You first....AFTER ME

Los Angeles, CA. rush hour, your on the I-10 trying to get out to the truck stop in Ontario, a four wheeler cuts across four lanes of traffic right in front of your truck to grab the exit he is about to pass. You cuss, knowing that he takes that same damn exit every single day. As you move past the off ramp go under the bridge, the on ramp is next, 10 cars are trying to squeeze into your safety space that you have tried to maintain in front of your truck as they merge onto the highway. They don’t stop to think what 80,000lbs can do to them as they just clear the bumper of your truck as you lose sight of them. You wish you had a picture of the "NO ZONE" to throw in their face. You down shift your truck three gears and try to get going again.
As Truck Drivers, we have all been there. We see it day after day, town after town, city after city. No matter what, they won’t be stuck behind you, they don’t give a @#%* about you, and they only have one thing on their minds, THEMSELVES!!!!!!
You pull into the TA in Ontario… There are about 10 different spaces you could have gotten into, but the truck driver who is parked in the space next to the open space didn’t take the time to straighten his Rig out so you can’t quite get in the hole. You end up parking in the Back 40.
After a shower, and a full meal, with the traffic clearing out, you climb back onto I-10, transition to I-15 and start up the grade to I-40 in Barstow. Your heavy, but your 525 horses make up the difference as you pull the hill. As your pulling the grade you need to pass a slower moving truck, but a faster truck than yourself is coming up behind you. As a courtesy you slow yourself down and stay behind the slower moving truck so that you don’t slow down the other driver that is moving faster than you. The driver of the faster truck goes by with a wave, and you smile to yourself knowing that he knew what you just did for him. You pull out to pass, there are three truck that you have to get around. No big deal, you are not holding anybody up at this point. As you clear the first truck, the truck in the "rocking chair" signals as he jumps out in front of you. You slow, only to see that the other truck can only manage 1mph faster than the truck he is trying to pass.
As you clear Barstow, you get on the CB… "Hey westbound, where did you leaves the bears at?" Your response is a couple of truckers running their mouths with out a break long enough to hear your question. You try again. They are still talking. "Hey guys, can you be quiet long enough for me to get a bear report?" The response you get is "If you don’t want to listen to us, turn your radio off!" Thank you Mr. Professional Truck Driver.
You clear the Arizona Port, you are now in a 75mph state, and you open the truck up. The open road and the full moon above ease your mind. You have put in a full day in Los Angeles trying to unload, re-load and get out of there. You figure Kingman is a good place to call it a night. As you roll east another truck is coming at you with his fog lights on, and one of them is aimed right in your eye’s. "Hey westbound, I don’t mind you running your fog lights, even if it is a clear night out, but do you think you could aim them so that they don’t bother the other side of the highway?" The response you get "%^#@ Off man" You keep your response to yourself and roll on.
You start up the hill into Kingman, you pass another truck. Your eyes are burning from the long day you have put in, plus all the smog that hangs over the LA Basin. As you clear the other truck, he gives you the lights to come back into the right lane. However, instead of turning them off and then on again, he flashes his High Beams just as you look in your mirror. You blink your lights as frustrated as you are to say thank you. Grab your mike, "Driver, thanks for the lights, but I would rather you not do anything if your going to flash your High Beams" another "%^#@ Off" is your response.
You grab second gear as you pull into the Petro parking lot, cut your headlights out so that your lights don’t bother the drivers who may still be up sitting in their trucks, and so that you don’t blind any drivers that are trying to back into parking spots. You find a spot, and start to back in; a truck comes up the row and stops waiting for you to get backed in. However he has left his headlights on, and you now have to deal with them as well as trying not to hit the trucks on each side of you. You pull the parking brakes; the rush of air from the valve is like a deep breath to you as you start to relax for what is left of the night. You decide to stroll inside to wash your face. As you cross the parking lot, another truck driver has just found 5th gear, and then kicks on the Jake’s as he comes to the exit of the truck stop. You think to yourself that he is going to kill somebody walking across the parking lot one day if he doesn’t slow down.
Drivers, we have all seen this, some of you guys who have been out there long enough know better, others of you haven’t, or just don’t care. Just like the rest of the world, truckers have developed a "you first AFTER ME" attitude. You drivers like to complain about all the stupid things you see four wheelers doing, but you sure don’t mind taking the same attitude towards other truck drivers, not to mention what I have seen you do to four wheelers as well. Yes, I know the feeling, there have been plenty of times where I have just wanted to push a four wheeler off the road for doing some of the stupid things they do. The problem is that I have gotten to the point where I want to do the same thing to a lot of truck drivers out there as well.
If you want to be looked at as "Professional Truck Drivers" then start acting like a Professional. The best way to lead is by example, and with what I see as examples out there we are in deep trouble. As I have said many times, we are our own family when we are out on the road, and though it has been said that you choose your friends and not your family. We all have to work together out there if we want to make our home (the road) a better place to be. We have to look at ourselves, look at how we treat each other if we expect any four wheelers, or other truck drivers to drive any better around us.


Copyright © 2000 All rights reserved.
By Dallas Withrow