Big trucks & the trucking lifestyle.

Writing in an earlier post, I made reference to a "big truck."  To be clear, truck drivers refer to 18-wheelers as "big trucks."  If we see a jacked-up 4X4 pick-up on the road that's got a 3-ft lift on it, towering over all the other cars & trucks on the road, it's still just a truck to us, or in other verbiage, a "four-wheeler."  ALL cars and trucks and assorted vehicles on the road that have only four or six wheels are all lumped into the same category:  four-wheelers.  I always wondered how those guys with the lifted trucks, blowing black diesel exhaust, outfitted with giant knobby tires, would feel knowing that we considered them no different than, say, a Ford Festiva or SmartCar.         

  +  =  same thing.

Another reference I made in my previous post was to the trucking lifestyle.  There are, however, truck driving jobs to which this does not apply.  Local truck driving jobs, for example, do not really apply: jobs where drivers clock in, drive for the day, clock out, and go home.  The lifestyle I'm referring to is that of the truck driver who goes out over-the-road (OTR) for 3-5 days at a minimum.  Regional truck driving jobs will typically have you out for a week and home for the weekend or for several days; traditional OTR jobs entail the driver leaving home for two-to-four weeks before getting several days off.  These types of trucking jobs, regional and OTR, are where you encounter the lifestyle of truck driving.  

This lifestyle is about driving your truck hundreds or thousands of miles away from home, or in some cases, like mine, using your truck as your home, while utilizing all of the available conveniences and opportunities you can find to maintain good hygiene, good health, and everything else that a 'normal' life might encompass.  

I was very fortunate in that I drove for the mega-carrier Schneider.  Schneider has operation centers (OCs) and truck parking sites all over the country.  All of the OCs I encountered had showers while most had free laundry machines as well as cafés or well-stocked vending areas.  The parking sites I used were just that:  lots available for truck parking only with zero amenities, but often could be found located near a truck stop where showers and food were readily available.  My top two priorities were showers and laundry, and I rarely fell behind in either.  Priority #3 would be groceries.  A huge benefit of working for Schneider was that at many of their OCs, Schneider had a company car that could be signed out and used for grocery shopping or running some other short errand.  The excursion did need to be quick:  there was a one-hour time limit which did not leave for dilly-dallying.  In lieu of relying on a company car that wasn't always readily available, I would, en route to a delivery, stop at a WalMart that were often conveniently located at exits along the interstates.  

Two other sources for showers included the obvious... truck stops, and the other and much less obvious:  tank washes, a resource unique to me as a tanker driver.  The truck stop chain I frequented 99.9% of my time was the Flying J/Pilot Travel Centers; their company gave my company discounts on fuel, and I felt they were the most trucker-friendly as well.  In fact, when I first began driving for Schneider, when I received my company fuel card, I received a Flying J/Pilot Rewards card as well.  Because I got so much fuel there and used their rewards program, my showers were free, and I often had accumulated enough points to use their laundry machines at no charge as well.  Some of these Flying J/Pilot truck stops greeted the drivers better than others; here's a few examples of how some went above-and-beyond by dressing up the shower room for truck drivers:

Lamar, CO

It's amazing how much small gestures like these made life easier living on the road.  I should have done a better job of remembering where I took these photos; the only truck stop I can say for sure that did this on a consistent basis was the Pilot in Lamar, CO, which has at this point terminated its relationship with the Pilot/Flying J Corporation and is now either a T/A Express or simply known as "Lamar Travel Center."

Driving tankers, after every delivery I needed to return my dirty, empty tanker trailer to a tank wash to be cleaned.  The tank washes I frequented were always a great resource for parking; amenities varied from tank wash-to-tank wash.   Most of these tank washes, like our OCs, were conveniently located all over the country, and had showers that were available to the truck drivers.  Some had free laundry machines.  A few had well-equipped drivers' lounges with comfortable sofas and chairs, big screen TVs, and microwaves.  And as you might imagine, the quality of said amenities varied greatly, especially with regard to the showers.  The only shower which was totally out-of-the-question that I ran into was at the Quala tank wash in Chattanooga, TN.  It was so bad the staff there didn't even want to let me in to see it.  An above-par shower could be found at the Quala in Neenah, WI, where towels were provided.  Most fell somewhere in-between.  Towels weren't usually part of the bargain, but I was just happy to have a place to bathe.  With hot water.  

Three tank washes that stuck out include the Qualas in Vancouver, WA, Walnut, CA, and the Kankakee Tank Wash in Kankakee, IL.  The Vancouver Quala featured showers and free laundry, had amazingly friendly staff (which usually begins with the facility manager), was walking distance to a Fred Meyers grocery store (upscale Kroger) and an exceptional pizza restaurant, and near a fitness trail that was good for a 5k run.  Their parking lot was also 100% paved; this was a huge plus during inclement weather.  The Quala in Walnut, CA also had nice showers as well as a long fitness trail that ran for 15 or 20 miles in either direction.  The Kankakee Tank Wash was a real treat:  showers with plush towels, and sometimes meals.  Several of the tank washes would offer hot dogs to the drivers, but the Kankakee tank wash would have barbecue slow-cooked in a crock pot available.  Like I said before, it's the small things that go a long way. 

Kankakee Tank Wash

Kankakee