While being forced to shut down in New Mexico I posted on Facebook the mile marker, where and what interstate was shut down. In no time another driver who was in Texas posted road conditions in Texas and that they would be coming into the area I was in a little later that day.
While waiting I went out to some of the popular websites that have a lot of activity such as the Women in Trucking Association, Inc. Facebook page and saw numerous updates on road conditions and closures across the United States.
While looking around I saw links to articles about laws that are changing that affect our trucking business, I saw links to articles about saving fuel, and what to do if stopped by the DOT and the information provided did not stop there. Easily found are posts on how to take a dog with you in the truck, how to cook in the truck, and ideas for newbies about how to become a driver.
Truckers used the CB to talk to other drivers close to them. More often now drivers use the phone to connect with friends and family. The phone is used to talk to people we know and have a friendship with. Having the phone instead of the CB can cause us to not meet that interesting person that could become a life long friend.
The CB used to be used for directions and now we have a GPS on the dash to get us to a customers address. The GPS is used to locate grocery stores, rest areas, truck repair shops, and a variety of other items needed each day in the life of a commercial truck driver. The GPS is also an aid to calculate when we will arrive at our destination.
Facebook and the CB are used to meet and make new friends. Using Facebook we have been able to meet with our friends in various areas of the country. Some of these people we have met in person and others we have only met through Facebook. What I like about meeting people that we have been friends with on Facebook is that we know each others history and we have a lot to talk about. We all ready have a history and know a little about each other before we meet face to face.
What Facebook cannot replace is a driver warning you of something happening with our truck or a road hazard up ahead. Due to many "warnings" of sparks under our truck we now zip tie our OnSpot Automatic Chains up so they do not touch the ground. We can still push the button on the dash and activate the chains easily. For some reason drivers would see the hazmat Explosives Signs on our truck and then see the sparks and they would get nervous....