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Between 15 - 20 years ago, I spent a lot of my youth behind the wheel of tractor trailers, 4 years hauling lumber, then into the site work field, hauling the big stuff on lowboy's, D8K's, D8N's 627 scrapers, 235 excavators and everything in between. Did the triaxle dump thing too, hauling gravel, crushed stone, asphalt etc. When I think about all the times I was pulled over, stopped, or had to deal with law enforcement, it was one of the motivating factors to get out from behind the wheel. I was never so glad to get off the road and be on a piece of equipment on a jobsite. Some may think it's easy behind the wheel, no hard work required, but that's b.s. as many people already know. You're in that cab for many hours at a time, better bring your lunch, and don't stop to take it, you might not get that extra or last load in if you do, so it can be ball$ to the wall depending on who you work for. Then you have the stress of driving a truck with a large monkey on your back ( whatever it is you are hauling ) dealing with others on the road, and not to mention keeping tabs on whatever service or repair work needs to be done and making sure the company does it. What about not knowing how much you weigh when getting loaded at a jobsite ? Many what if's here. I've worked for some who would tell you to drive it or be fired even if the trucks needs something, some people used to really operate a lot of junk on the road, and a lot of drivers put up with it to get a paycheck. This paints a picture of the scenario behind the wheel. Some of the law's officers were very professional and courteous, but others were case hardened jerks, and what I mean by that, is that they probably would have been the same no matter what career they chose, so the empowement of the badge is just a catalyst that increases the level of un-professionalism. Things like what started this thread and beyond, probably occur everyday. Although I may sound biased, thinking about it now ( and we've had discussions before ) you do have to look at both sides of things, I mean there used to be a lot of junk on the road, with less than desirable people putting them there, and some drivers also have a lot to be desired, I think you stand a much better chance if you provide late model equipment or keep the older stuff in excellent condition. Personal appearance and attitude also helps, but the whole thing really is a tough racket on both sides, when one side does not do their part, you get what was mentioned above, someone is led to believe they were singled out for some inane and petty item, based on what appears to be poor judgment. The other side of it is, that the law has to do their job to keep unsafe things off the road, and it's always been an advesarial situation, it really is a shame that it is like this. I have a friend who runs a transportation business, shuttle and event service for people, corporations etc. 16,000 lb vans are what he uses and he buys them new, and keeps a very modern fleet of vehicles in great shape, and even when brand new, d.o.t. has really given him a lot of crap, and it's because of the person behind the badge, in this case an inspector that places the d.o.t. inspection sticker on the vehicle. They had to go over his head and call his superiors, to get some cooperation, the guy was really hammering him. He runs a first class business, has invested a lot of money in the equipment and the drivers, whom all have been there since the business started several years ago. His drivers are sharp in appearance and have good manners. Same drivers are courteous and take good care of the late model equipment, he does his part, yet was getting treated like a slumlord. But being a professional, they finally found a way to get things resolved and will cooperate 100% in a non confrontational manner, as much as possible, how much more can the law ask of someone who takes pride in their business and has spared no expense to do so? They seem to also forget, he has to make a buck too, keeping the vans busy, also pay his drivers a good wage with benefits. He'll have 20 drivers by this time next year, so he's helped the community by providing good jobs and a service as well. In this case it's working out, but for awhile, beacuse of one miserable person, all the money invested and cooperation was not worth one dime it seemed.
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