Slogans are done to promote respect and to me many of these slogans are trying to demand respect.  Respect is earned through the actions of an individual or an industry.  You could apply these same types of slogans to other occupations, such as plumbers, without plumbers America leaks, without Farmers America Starves, and maybe without Pilots, America is grounded.  The point here is everybody’s occupation is important

 

The real story is respect should be earned and not demanded.  An area of contention amongst people of the transportation industry is parking and facilities to provide services we need to ply our trade.  A prime example came up to me recently where there was one of the few travel centers that have water hoses at the fuel islands to clean off your windshield and maybe bugs out of the radiator. My own windshield was particularly messy on this morning and I was looking forward to using these hoses at the fuel island to clean my windshield. When I pulled up much to my chagrin the hoses were gone.  After fueling, parking, and eating breakfast I asked what happened to the hoses.  I was informed that the hoses were being abused so they had to remove them.  It seems as though drivers were not hanging them up, often times not shutting the water off, driving over them, and not to mention washing their entire truck with them.  Thus, eliminating the “Free” added service at this location.

Next, as I was walking back to my truck I noticed rutted out areas where people were driving and parking off of the paved lot causing deep ruts. Large amounts of trash and debris littered the ground where thoughtless drivers cleaned out their trailers. The point here is that all of this mess costs extra money for the travel plaza to maintain.

Is it any wonder that we do not have enough of these facilities to meet the needs of our trade?

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Henry Albert

Henry Albert is the owner of Albert Transport, Inc., based in Statesville, NC. Before participating in the "Slice of Life" program, Albert drove a 2001 Freightliner Century Class S/T™, and will use his Cascadia for general freight and a dry van trailer. Albert, who has been a trucker since 1983, was recognized by Overdrive as its 2007 Trucker of the Year.

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