are the times when anything can happen at any moment. I'm always hoping he made it through the storms okay and waiting on the next time he calls home to say he's doing alright. I don't guess anyone would understand how it is to feel this way unless they have been there but let me tell you this, IT'S HARD.
Sure it's nice to be able to travel the countryside and see all kinds of things while you make money but it gets old after a while. Living each day in the small space of the truck and most of the time behind the wheel. Eating greasy foods and not getting showers on a regular basis. Never hardly getting enough rest when you get the chance to sleep. Longing for home but knowing you have to make the money to suport the family at home while you are out.
When I was single it wasn't bad at all, as a matter of fact I loved to see the world and experience life. Going to new places all the time and meeting new folks from all walks of life was real neat. But then comes the times when you are alone in that truck and traveling to your destination. You want something other then just the am/fm or the c.b. to keep you company. Someone real to talk to and be with. Wishing life was different and more controlable to some extent. Some truck drivers have pets they take with them. It helps to have something from home and something to keep you company. Pictures are great too but with the way the roads are you have a hard time hanging them up and keeping them there. Looking at the pictures of your family members can also make things worse on the driver. Everything is deeply involved in a truckers life and a lot different then other peoples lives. The aloneness is enough but then you have all the added presures to deal with too and it makes things hard for the Trucker to deal with after a while.
Eatting on the road isn't the best in the world. You get tired of living out of the truckstops and eatting the greasy foods. Waiting for service that takes so long when you only have a short time to eat to begin with and then have to wolf it down. Buying cold cuts and fixings is just as bad. By the time you buy ice, mayo, lunchmeats, drinks and bread you have paid enough to have gotten a meal at McDonalds or something. You long for them home cooked things like a fresh pot of beans, some cornbread, fried potatoes and a nice desert. Nothing tastes better then a nice hot meal at home made by the one you love and shared by the ones you love to be with. The prices are nice too at home. Cheap! On the raod if you eat a hot meal three times a day you can plan on spending about $30.00 a day to eat. You might as well plan on having to buy some tums or rolaides afterwards just to make it down the road.
If you are a woman on the road it is twice as hard on you because of the mental attitude of your co-workers. There are some drivers out there that only think of women for one thing and feel you may not be able to drive a truck. They are the ones that seem to frequent the truck stops more then they drive. Always cutting you down the minute they hear your voice on the cb radio or see you getting in and out of the truck. They never give you the credit you deserve or the chance to know them because of the attitude. They see you getting in your truck and assume you are a truck stop lizzard or whore, not using there heads. Well...using the wrong head. It makes it hard for all the women who drive a truck for a living and do a great job of it. A lot of this comes from the fact that in almost every truckstop around the country you will find these females that do nothing but sell themselves to truckers that are willing. It really gives the trucking industry a bad look and makes it hard for the true women of the road. For the most part, I found a study that shows that women are more carfull drivers then men.
Yes, that's what it said guys.
The women stive to do the best they can just as the men do but seem to be more carfull and alert to things around them. Don't know what makes women that way, maybe it's from always being watched and judged all the time by the guys.
Today the number of women drivers are increasing in the industry. It's not just a mans world out there anymore and I'm glad to see it. I salute each and every Truck Driver out there on the roads. I especially salute the women of the industry though. They have to put up with things the men don't.
Take for instance unloading somewhere. The woman walks in to give her paperwork to the dock people or the person in charge. Say there are two or three other truck drivers there too. The people will almost always asume you are with one of the men. Some men take advantage of this and will just cut right in front of you to get his paperwork turned in first. This makes things hard for the women out there. By the time all the men have been taken care of on the paperwork end the dock people just look at you as if you are asking where the bathroom is or something. Pop that paperwork on them and just watch the reaction you get. Their whole attitude changes so fast you almost want to laugh out loud.
I have sometimes.
Now though it seems that things are changing slowly in that reguard. More dock workers are understanding that women are in the industry and some of them will take up for you when the other guys try to sneak one past or make snide remarks toward you. Being a woman in the trucking industry is a hard job and the woman has to be twice as strong (if not stronger) then the men. Not really strong in a physical way but strong mentally to be able to cope with what is thrown at them.
Things could be a little better for the trucker and with time I hope that things are. If everyone would do their part in keeping the roads safe and giving each other a break then that would help a lot. The web has took an active part in the truckers life now days. With laptops and such the trucker can keep in touch with friends and family on a more personal approach and not cost a lot. More and more Truck Stops are putting in phone jacks for the truckers to use. Keeping up with the fast paced world seems to be a never ending job for the resterant owner, trucker, goverment officials and familys. I fear things will only keep getting faster and faster though. Things change daily and that is what makes the world go around and what we call life here on earth. I am proud to be a trucker and proud to be a truckers wife.
This page is not complete yet. I will have it done as soon as time permits. *S*
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Some Trucking Links To Check Out
Spill Center 24 Hour Responce Center for Hazardous Materials
U S Department of Transportation
Office of Motor Carriers
Occupational Safty & Health Administration
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Here's a list of Truck Stops all over the counrty
National Highway Traffic Safty Administration
RCM Transportation Services
Trucker's Legal Services
roadSTAR
Office of Highway Policy Information (OHPI)
To go back to Cheri's Page of links click here!
Trucker Jimmy's Cyberspace Truck Stop
I got a domain of my own, check it out
