How old is too old?

louixo · Jun 26, 2006

I ran into a TT driver last week who was getting ready to do a non stop 24 hour run to the border, or so he said. Before you say itÂ´s illegal, which of course it is, I see alot of old timers out there who are quite adept at juggling the logs, skirting the coops and in general running just like they always did. I had a nice conversation with this guy, as he had some stories to tell. He was driving on older long nose Pete, and was having coffee and reading the paper in the booth next to me about 2am. He said he was 74 years old, and has been driving all his life. He said he had a home but no close family, and he just liked to be out there running, and planned to do it until as he put it " I canÂ´t crawl out of the sleeper". He looked to be in pretty good shape, though a little overweight. He really gave me the impression that he enjoyed what he was doing, and I say more power to him. He was the oldest trucker I ever pesonally met that was still on the road.

greg334 · Jun 26, 2006

Well I am not going to say what I think but....

I ran into a driver and his wife that were in their late 80's driving a straight truck. The guy could barely get out of the cab and his wife had to help him back in the cab - he was driving. The wife was in good shape, she fueled the truck and checked the oil. As she passed my van, she noticed the packard magazine in the window and asked if I had one which led her to tell me that thier first car was a Packard 110 bought which they bought new in 1939 when they got married at 19.

Last year I met a freind's relitive who still drives his nice big 1977 cadillac, he is 101. He stopped driving from Florida to Michigan when he hit 95. He said it was getting to be a problem finding a place to go to the bathroom.

I used to have a driver who could not see beyond the hood of the car. I didn't know this until he ran into the back of a stopped truck and thought it was a pot hole. He drove back to the lab, parked it and walked in as nothing was wrong. We found out he could not see and we had to total out the car. the scary thing is when the weekend came, he and his family all got in the motor home (40 foot) with a tag on it and went to the casino north of Lansing.

RichM · Jun 26, 2006

A couple of years ago FEDEX lost a active B Van driver. He was about 81 and his wife was in her late 70's.

chetjester · Jun 26, 2006

Interesting post. Driving a truck doesn't really seem to have an age limit. If you can pass your DOT physical, you're fine to drive. In fact, the older you are/more experience, the more respect you get from the trucking companies and from other drivers. It's one occupation where age means something.

I'm an old computer guru type. I've run computer networks, been a database administrator for many companies and traveled the country as a computer consultant for bar coding systems. I'm an Certified Oracle Database Admisitrator. I'm certified with the American Production and Inventory Control Society as a CFPIM and CIRM. When I turned 51, I lost the best job I ever had ($92K year) and have never been able to get a postion that paid over $50K since. Because I'm old. And, because I'm old in the computer industry, I'm not expected to have the knowledge of all the latest "stuff". It is a lot easier to hire a recent college graduate who is an experienced phisher who can eat and sleep computer code. And, a lot cheaper.

But in this industry, my gray hair gives me more respect. Although there are a lot of young drivers out there, I feel I'm respected more by them than I am in the computer field. A geezer truck driver is an experienced truck driver. Have any of you bad-mouthed an older driver? Probably not. Because they know what they are doing and they can teach you what you don't know. If they are old and still driving a truck, then they certainly know what they are doing or they wouldn't be sitting in that driver seat.

And, another thing. Older drivers have stamina. We were brought up with the attitude of "do whatever it takes" to get the job done. We are expecially good at night driving. We like to go to bed early and wake up early. And we know how to pull a 30 hour drive to make a deadline and how to make those log books look legal no matter how well they are scrutinized by the DOT.

But, that's just my opinion.

davekc · Jun 26, 2006

Gotta go with Chet. Experience really does matter.
He did a great job when he drove for us.

Davekc
owner
21 years
PantherII
EO moderator

chetjester · Jun 26, 2006

Thanks, Dave.

I may be 56, but honestly, I don't feel old. Except when my hemorrhoids act up ( I got the spelling from my Wal-Mart brand (Equate) ointment, lol).

To give you full disclosure, it's important for me to tell you that another reason I'm not a computer geek any longer is I just got darned tired of working with idiots. At least out here, I'm pretty much on my own.

greg334 · Jun 27, 2006

You know this brings up another point, how big is too big? I admit I am a fat a** and it is hard to lose weight - it is all the good living as an IT professional. Well after reading this article -

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=34208

I wonder if there could be a weight limit in our profession?

Hey chetjester, Certified Oracle DBA. It is good to hear that I am not the only one. Been there, done that. I learned the hard way that I am a 'tweener' - someone who is not in high school/college or retired - so hiring people of our age is not happeneing.

chetjester · Jun 27, 2006

OMG!!!! I think I saw the link to that article on Drudge last week but never clicked on it to read it.

600 lbs. Give me a break.

x06col · Jun 27, 2006

Chet and all: Chet hit it on the head "work ethic" aino such thing some'mo it seems. I've had young bucks in the truck with me that couldn't stay awake 3-4 hours driving. So I drove to give em a break
stumble over their coolers, wondering if'n they were ever going to wake up. Nope they didn't. Till we got there. Then said where's the freight??? Too old? Don't know of there is "too old" sometimes.