Truck driver
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A truck driver (Commonly called a trucker in the US or truckie in UK, Australia, and New Zealand) is a person who earns a living as the driver of a truck, usually a semi truck or dump truck. Truckers provide an essential service to industrialized societies by transporting goods and materials over land, typically from manufacturing plants to retail or distribution centers. Truck drivers represent one of the most important labor forces in the transportation industry within the United States. [1]
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[edit] Types of truck drivers in North America
In North America, there are two major types of trucker drivers:
- Owner operators are individuals that own the trucks they drive and can either lease their trucks by contract with a trucking company to haul freight for that company using their trucks or haul loads for a number of companies and is self employed commonly referred to as independent trucker.
- Company drivers are employees of a particular trucking company and drive trucks that are provided by their employer.
All drivers are bound by laws limiting the amount of time they can drive to avoid driver fatigue. The legal drive time is 11 hours of driving with 10 hours of break thereafter. [2]
[edit] Job categories
Both owner operators and company drivers can be in these categories.
- Auto haulers work hauling cars on specially built trailers and require specific skills loading and operating this type of specialized trailer.
- Dry Van drivers haul the majority of goods over highways in large trailers. Contents are generally non perishable goods.
- Flat Bed drivers haul an assortment of large bulky items. A few examples are tanks, steel pipes and lumber. Drivers require the ability to balance the load correctly.
- LTL drivers or "Less than truck load" are usually local delivery jobs where goods are delivered and unloaded by the driver at multiple locations.
- Reefer drivers haul refrigerated or frozen goods.
- Local drivers work only within the limits of their hometowns or only to nearby towns. They return home nightly.
- Regional drivers may work over several states near their homes. They are usually away from home for short periods.
- Over the road drivers often cover distances of thousands of miles and are away from home for a week or more. To help keep drivers, companies can employ team drivers. Team drivers can be a husband and wife that travel together, or several people in different states that split up the haul to keep from being away from home for such long periods.
- Tanker drivers haul liquids in tanks and need special driving skills due to the load balance changing from the liquid movement.
[edit] Special license
In the United States of America, truck drivers are required to have a Commercial Driver's License (CDL). Although state motor vehicle departments administer the CDL program, Federal law spells out the various classes of CDLs and the requirements to obtain one. A CDL can also contain separate endorsements such as hazardous materials, double and triple trailers, passenger (for bus drivers), and tankers. Specifically, the five-axle tractor-semitrailer combination that is most commonly associated with the word "truck" requires a Class A CDL to drive. Beyond that, the driver's employer (or shipping customers, in the case of an independent owner-operator) generally specifies what endorsements their operations require a driver to possess.
[edit] In popular culture
In 1975 the song Convoy was released by C.W. McCall. The main character of the song was a truck driver known only by his CB handle, "Rubber Duck." Three years later in 1978, a film was released with the same name. A year earlier, another film Smokey and the Bandit was released which revolves around the escapades of a truck driver and his friend as they transport a load of beer across state lines. Smokey and the Bandit spawned two sequels. B.J. and the Bear was a television series depicting the exploits of a trucker and his chimpanzee companion. The future of truck driving was speculated in the film Space Truckers in which trucking has gone beyond planetary loads to interplanetary ones.
Truck drivers also have been villanized in such films as Duel and Joy Ride.
[edit] References
- ^ Truck Drivers Importance in US Transportation Industry.. Retrieved on 2006-08-14.
- ^ Truck Driver Facts. Retrieved on 2006-09-11.
