America.....Views from the Road.

wolfix

I haven't been on the forum for over 7 weeks except for a peek now and then. Last November I was bored so I went out and got myself put into a over the road truck. Since then I have had a total of maybe 10 hours to myself. It's all about driving and sleeping. I have been in most states [Alaska/Hawaii excepted] except the Pacific Northwest.
I have a total different view of America now then what I did before I left. Some of the thoughts I now have really surprise me. Day to day I have dealt with some of the issues that are contoversial at this point in time.
Over those 7 weeks I have logged about 30,000 miles.
I drove thru white/out snow across Nebraska at 30mph, drove thru the ice storm of Oklahoma that killed so many drivers, and have had to back down side streets in NYC to deliver 44,000 lbs of beer. The Rockies are tricky and big. I don't care if I ever hit that place called LA again.
I haul meat, beer, and sometimes a few odd products. My truck rarely stops except for me to get some sleep.
This experience has changed me. And maybe not for the better.
I will not have access to the computer on a regular basis for a few weeks, but if anyone is interested I will post some of the things i observe about America. The good and the bad. And we have both. I cannot name the companies that I do business with because of contractual obligations that my partners and I have. However, I will be mentioning one particular retail store many times and you can guess who I am talking about. And one meat company that has it's roots in Arkansa. Both of these companies own this country. One company I will mention with nothing but total admiration for ther business practices is Budweiser. They are very professional. I have also hauled some of the small breweries yuppie beer [mostly from Colorado]. I can tell you this about the small little backroom breweries, don't believe much what you read on the label. Maybe they are not really made where they say they are. Maybe they are made in some smoke filled shithole 800 miles away.

One thing I know is this..........The Clintons and Bushes need to go. If anyone thinks Clinton was a good President economically they are delusional. He started a process that will eventually cripple America. And Bush???????? He has continued the process. Both of those guys had their own self interests in mind, not the working people of this country. I fear for America with what these 2 men have left. I have always been a business owner since high school. But I see the working man, who is the backbone of this country being attacked by all sides. I do not like what I see.
Back on the road............. I have 40,000 lbs of steroid filled pork ready to be hauled to the wonderful people of New Jersey and New York.

__________________
"I rule my world with a cellphone."

Carrera

"One thing I know is this..........The Clintons and Bushes need to go. If anyone thinks Clinton was a good President economically they are delusional. He started a process that will eventually cripple America. And Bush???????? He has continued the process. Both of those guys had their own self interests in mind, not the working people of this country."

The same thing happened here. Britain used to have perhaps the best educational system in the world - even in the sixties it was still pretty good. Heavy industry (coal included) was the backbone of the economy. Higher education was free. Crime was nothing like today. Great cars were still being produced.
My own home city now resembles a shanty town in some ways. So many factories closed down to be replaced by supermarkets and bars.
What happened is when the USSR collapsed, global economics got far more competitive. The U.S. and U.K. didn't face the kind of competiton back then as today with China and India on the up. The only way to stay ahead now is invest in industrial skills and education and if politicians don't do that sharpish we're sunk.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

Cycler6n

thats great that you can do that. have any pics?

__________________
“(Training) doesn't get easier; you just get faster”
-Greg Lemond

Crankyfeet

Good to hear from you wolfie. I was wondering if you'd left us for good. You may notice from my post count that I have been busy as well while you've been driving....

I'm very interested in your diary. I guess you have spent a lot of time as well in cafe's and roadhouses talking to other truckies and locals.

What prompted your decision to take up the job? Was it a desire to get behind a wheel and see the country from ground level? It sounds like a great experience, with due respect to truck drivers.

wolfix

I always wanted to drive a truck. I have had a interesting life as far as careers go. I was a contractor most of my life , and then I was in the pub business. I like being on the road. With the sale of the bar several years ago, I needed to do something to keep busy. I have never had a "boss" in my entire life as I have always been self-employed, but this time I wanted someone else to deal with the pain in the butt running of a business.
I find driving over the road to be the most interesting thing I have ever done. I am interested in people and how lives are handled.
Yes, I have had many conversations with interesting people, but also met some total flakes.
Back in school we read the Studds Terkel book, and now I feel as if I am living it. I see the "meat houses" in this country. I will write about my experiences there because they are part of America no one knows about. It is our "national shame."
But on a positive note I have met some great people in places you would never think of as a place where nice people live.
I was scheduled to leave this "ice box" where I live to head to Jersey/NYC, but have taken on another load to Atlanta. I was thinking warm weather, but just looked and they just got snow.

When I have time I am going to get a camera and take some human interst pics which I will share.
I will be off-line over the next 3 weeks. I have to get a laptop and I want to do that in my next home time. I simply did not have time this trip home.
Hey...... Everyone take care
Wolf

__________________
"I rule my world with a cellphone."

limerickman

Nice one Wolf : personally I'd be very inteested to read about what you see/hear during your travels across the USA : and given the range of your travels I expect that you should see/hear some pretty diverse stuff.

So in honour of your "on-line" diary - I'm gonna "stick" this thread - so that you won't have to scroll through threads in order to update your thread.

Stay safe :

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

wolfix

The next few weeks I will not be able to post often. I am getting set up with a laptop , but I have to wait until I get back.
Some a few observations I have made along the way. This is a political year. I was lucky not to be in my homestate of Iowa when the political focus was here . But out on the road, there seems to be little interest in what is going on. It seems as if the working people have given up. When I was in Hilary's home state of NY; [political home state], I got the impression people were not behind her. Her popularity is complex and confusing. My feelings are that she is the only one who can beat a GOP man. The caucus world may have put Obama in 1st place, but that is because the majority of Democratic voters are not involved in that process.
I spent a lot of time at chicken plants ,beef plants and pork plants. The rise of **** in this country is probably Bill Clintons biggest ecomomic acheivement. The only ones I can see that benefits from the rise of this company is the investors. {The rich]
The connection between this company and the big box store that is in every town in America is evident when you drive a truck. Both of these companies are based in Arkansa. They are preditory companies.
I see empty factories that are the result of the monopoly of these companies. The business practices of these two companies are socially irresponsible, but are backed by our government.
I was at the port of authority in Houston, Texas. It is not as big as the one in LA, but it is huge. The amount of goods that pass thru there are unbelievable. I spent some time with a Teamster and a union dockman. They told me the majority of the goods that are being loaded on cargo ships going to Europe and Africa are from China. They come in from LA, trucked over to Houston and sent on.
On that particular day I picked up 10 Thermo King refrigerated units for my company owners.. What they are used for is to keep trailers cold when being trucked from location to location. They sit on the front of the trailer and are the things that are so noisy.
I am familiar with the company.They are a Minnesota company. They are American. However, these units were made in Puerto Rico.I find that so sad.
The immigration problem in this country is real. I have been to places where there may be 100 or more people employed, and I am the only citizen. America needs to solve this problem fast. I don't blame the illegals, I blame the rich white guy who employs them and invests in companies that employ them.. And you, the American consumer.{and me] We know what is happening, and yet we run to the stores to buy the cheap goods while our neighbor that owns the local retail outlet is going bankrupt. The government has not allowed the business world to play by the same rules. And I do not see the American consumer changing over the next decade.
Gotta go .........

****** I can not use actual names because of contract reasons.But you can pretty much figure out who I am talking about.

__________________
"I rule my world with a cellphone."

Carrera

O.K. this is for Wolfix and maybe appropriate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXMMQrH3Png

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

Billsworld

As far as the illegals, I blame the govt. that claims they cant find them, even though they have a drivers licience , an employer, a fake social security number, most likely a kid or kids in a public school and they use the local hospitals like a free clinic............... If you travel through Mass. PM me, and I will buy you lunch.

TheDarkLord

Why do you feel so sad about that wolfix? After all, isn't Puerto Rico sort of an American state?

Carrera

He's probably referring to out-pricing of workers in his own country.
The trouble is, having listened to many of Bush's speeches, I can see Bush is anti-protetctionism and anti-nationalism. These days it's portrayed as extreme to support priority of labour and resources to your current, indigenous population.
U.K. politiicians believe anyone who can find a way to cross into our borders has certain rights and those rights often mean instant access to education, funding and the job market. So, that encourages mass migration by any means.
Then there is the way companies are encouraged to set up overseas and profit from cheap labour resources. Why employ an American or European if you can make a bigger profit paying cheaper wages in Indonesia or Mexico or India?
Wolfix has probably seen a lot of poverty, some gang culture, crime and closed up companies in certain areas of his country. His take on the issue seems to be shared by all Americans I correspond with privately and who voice exactly the same view. They feel the country is on the way down.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."

limerickman

Let's be clear here - the vast majority of people moving to another country, do not do so by choice.

I hear a lot of talk about immigration both on this site and through the media.
Some people here in my country, harp on about the volume of eastern europeans that have moved over here.
Few of these people are here because they want to be - they're here because they can find work.
If they had the same opportunities where they were brought up - chances are they wouldn't be here in the first place.

The contrarians complain about immigration in to their country - while cribbing about the fact that "their companies" are now starting to move to those countries where those same emigrants were coming from.
So on the one hand they despise emigrants - and now they're starting to despise their country's industry's for setting up businesses in those emigrant countries!
What do they expect?
Do they want no immigration and for their native businesses to remain in their country?
That's not how capitalism works, I'm afraid.

__________________
.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Billsworld

Your first point is valid,but in the the Boston area an average public school spends $5000~ per student per year. (the city of Cambridge is around $14000) A healthinsurance policy for a small family is about $10000.They expect these services for free. The cost of immigration isnt worth having them here. If you begin to throw in the other social services that they expect for free, most of them will never earn in a lifetime what the suck up in services. The educated, legal, taxpaying immigrants are welcome however. The Irish I like

Carrera

There is protectionism and nationalism and there is multiculturalism and open borders. It's a simple choice and naturally people have to make their own choice.
"Protectionism" is viewed with a bit of suspicion today and Bush, for one, totally opposed it as do the Clintons. "Nationalism" evokes memories of General Franco and Hitler but, really, those kinds of regimes don't represent the concept of nationalism. Not all nationalists are narrow-minded, flag waving thugs who dislike immigrants. Some nationalists believe in a very simple concept I can best explain by example:
Holland now has a fairly nationalistic government. Their view is if I as a U.K. citizen wish to live permanently in Holland, I should accept the culture of Holland, its language, history and values. I should even study Dutch and show I have an interest in adapting to my new country. I don't see that as unreasonable or unfair. In fact when I was in Estonia which is really East European, an Estonian friend explained to me that any American wishing to live and work in Estonia had to prove he wasn't (a) depriving Estonians of a job and (b) had some sort of cultural interest in the country and skills to benefit the economy. If so, immigrants were then welcomed.
We need immigrants for many reasons. For instance, a French native speaker will always be a better teacher of French in a British school than an English speaker who studied French abroad. So, let's welcome such immigrants.
The trouble is now they claim they even have to recruit English teachers to U.K. schools from overseas to teach English. On hearing that, I was shocked. And now even the BBC has started to ask questions and debate the issue with a wider range of opinion.

__________________
"Everybody has a philosophy. However, what philosophy you have is a matter of choice, and most people don't make a conscious choice with regard to what philosophy they accept."