truck stop bums

termite289 · May 4, 2010

yes, they are almost everywhere. and if you've not met one yet you will.
sad stories from my truck broke down, to my owner just dropped me off here and told me to get home the best i could. and of course my all time favorite, i drove down here to meet some guy i met on the internet, and he said he had money for me to get home on, but he lied.
there are a few you get to know, based on number of visits to any particular truck stop. some are regulars, and some are what i refer to as drive by. where someone is on a long trip, and determine they they are running low on fuel, so they play the truck stop bum for a while, to build up cash.
i thought we might compile a list of places you have encountered such folks, as a kind of be prepared to get hit up.
the guy in senatobia,ms who claims to be a fellow driver. but i have never seen his truck.
i actually got hit up at the loves, in canton, ms today. just to let you guys know.
any other places, besides Florida, that you can think of where you regularly get hit up by repeat bums, who don't remember that they already asked you, over and over?

moose · May 4, 2010

I-10 Exit '0'
I-40 in N.M / A.Z ,(American Indians - now howe's that for politically correctness)
Lodi O.H ...(Oop's sorry , that was just a frustrated recruiter...)
Anywhere NYC
.
.
...

gotta go · May 4, 2010

Fairview, TN 'J'. There's a couple with a little girl that have a Jeep Cherokee. He sits in the car while she goes around begging, sometimes with her daughter. If they can just get enough gas money to get to Bay City, MI, there's a job waiting for her husband. Saw and heard their story with several months in between. She didn't remember me, but when she saw the good looking co-driver, they left for the day. Guess they thought I'd get on the CB and blow their chance of getting that gas money.

piper1 · May 4, 2010

Charlotte NC Pilot, there is a guy who does this big act on the pay phone and his story involves a Comchek issue, does it most days around 3-5 pm.

Poorboy · May 4, 2010

Petro Atlanta along with the :censoredsign:

s

TA and Petro Perrysburgh Ohio Guy Posing as a Truck Driver (Usually on Weekends) Says His Boss won't give him an Advance for Fuel Until Monday Morning. He Bounces from TA to Petro and Then Back Again!

bluejaybee · May 5, 2010

Pilot in south Memphis. Black driver who can't get a draw on his comchek till the next day. He needs $6.50 to buy a fuel filter so he can get out of there. He will even let you take tools off his truck. Yeah, right!

Then there is the truckstops in Indy. I believe this is the training camp for the truckstop bums. They all have a different con. Most of them are so sincere. I often wonder how they can get so good. I guess if you talked to as many drivers a day as they do, you would be good also.

Wonder how they will fare at judgement day?

stamp11127 · May 5, 2010

Well, if you have to pay for your sins, he'll be $6.50 short.

Sorry, an old Saturday Night Live skit came to mind....

termite289 · May 5, 2010

interesting to put all the scams together. this could be fun.

I was in Jackson ga one night. i left the truck stop and was driving over to 41 oh hwy 36. it was about 03:00 and as i got close to the stop sign, and started slowing down, when out of the corner of my eye, i saw something flash, it was not a light, but appeared to be someone waving their arms over their head, as you see people trying to wave down an airplane when they are stranded. anyway, i didn't see any houses out there, and i asked my trainee if he saw anything. he said no, but i decided to back up and see if there had been an auto accident, or something that would leave a pedestrian this far away from anything close to civilization.
i did see someone. a young woman, about 24. i thought she must have been involved in an accident, so i stopped the truck and rolled down the window, to see if we could be of help.
"are you ok?" i asked, in my most concerned voice.
(I swear to god this is true) "yea, i just wanted to see if y'all wanted a date." says the young woman.
i look at her for a moment, then to my trainee, then out his window, out the front window, and back at her. nothing but empty road and pine trees, and my truck, and her. no car, no bicycle, no nothing.
"No thank you." i said, "we thought perhaps you were in distress."
"nope" says she, "i just saw you and thought i could make some money."
"ok, we are going to go now," says i, and promptly spool up the window and drive away, leaving the lot lizard 20 miles west of the flying j at exit 201.
my rookie and i pondered how she got out there in the middle of nowhere, and how business was. on the way back after loading the next day we did notice a trailer park about 200 yards back off the road, and figured she must have came from there. but for one night, she was deposited by aliens, or thrown out of someones truck, and looking to make some money. we laughed about that until he graduated, and i still smile about it from time to time.
that is my favorite :censoredsign:

story.

Turtle · May 5, 2010

Truckstop bums are easy to deal with. "I don't carry cash, I travel on company credit cards, and they keep track of every penny." Done.

highway star · May 5, 2010

I just give them a flat no, with no qualifying story. If they think I'm a cold hearted *******? All the better...

I've been approached pretty much everywhere. The only repeat offender I can recall is a guy at the J in Benton Harbor. He needs a little gas money to get to Ann Arbor.

Poorboy · May 5, 2010

Turtle said:
Truckstop bums are easy to deal with. "I don't carry cash, I travel on company credit cards, and they keep track of every penny." Done.

Darn good Way to do it!!

AMonger · May 5, 2010

Knoxville, TN, at the Hook just west of town. Had a guy, a bit of a simpleton, ask if he could clean my glass for a few bucks. He said he was trying to get home to Pennsylvania for some emergency at home. I don't mind giving a few bucks to a guy who's willing to work for it, so I let him. Unlike all the other guys who have done this, this guy actually did a thorough job. I gave him a few bucks and expected that he'd go get something to eat or drink, probably something to drink, iykwim. But the next morning, he was still on the lot, still cleaning glass on every truck he could, so apparently he was legit. Can't imagine a junkie having that much perseverance.

But then, in Indianapolis, at the Hook again, another guy gave me the sob story about trying to get home and said he'd clean my glass for a few bucks, but he mentioned he was hoping some driver would give him $20 and tell him to get on out of here, as in, here you are, go home. Instead, I had him clean my glass. He didn't know how to get to my windshield until I opened the hood for him to climb up on the motor. He complained about it the whole time, did a poor job, and said, "Ok, you got me," which sounded to me like he thought I was taking advantage of him. He got a lot less than the guy in Knoxville.

I had a Russian co-driver who was absolutely ruthless when it came to beggars. One would approach the truck and begin his spiel, and I'd be listening. Sergei would hear this and come over, and he'd just erupt all over the guy: "No! Get job!" and practically chase the guy off. Some place in California, I was letting a crackhead clean the glass for a couple bucks so he could get a burger, so he said. He was doing a so-so job, but unlike the guy in Indy who was really just looking for a $20 handout, this crackhead was actually trying. Sergei came over and took the squeegee from the guy's hands and took over. I kind of felt bad for that guy.

I sometimes wonder how much more begging we're going to see as the economy continues to tank. It could be that those of us that are still working in a year could be inundated with beggars as soon as we pull onto a lot, and we might not be able to stop anywhere but somewhere with guards if we don't want to be mobbed. I think things are going to get ugly.

layoutshooter · May 5, 2010

The amount of bums is not likely tied to the economy. There have always been bums, junkies, alcoholics and other assorted types of social low lifes. They are around in good economic times and bad. They tend to be more "mobile" in warm weather. They also migrate to follow the seasons but can be found in most states at anytime. I can remember them in Detroit when there were jobs everywhere. I agree with your Russian friend, tell them to get a job. I know that Russian was surrounded by bums if he ever lived in Russia. Even in that mecca of socialism, where everything is perfect, there were and are bums.

OntarioVanMan · May 5, 2010

as long as I continue to see help wanted signs and TS short of staff because people don't WANT to work for minimum wage...
There IS work out there...most bums CHOSE to be bums...through drug/alcohol abuse...

layoutshooter · May 5, 2010

OntarioVanMan said:
as long as I continue to see help wanted signs and TS short of staff because people don't WANT to work for minimum wage...
There IS work out there...most bums CHOSE to be bums...through drug/alcohol abuse...

Or, just plain too darn lazy to work. I can introduce you to many, some even in my own family, who fit the bill, they beg, steal, cheat, collect welfare, SSI or who knows what else they do, just to avoid living life.

OntarioVanMan · May 5, 2010

layoutshooter said:
Or, just plain too darn lazy to work. I can introduce you to many, some even in my own family, who fit the bill, they beg, steal, cheat, collect welfare, SSI or who knows what else they do, just to avoid living life.

Exactly...being a professional bum pays well....imagine making 50 bucks a day TAX free and collecting a welfare check?

greg334 · May 5, 2010

$50?

Be serious.

Those guys begging, you know the ones who come out of the SF school of begging, must pull down at least $200 a day without a problem. On good days with warm weather and tourism in full swing that may make $350 or more.

It's like the graduates of the L.A. school of Dumpster Diving and Cuisine, they never go hungry and more or less can survive like c*ckroaches in California.

layoutshooter · May 5, 2010

AND often get welfare and food stamps and we fools subsidize them, by choice or otherwise.

OntarioVanMan · May 5, 2010

greg334 said:
$50?

Be serious.

Those guys begging, you know the ones who come out of the SF school of begging, must pull down at least $200 a day without a problem. On good days with warm weather and tourism in full swing that may make $350 or more.

I was being a little light on the estimate....many stories around of pro bums being millionaires or close to it...
It is a lucrative business enterprise. In a way it is a job...