Smithcraft
Shared on Sat, 02/17/2007 - 00:25So I work in the transportation industry, and I deal with truck drivers on a daily basis as part of my job.
These drivers are not like the guys on Comedy Central, or even truck driving movies from the late seventies. Nope, not even like BJ and the Bear. No, the majority of port drivers are immigrants. Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against any particular race, creed, color, or personal deal, and I don't have anything against people coming to the US to get a better life - No, I hate everyone equally! Anyway, there was this company coming in to get their containers direct from the train.
So I'm sitting there with a container in the air, and the driver moving forward and backward, wondering why I'm not giving them the container.
Now if you do an image search at Google on shipping containers, you'll see plenty of cans. And all from the back. Where the doors are. The doors that are in the back. Now in the front, there is a channel for the gooseneck on the chassis. So the front of the can has a notch in the bottom of the front.
So we have a notch cut out in the front of the can, and doors in the back of the can. If you understand this concept and can some how acquire a Commercial Drivers License, you are fully qualified to be a port truck driver! How you acquired your CDL doesn't matter!
Now back to the story.
So I point to their chassis, and at the container. They look at the container, and then they look at their chassis. I make a hand gesture, and it wasn't the one I wanted to make, mimicking the doors, and then I point at the back of their chassis. They look at the can again, and look at the chassis again. Then they back up, and then they pull forward some more. As if their moving is going to get me to give them the can that they want.
What they fail to grasp, is that they are facing the wrong way. You would figure that their buddy watching them would get on the radio/phone/signaling device and tell them, right? Nope. Not a clue. 'Cuz that buddy will be doing the same thing.
I found this from this particular companies website, and I thought it was pretty god damn funny! All of our drivers are screened, trained and safety tested continuously.
So yes ladies and gentlemen, the people behind the wheel of eighty thousand pounds of freight, speeding down the highway, while talking to their dispatcher on their cell phone, really don't know what the fuck they are doing!
SC
[edit] Just to make sure it's understood, I know that there are many mighty fine drivers out there, it just seems like none of them want anything to do with container freight, and I can't blame them one bit!
These drivers are not like the guys on Comedy Central, or even truck driving movies from the late seventies. Nope, not even like BJ and the Bear. No, the majority of port drivers are immigrants. Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against any particular race, creed, color, or personal deal, and I don't have anything against people coming to the US to get a better life - No, I hate everyone equally! Anyway, there was this company coming in to get their containers direct from the train.
So I'm sitting there with a container in the air, and the driver moving forward and backward, wondering why I'm not giving them the container.
Now if you do an image search at Google on shipping containers, you'll see plenty of cans. And all from the back. Where the doors are. The doors that are in the back. Now in the front, there is a channel for the gooseneck on the chassis. So the front of the can has a notch in the bottom of the front.
So we have a notch cut out in the front of the can, and doors in the back of the can. If you understand this concept and can some how acquire a Commercial Drivers License, you are fully qualified to be a port truck driver! How you acquired your CDL doesn't matter!
Now back to the story.
So I point to their chassis, and at the container. They look at the container, and then they look at their chassis. I make a hand gesture, and it wasn't the one I wanted to make, mimicking the doors, and then I point at the back of their chassis. They look at the can again, and look at the chassis again. Then they back up, and then they pull forward some more. As if their moving is going to get me to give them the can that they want.
What they fail to grasp, is that they are facing the wrong way. You would figure that their buddy watching them would get on the radio/phone/signaling device and tell them, right? Nope. Not a clue. 'Cuz that buddy will be doing the same thing.
I found this from this particular companies website, and I thought it was pretty god damn funny! All of our drivers are screened, trained and safety tested continuously.
So yes ladies and gentlemen, the people behind the wheel of eighty thousand pounds of freight, speeding down the highway, while talking to their dispatcher on their cell phone, really don't know what the fuck they are doing!
SC
[edit] Just to make sure it's understood, I know that there are many mighty fine drivers out there, it just seems like none of them want anything to do with container freight, and I can't blame them one bit!
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Comments
Submitted by NotStyro on Sat, 02/17/2007 - 00:42
Submitted by Smithcraft on Sat, 02/17/2007 - 01:44
Submitted by TheCrazyPerson on Sat, 02/17/2007 - 08:48