Fuel for Thought

Why Me?

Every day truck drivers everywhere have to deal with any number of issues on the road. Everything from tailgaters to brake checkers. Merging traffic without regard for those already on the road to that one guy who just will not make the pass and just rides beside you for miles. Inattentive drivers swerving all over their and our lanes to the left lane driver who WILL make that right hand exit in front of you. There are weather events that can slow your progress or even bring it to a grinding halt. Crashes along your route with no way to detour around. Mechanical issues. Flat tires. Fluid leaks. Air leaks. Electronic gremlins. And the list goes on and on.
Maybe this is why so many of today’s truck drivers have become disillusioned and whine about how hard trucking has become.
Why me? Seems to have become a common mantra of far too many truck drivers today.
Why you? Why not? Of course it always seems to happen to you. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. That is just your perspective based on your daily travels.
Why you? Because the average car driver only drives about 10,000 - 12,000 miles PER YEAR. The average truck driver logs about 100,000 - 120,000 miles per year. Why you? You are exposed to 10 times the amount of issues that the average car driver sees, and even they complain about their commute, other drivers, etc. Why you? You chose a profession where you will see 10 times what the average car drivers see and experience.
Why you? Because you have not developed a professional attitude to deal with 10 times the issues the average person has to deal with when they drive somewhere.
Why you? Because you have no empathy, compassion or consideration for your fellow motorists. You should be able to “read” most traffic situations and respond accordingly. You should see the car in front of you that keeps braking and accelerating, they have that “lost” look and you should anticipate their actions.You should know better than to brake hard to get a tailgating car off your rear bumper. You would be wise to not let other drivers stress you and cause some sort of road rage incident.
When you become a professional truck driver, you have to be diligent in watching and anticipating the movements of the vehicles around you. Give a little space for that merging car to get in front of you (wouldn’t you rather have them in front of you so you can keep an eye out for them?). Help those lost motorists by giving them extra space to make up their mind which turn they will take. When you start to have some consideration, compassion and empathy, and you give distracted drivers more room to do whatever they might do, you will find that your day was less filled with stress and you still got where you were going at the end of the day.
You might appreciate when a car or truck flashes their lights at you to let you know you are clear to move over a lane, give some of that same consideration to all the drivers you share the road with everyday. You ask yourself Why me? less when you change your attitude and become a professional truck driver.

Humans aren't as good as we should be in our capacity to empathize with feelings and thoughts of others, be they humans or other animals on Earth. So maybe part of our formal education should be training in empathy. Imagine how different the world would be if, in fact, that were 'reading, writing, arithmetic, empathy.'
- Neil deGrasse Tyson

See you down the road,
Greg