"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

Yes, it does seem that way on the surface, I am sure--an "uproar."
However, I think it more of an effort to finally take those to task, the
ones a person usually, and quite willingly, ignores.
It has always been a pet peeve of mine, when someone draws an illusion and
encourages me to partake in the enjoyment of it with them; in my past posts,
I have responded to them.
I responded to them with a purpose, with patience, with tolerance, and with
hope.
They convinced me that they had spouted such verbal babble, perhaps drafted
such writings, to the point of where they were/are in grave danger of
believing it themselves (it is quite understandable if they seek one
gullible enough to believe their tripe), for real. Since few bother to
reduce themselves to the levels required to respond with logic or even to
devote the time--to insanity--I took pity and did.
The simple/short answer is, "NO ONE IS THAT SPECIAL! Not even you... (well,
just possibly me though!)" Just when you begin to think so, a real one
shows up--a "certified special" person, and deflates your ego... frown
What I see in much of this exchange is a very common phenomena. It is, what
seems, a "natural tendency" in human nature, a tendency to think
ones-self/themselves "special", above, removed from, of a greater intellect,
gifted, endowed by GOD, of possessing a superior reasoning power, more
deserving of, an interesting author of, etc, etc, etc...
If we are all silent, what do you think--they will think?

I know, I know, you now will ask, "Who cares?"--and I grant you this
point...

Regards

--
Hay, if'n ya'll cun't konstructivly partecipete in this har disscusion, haw
aboot speel-checkin it fer me?


"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

"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

One DOES wonder if the gent that cut me off the other day is an example of
the good trucker or otherwise. On that day I was driving the speed limit
(60) when a truck began to tailgate me. When traffic cleared, he snatched
the truck to the right lane, passed, blew his airhorn at me, and cut right
back in front of me. Now just what the hell am I supposed to do? Get a
ticket to please him? Not a chance! BOTH groups, trucks and cars, are
responsible for plenty of wrecks simply because they aren't paying
attention, going too fast, or too fast for conditions.

J

"cl" wrote in message
o.verio.net...

"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


Oh yes, laws are made to in most cases protect the greater part of the
public and we all have to abide by the laws. I have no respect for any
person regardless of what trade they perform, if they break the law then
they are a criminal. If it be the FCC, Industry Canada (Canadian FCC) or the
traffic laws then they deserve to be caught and punished. Like you say, if
it be a cop, doctor, trucker or lawyer, we all have to abide by the law
others wise it will be a complete mayham free for all.
I dispise truckers who are of the oppinion that they are above the law, I
know of a fair number of truckers who wrote and passed the exam for their
ham tickett and now only use their CB for loading docks and traffic reports.
But most of these men and women have higher education levels than the old
truckers use to.
Any trucker who thinks he/she is above the law is only fooling themselves,
because it's only a matter of time before they will get caught and they will
eventually. I've been at a scale when the safety bliz happens all across
Canada/USA and the authorities will go right through a tractor and want to
see every licence for every radio in the truck. And if the driver doesn't
have one he losses the radio. And I'm glad they do this, cause it cleans up
the amateur bands from these pirate amateurs. I get really ticked when I
hear some fool talking on a radio who thinks he's some sort of a "god"
because of his trade. Let's face it the astronauts had to pass the exams to
get their amateur licence(s) so why should anyone else get it given to them.
I wish the FCC and Industry Canada had more powers to eliminate the
interferance from unlicenced, licenced and industrial sources. The laws are
there but these agencies don't seem to have the muscle to enforce them,
wheather it be from monatary cut back or whatever. I remember the days when
an unlicenced operator was more likely to get caught than not and this was a
big deteriant in controlling the problem. Now days it seems that we as
licenced operators have do these different agencies job for them. I guess
that's another topic for another time.

73...ve7agw, Al

"Jerry" wrote in message
...

"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

One DOES wonder if the gent that cut me off the other day is an example of
the good trucker or otherwise. On that day I was driving the speed limit
(60) when a truck began to tailgate me. When traffic cleared, he snatched
the truck to the right lane, passed, blew his airhorn at me, and cut right
back in front of me. Now just what the hell am I supposed to do? Get a
ticket to please him? Not a chance! BOTH groups, trucks and cars, are
responsible for plenty of wrecks simply because they aren't paying
attention, going too fast, or too fast for conditions.

J



Your not alone on this one, I've been pulling a set of turnpikes (two 53
foot trialers) and had this pulled on me as well. Like
"cl" said there are rotten apples in every trade.
Over the years of driving in every state and province in North America (I've
seen bad drivers in every one too) I've even had an ambulance (no
lights/siren) cut in front of me while I was driving the speed limit of 55
for trucks and given the finger to boot. Even got told by a state trooper in
NY that I was in his way and pull off the road where there was not shoulder.
It seems that intellegence wasn't a requirement when they gave this
individual a badge,pistol and drivers licence. On the hand I've seen some
very stupid tricks done by trucking companies and drivers. One company in
paticular had a habit of sending new green drivers out west into the
mountains and in most cases it was a really bad decission for both driver
and company. When you have to talk a pretrified driver down a mountain road
so he won't kill himself and a lot of other people I really think something
is wrong here. For the last few years I drove before retiring I drove the
I-5 corridor, Vancouver Canada to LA and back once a week. And so many times
I would see inexperienced drivers trying to come down Mount Ashland and the
Grapevine in Ca. and their brakes would be smoking like a forest fire. By
the time they reached the bottom they wouldn't have any brakes left on the
truck or trailer. Driving a car on snow and ice is scarey, you should see
what it's like driving an 80,000 lb. truck and hopfully the truck in front
and behind you has an experienced driver in it. Now you know why most of us
old truckers go prematurely gray and retire long before we are 65.
I too drive two wheels and I hate it when I see a fool riding more bike than
they can handle and it's the same with four or eighteen wheels.

73....ve7agw, Al

"TJ" wrote in message
news:k114e.893208$6l.853054@pd7tw2no...

"Jerry" wrote in message
...

"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

One DOES wonder if the gent that cut me off the other day is an example
of the good trucker or otherwise. On that day I was driving the speed
limit (60) when a truck began to tailgate me. When traffic cleared, he
snatched the truck to the right lane, passed, blew his airhorn at me, and
cut right back in front of me. Now just what the hell am I supposed to
do? Get a ticket to please him? Not a chance! BOTH groups, trucks and
cars, are responsible for plenty of wrecks simply because they aren't
paying attention, going too fast, or too fast for conditions.

J



Your not alone on this one, I've been pulling a set of turnpikes (two 53
foot trialers) and had this pulled on me as well. Like
"cl" said there are rotten apples in every trade.
Over the years of driving in every state and province in North America
(I've seen bad drivers in every one too) I've even had an ambulance (no
lights/siren) cut in front of me while I was driving the speed limit of 55
for trucks and given the finger to boot. Even got told by a state trooper
in NY that I was in his way and pull off the road where there was not
shoulder. It seems that intellegence wasn't a requirement when they gave
this individual a badge,pistol and drivers licence. On the hand I've seen
some very stupid tricks done by trucking companies and drivers. One
company in paticular had a habit of sending new green drivers out west
into the mountains and in most cases it was a really bad decission for
both driver and company. When you have to talk a pretrified driver down a
mountain road so he won't kill himself and a lot of other people I really
think something is wrong here. For the last few years I drove before
retiring I drove the I-5 corridor, Vancouver Canada to LA and back once a
week. And so many times I would see inexperienced drivers trying to come
down Mount Ashland and the Grapevine in Ca. and their brakes would be
smoking like a forest fire. By the time they reached the bottom they
wouldn't have any brakes left on the truck or trailer. Driving a car on
snow and ice is scarey, you should see what it's like driving an 80,000
lb. truck and hopfully the truck in front and behind you has an
experienced driver in it. Now you know why most of us old truckers go
prematurely gray and retire long before we are 65.
I too drive two wheels and I hate it when I see a fool riding more bike
than they can handle and it's the same with four or eighteen wheels.

73....ve7agw, Al


For what it's worth, I'm going to mention this, as it follows along with the
thread and ultimate mention of "ambulances" being rude. Yes, the drivers of
them can be rude. Give em an emergency vehicle, and all common sense goes
out the window. I am involved in Fire and was at one time - EMS. Here, blue
lights are used to get firefighters/emts to a station or call. Some take
them for granted as a ticket to speed. They are not. They are courtesy
lights only. No one is required to pull off for said vehicle with a blue
light. The lights "must" be listed with the local State Police Barracks. Our
station doesn't have a problem with lights as most live close enough to not
need them. But there are others who go whizzing by to "their" stations who
"have" abused them. They were caught and fined too. The State Police here
have been known to pull over anyone using a blue light and even Ambulances
going over the speed limit - to question the legitimacy of a call and thus
the speed being used. Some folks who had to travel through our town to go to
"their" station (not ours) were getting pretty bad with abuse of lights and
speed. I don't care WHO you are or THINK you are, no one has the right to
defy the law. They're made for a reason. As was said by me and alluded to by
another gentleman, toss the laws out the window, and it will be complete
turmoil. The wild west will look like a kiddie carnival compared to what we
would see. Everyone must play a part to keep what we call peace and
civilization - at a pace for all to survive.

cl