S1B2: Trucking School - The Classroom
Lauren Saige the Trucker Gal - July 1st, 2020 - Blog 002.
The river of life is in a constant state of change, nothing ever sits still, nothing is forever in its current form. We live and breathe and move as the universe evolves guided by something hidden and mysterious that fools us into thinking we are the masters of our fate when in reality like a river follow our banks to the ocean end.
- Lauren Saige
The new world order that Covid 19 had imposed on us pushed classes out for over one month. The Governor allowed trucking schools to open after the initial statewide shut-down of “unessential businesses”, one month later. At first, I was confused as to why Hamrick was shut down as trucking is an essential business and there is a shortage of drivers. But they probably needed the time to organize and figure out what the new procedures should be in the age of Covid. Notwithstanding, school started a month after the initial shutdown. The first two weeks of trucking school were in the classroom. We read from the textbook, socially distant, masked, with foggy-eyed glasses, and listened and watched videos.
Our instructor, Don, was enlisted from his administrative duties to the classroom–one positive outcome to the social distance protocol that divided the usual class size into two separate ones. Don, at 75, had all the wisdom that goes with age coupled with the vitality of an 18-year-old. He lived on Mountain Dew and peanut butter crackers, pulling up life stories that had us in stitches at times. He could do stand-up comedy and make a living at it. Little did I know he had almost died in the months preceding our class. Heaven graced us with his recovery and his move to the classroom from the administrative duties which he was still responsible for.
Truckers come from all different backgrounds and flavors; CEOs of major corporations, race car drivers, boatmen, oral surgeons, designers, engineers. Everyone has a story, but many in this class were middle-aged, priced, and aged out of their respective careers. Most of us were tired of the corporate grind and eager to move on and do something else. I was no different. I had a 30-year successful illustration and design career and now it was time for something new.I had dreamed of driving a truck for years. Until now it didn’t make sense financially. I’m sure I am one of the few in my industry happy to be laid off. Being laid off was the opportunity to start over in something completely new–my new retirement gig.
Don, our classroom instructor, was a one-time CEO (a job he professed to hate), a one-time professional race car driver in Europe (a job he professed to love) after which he drove a truck for 20 or 30 years. He was a very proud flatbed trucker at that. He transported all kinds of things for the government...often with a military escort and shotgun in the cab.
Don made what could have been a very boring two weeks of eight-hour book learning into an interesting and humorous affair. We learned the material but had quite a few laughs along the way and stories that would no doubt help us once we were out on the road. I kept a running tab of “Don’isms” in the sidebar of my class notes...some of which will, well, remain “what happens at Hamrick stays at Hamrick.” I feel lucky to have landed in his class. He is one of three favorite teachers I’ve had throughout life.
Our classmates came from various backgrounds, two young guys, the rest of us older (in our fifties), some of us with grandkids, most of us divorced. I was the only woman in the class. The two younger married men had young children and worked nights making it difficult at times to stay awake in the class, Don’isms notwithstanding. I felt for the young fathers. I remembered those days with young children and no sleep. The rest of us were of grandparent age and divorced (though one was still married).
Some think the classroom aspect of trucking school is not needed, but actually, I think it is very important. No, we were not learning to drive a truck, but we were given a lot of information that makes driving a truck safer (if you pay attention and remember). And even though we had already passed our learners permit tests with the state, many of us, myself included, really only studied to pass those written exams. The classroom reinforced and filled in the holes, and we received a large textbook that would be a great resource guide to look back on as a refresher occasionally.
Don also broke up the monotony of the bookwork with videos. We observed runaway truckers taking off ramps coming to a violent but safe stop in the rocky mountains. We watched human trafficking videos giving us information and numbers to report human trafficking when we see it. We watched a mother of a young woman who had been abducted while picking up food from a local fast food joint with a friend and forced into sex work until a trucker noticed a van with young women coming out and knocking on truck doors offering their bodies for money. He called the police and they were able to save this and a few other young women. The “Pimp” drove off as soon as the police cars rolled in.
From Don, we learned that flatbed truckers were the “real truckers”, having to do the hardest of all trucking jobs, loading, securing all kinds of loads, getting out, and checking the ties in all kinds of weather. I learned that flatbed trucking was NOT for me lol!. If Lifting an eighty lb dry tarp wasn't enough, imagine how much that tarp weighs when wet? Nope, not for me!
We learned not to set the trailer breaks in winter lest we get up to move in the morning and discover them frozen. From Don, we learned to check our glad hand seals–and to keep spares ready as there are some unscrupulous truckers that will steal those seals in a pinch.
We learned to be careful and to keep a watchful eye out at truck stops for people who rob truckers. It can be dark in-between parked trucks and sometimes people hideout under the trucks waiting for a trucker that looks like an easy target. One of my maneuver instructors was accosted, robbed, and beaten up at an overnight truck stop.
We learned that it takes over one football field to stop an 80,000 lb load when traveling 55 miles an hour. When I told a few of my friends, they were surprised. Uncritical human logic often thinks the heavier something is the faster it can stop. Not so. I learned that if ever a truck is tailgating me to get the hell away from that truck, move over, get behind it, but don’t ever let a semi-truck and trailer tailgate you. It could mean certain death. Never travel side by side with a semi-truck–they can’t always see you and could pancake you without even noticing.
As Don put it, “Cars don’t like to be ‘behind’ trucks and so they rush around trucks,” adding, “They can’t help themselves. They will whip around trucks, get in front of them and slam on their breaks and not realize the truck can't stop that fast.” Many truckers now have forward cams to record these drivers for their own protection in court and in civil cases.
Random surprise DOT inspections can come at weigh stations, or DOT officers pulling a trucker over on a state highway–and violations can cost not only the carrier but the truck driver themselves. Truckers don’t make a ton of money despite what some think. Most make 50k and below. Yes, some can make between 70-80K, but that’s the top end. A $2000 fine can be financially crippling for some truckers. Tickets are much higher for truckers–after all, we are considered “professional drivers” and so more is expected from us
Happy Travels
Lauren Saige the Trucking Gal