"TJ" wrote in message
news:P1Z2e.864278$8l.567848@pd7tw1no...
It's amazing how just one comment by a single person got this group into
an uproar. I really think that the public in general has a romance with
the life of the trucker brought on by the movie and media hype. Truckers
are just ordinary people who do an thankless job of moving just about
everything there is in North America to and from wholesalers to retailers.
Over the years the average trucker's education level has gone from grade
school drop outs to men and women holding degrees of various ranges of
education. Over the years I've come to know a rather large group of
people from a very large slice of various levels of education, similar to
that of most truckers. I hold two degrees and a commercial Radio Telephone
license, but for some reason I ended up returning to "trucking" all the
time. And all the trucks I've driven, over 1 million miles, I've always
had my amateur radio(s) and a CB. Each had it's own nicessity and each
one had it's own language. On one radio I as a respected amateur radio
operator who drove truck, on the other I was just another trucker looking
for a traffic report.
Oh, for those who are of the illusion that truckers are the cause of all
the terrible accident on the highways, well the only person your fooling
is yourself. To get the facts do a little research and you will find that
four wheeled vehicles cause more accidents than any other vehicle. Trucks
seem to fall into the same catigory as motorcycles do in the public's
perseption of the cause of accidents. After you have done your research
you will find that both trucks and motorcycles end of up being a very low
percentage of the cause of accidents. The only thing the public sees is
that when a truck gets into a bad accident it is very bad and devestating
distruction. But statistics show there are fewer truck accidents than four
wheeled vehicles and there are also far fewer accidents that are caused by
trucks entirely.
But, this is just this over educated truckers opinion.

73 de ve7agw, Al


Eh, I agree with you for the most part - BUT - you "seem" to have missed the
point. "That" "trucker" seemed to be suggesting that the service they
provide sort of entitles them to break the laws. It does NOT. "My" comment
was (not word for word) that if he broke the rules of the road much as he is
suggesting he does of the FCC, then it wouldn't be long or take much to end
the line for him. RULES ARE RULES. LAWS ARE LAWS. Be you a truck driver,
cop, lawyer, politician, doctor, we ALL have laws to live with, if we're to
survive with any sense of common ground. ANY ONE who breaks those rules/laws
is only adding to the problem. "I" know some truckers, I know the job they
do..... I know the sacrifices they make - time away from home and family.
"I" am not disputing that. What I was disputing was that person's "holier
than thou" approach "since he is a trucker". THAT is what I dismiss........
NOT THE JOB. I was just telling him to come off his high horse, there may
come a day when his services are no longer required, then what? HE won't be
so high and mighty then. It is guys like that who are the bad apple, and
give the rest of you a black eye. Just like a bad cop gives the rest a black
eye, a quack doctor does to his/her profession, a politician who takes
bribes/steals. ALL give their profession a bad name. Like it or not, every
group has them, truckers included. That one stuck his head out to be
noticed. He brought attention to himself. Why can't he mutually respect hams
and what they have, as he expects the hams to respect him for what he does?
It IS a two way street.

There is NO reason he or any of the rest can't do a small bit of studying
when laying over at a truck stop or waiting to be loaded, go take an exam,
pass it, get a license, then talk with the rest of us who would welcome
them. IF they don't want to take an exam, then WHY violate the laws and pick
fights with the hams, because they're too damned lazy to do the right thing?
It isn't the hams fault. The hams wanted their license, so they did what it
took to get it.......

If you intend to defend his approach, then I can't agree with you. As to the
rest of what you said, perhaps you're an example they can follow. Maybe
"you" can convince them, being one of the bunch. As for "accidents", "I am
not a statistician, so I can't say for sure. I could get into the argument
regarding bikes, since I ride one as well, but again, without facts to back
me up, I'm not going to.

cl