The newer the better

[WILDBILL]

My! My! My! I'm am just speechless when it comes to some of these new drivers out here!

The other day I was parked in a little truck stop down in South Carolina and when I say a little truck stop,brother I mean a little truck stop!

The guy who painted the yellow lines in the truck parking lot did'nt leave alot of room to manouver between trailers, believe me!
I mean,when another tractor trailer backed up beside you, ya hardly had any room to open yer drivers door to git out it was that darn close!

Anyhow,I was keepin a hawk eye out for the next tractor trailer backing up along side of me just in case he or she would take my mirror off for me and sure enough,along come this big ol' truck with what looked like a kid drivin it so I got real alert, checkin him out and watchin real close to see if he could back in without removing my paint and some of my chrome.

The kid or the Newbee looked out his drivers winder at the empty spot beside me and then lined up for the tiny hole and I thought well here we go,I had better git ready to jump from the cab and stop him from tearin off my dang fender but to my utter surprise that young kid " Newbee " backed that big rig up along side of me in no time at all without even a blink of an eye!!

Heck!! I could'nt have done any better with all my years of experience.

I squeezed out of my cab and walked around the side to see how little room there really was between me and him and folks,let me tell you,Twiggy would'nt have been able to walk down between the trailers!
What's that? who's Twiggy? Oh! I forgot! Twiggy is that skinny little thang who was quite a curiosity back in the sixties and early seventies!
You Newbee's were'nt born back then so you would'nt know who the heck I was talkin about!
Heck! just ask some of the old dinosaur drivers who Twiggy was,they will explain!

Anyhow,gettin back to my story about the kid backin up, Yep! that kid got down out of his rig with a big old smile,grinnin ear to ear and looked me square in the eye and said, " Beautiful day today isn't it Mister " just like he had been backin up big rigs all his life so I asked him how long he had been
drivin truck and he smiled and tipped his hat back and said, " about four months Mister ".

I shook his hand and asked him if he would teach me to back up like he had just done,well! he laughed and said' " sure Pappy,anytime! "
Yep! alot of these newbee's are going to do real well out here on the big road and I'm mighty proud to have them with us out here!

Now all we need em' to do is take five minutes from the road and sit down behind the keyboard and share some of their views and comments with us!
We could probably learn a few things from some of the Newbee's!

WILDBILL ( Ornry as ever )

[Dreamer]

That's awesome, glad to see someone is teaching them the right way! I was listening on the radio the other night when a driver pulled in to a local drop yard, and was on the radio expecting the yard dog or another driver to come back the truck in.........

The driver excuse was "I've only been out of driving school for a couple months, and 'never had to back the truck up before"! !!!!! How does that happen? How can someone even get out of school without being able to back up?

I was glad to hear a driver offer to direct them back, but told the driver that they needed to park their own truck, and if they couldn't .. go back to school and learn!

[WILDBILL]

I don't know about Truck Drivin Scools down yer way Dreamer but I can tell you that up here in the great white North, any one can open a truck drivin scool and ya don't need permission from the DOT, permits, insurance or experience either!
Oh! and the Scool truck does'nt have to be in one piece either!!

A matter of fact, there is a truck drivin scool up here operated by some folks who have just recently arrived in country, if ya know what I mean!!
Can I say ( Recently arrived in country ) and still be politically correct?

We live in a part of the world where everyone gets to go to the dance regardless of whether they can dance or not!! " If ya gits the drift "

Then we wonder why a whole lot of steering wheel holders can't back the dang wagon up to the dock!!
but there are a lot of real good natural born big riggers coming into the industry too!!

Enough said on that matter, now I gots to go and take my blood pressure pill
and your right about my spelling ( School ) Scool! Hee! Hee! Hee!



Wildbill

[Dreamer]

OK, while I'm wound up ranting today, LOL... I don't think new drivers know how to read a map book either! Or maybe they just can't see.

I was at the Pilot in Circleville, Ohio the other night. It's on Rte 23 between Columbus, and Chillicothe. As I got out of my car, a driver, figuring correctly that I was a local, since I got out of a car, jumped out of his truck at the fuel island, and flagged me down.

He is holding a map book in one hand, paperwork in the other, and had a very confused look on his face. He asks "Can you tell me how to get to Route 23? I need to get to Columbus!"

Biting my tongue, I as nicely as possible explained to him he was ON 23, and asked how he got there. Apparently he followed directions someone gave him on the CB, but never once noticed those nice lil signs with the big ol 23 on them all the way up the road.. LOL.

Sheesh.

[WILDBILL]

When I first started out as a newbee, that pesky old map gave me nightmares tryin to figure out how to git from here to there.

I could'nt grasp the fact that their were highways or as they are called loops and beltways going around the big cities and so I would end up going through some big old urban town in the middle of rush hour traffic.

I guess I was afraid of gittin lost and ending up way off the planned route,
cause I always believed that you should be able to get there from here in a straight line but experience has taught me that in reality,

« ya can't git there from here »



Wildbill.......Ornry as ever

[TeamCaffee]

We learned that almost a very hard way! We are from a VERY small town in SW Kansas and did not understand large towns and did not know what a belt way was. Bob was driving for USX and we had a delivery in Baltimore and we looked at the route and also the map. We came up with the brilliant idea it would be a lot closer to just go across town on that little road then go all the way around on the loop. Boy we where lucky and no low over passes but within 1/4 mile we knew we had made a big mistake and all we could thing about was getting out of there! We got back on the "belt loop" and we followed those directions. I think at that point we where both so upset the chances of topping that trailer where really great. Sometimes you get lucky and you learn with out hurting anything.

[WILDBILL]

Uumm! reminds of a little girl I once knew who also came from a small town in South West Kansas!!
Her name was Dorothy!! and when she found out that she was in a strange place she just clicked her heels together and repeated three times

There is no place like home!
There is no place like home!
There is no place like home!

Seemed to work for her!!


Old Wildbill use to get into a lot of strange places and the only thing that got me back home and outta trouble was Mama's good lovin and homemade cookin!! Hee! Hee! Hee!


Wildbill....Ornry as ever!

[TeamCaffee]

The little town of Elkhart on the Santa Fe Trail is about 60 miles west of Liberal KS known for the museum of Dorothy and friends.

[WILDBILL]

Back when I was a kid,I always wanted to visit Kansas and see if it was like in the movies!

I'm still a kid and I have visited the four corners of Kansas and everything in between several hunded times over a period of 30 years and I can say that I love the state,
but then again I love the whole darn Country and a matter of fact,I don't think that there has ever been a place in United States that I have not loved!

God bless the greatest Country in the whole wide world! and I especially love
America's NASCAR races, here is a picture of me and the wife at the Brickyard to prove it! ( WARNING: Don't let the kids see this picture!! )
How's that for lovin a favorite American past time? " Long live number # 3 "



Wildbill......

[Dreamer]

That ain't right... LOL