It is easy to find an excuse as to why we can't help someone in need. It usually doesn't take much to pull a diesel truck to start. All you need do is use common sense. When I started driving we didn't have cell phones or qualcomm. We either got ourselves out of a jam or others stopped to help. That is one reason this industry is in the shape it is in today. We are too concerned about ourselves that we can't be bothered to help someone else who may be in need.

I remember several years ago I was delivering in Massachusetts. There was about a foot of snow on the ground and it was freezing cold and the wind would seem to blow right through you. I saw a driver who was beating on his brakes while sitting on the icy ground. The driver had been working on his brakes for some time. He was Russian and spoke very little English. His trailer brakes were frozen. I put alcohol in his air lines and we were able to communicate enough to help him understand what he needed to do to free his brakes. After a little while his brakes released and he was driving around the parking area. His truck was an old beat up cab over. He was from California. Now following your logic I should have ignored him and let him fend for himself. I don't think so. I believe we need to help one another when we can. I spent a little time helping a guy who was in need. My guess is that he probably helped someone else who was in need. That is the way it works.

I had another driver hook to my truck once in Amarillo. I made a turn and got stuck on a muddy pull off. I nearly turned over. Another driver stopped and we used a short chain I had on the truck to pull me a few feet so that I could get some traction. It bent my bumper slightly, but saved me several hundred dollars for a wrecker. I never said anything about the bumper. He was kind enough to help me I saw no need. Not only only did he save me a wrecker bill he also saved me time. He did me a favor. There were other drivers who passed me by. This guy didn't. I have pulled drivers on several occasions over the years and never had an incident. You can pass others by if you want. I will continue to stop and help when I can. I am thankful there are still others who feel the same as me.

 

I am sure in the sub zero country people know what they are doing
I see these guys in the truck stop where I park all winter.
A lot of do gooders do not know what they are doing.
One guy pulled a truck onto hyway 17 it still did not start
So now the guy is out of the truckstop on the shoulder and needs a tow truck to boot
Then there is the ICC bar tower
Then the "spring shackle but under the bumper tower"
"Hey you bent my bumper!"
Some guys run the battery down because they have jelled fuel
and here you are yanking this guy around with no hope of starting.
If a guy gets stuck and digs into the mud
You are really asking for a days work.
I've helped my share so now its your turn
Thanks

 

GMAN, I tthink we'va all found ourselves in a bind now & then, & have been glad of the help. I just think that the "me first" that has evoloved in our society really sux. All we think about is ourselves and not our fellow man or creatures. I find the lack of respect for other people & animals absolutely appalling.

As I have stated many times in this & other forums, the isolation & cold I run in can be & sometime is deadly.

There are no truckstops where I run, just pullouts, you're lucky to find an outhouse in a few, but wonder if you should get out, as the BEARS are pretty big up there! :wink: :wink:

I've had fellow truckers pull over just to see if I was ok wh I was so exhausted I had to pull over for a few minutes rest just to see if I was ok cause it was not a usual place for me to stop. (My truck was pointed north instead of south) Someone else saw me, called the next guy behind me & asked him to check on me. I was extremely grateful for the consideration, as if I had had trouble it could have been hours before the next one came by. I might have been dead by then.

I guess I'm very spoiled running where I do, we all know one another & look out for each other, cell phones & quallcomm thingy's don't work up there, we depend totally on one another to survive. I feel sorry for all who run south of the 60th parallel.

Sometimes the isolation gets to me, but I wouldn't trade this for anything down south...no sir, I'd rather deal with MY crap anyday of the week! :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

gosh darnnit!! i am a rookie and drive otr and run every load assigned me. as a rookie i have managed to get meself in every nasty situation i can manage to find, ahh geee shucks, darnnit. after 3 years of mucking up the side roads and back shipper lots i have learned to carry a few tools. lessee now, i carry 2 lenghts of 25' of chain, 25' jumper wire, extra fuel jugs and hose. i carry every tool that has been used to get me out of the jams i managed to get into learning this trade. i am now doing a lease purchase deal that i have been advised about. yeah i will jump you but i ain't married to you. when i pull you out i give same advise i was given. when i give a pull start you will know when to slow down. as o/o we are out here to make a living, period. i will still stop and help any mororist alongside the road. pass me by when i need help, it is ok. there will be a good samaritan who will help me. and then i will learn another way to help another person.

 

Go easy on Sonny guys! All he wanted to say, is just that;-"No good deal, is goes unpunished"! And it's still your choice, but don't be surprise, if you get more, than you signed for! :wink:
Wildkat, i know exactly, what you are talking about! I've spend about 18 years, in a conditions like that! 8)

 

I have gotten hung up helping another driver before. I have also had other drivers get hung up helping me. I understand what Sonny is saying. I am just saying that we have an obligation to help one another. I think one thing technology has done for us as a society is make us less willing to go out of our way to help one another. I recall a driver just helping me start my truck by spraying ether while I turned the truck over. It was a simple thing that didn't cost the guy anything but a few minutes of his time. It was a tremendous help to me. I tried to use the starter fluid and run around and turn the truck over but to no avail. His assistance made the difference between me getting back on the road or sitting. It was cold and there was snow on the ground. We don't always have to do something major to help someone. Often it is something very simple.

 

yeah, no good goes unpunished!! dammit some of us guys that got all your help never give back. not neven once. sadly sometimes we even ignore those that need help because we know all the hustles. all new drivers gotta remember is that any time your truck stops is you are vulnerable for a hustle. maybe even a gun rippoff. if you ever stop to help please be sure you stay safe. this year as last year i will spend xmas with some highway bum buying him a shower first then dinner. has been done to me when i was on the road as a bum.

 

ChoperBob...it was really gratifying to read that!!!

It's also great to hear how you've turned your life around...congratulations!!

 

if they ever open i80 east bound i can get to iowa and pick up a load that will get me to san antonio tx. delivery is 12/24 at 0900. guess i'll be spending xmas eve there. staying with original topic tho, was stuck on cabbage patch at rest area when chain laws went into effect. never chained up before. i was given help learning how and was also given pointers concerning running with them. never used a jake in the snow before. sure helped.