View From the Road

Thank a Trucker
By Dale Morrow
Mar 13, 2008 - 4:53:13 PM

This week my travels brought me to Tampa. Imagine, actually working in a city where I knew the location of most everything is. It was a pleasant change.

I had to pick up freight on east Broadway early Thursday morning, and then two freight pick ups in Lakeland later in the day. It does not seem very exciting, but the familiar streets and local sites were refreshing. The three partial loads were going to be delivered in Gainesville the following morning.

After all the pick ups were made, I decided to stop at a truck stop for the night just north of Tampa. I had a nice meal, and had my hair cut. Then I sat in the truckers lounge and enjoyed some television on a big screen. The next morning I woke up and proceeded north to Gainesville.

The scenery at the truck stop can be very interesting. I was parked close to the entrance to the fuel pumps. As I prepared to sleep, I completed some paperwork and listened to some music on the radio. As the evening progressed a parade of trucks passed before me while I looked through the windshield into the dark skies.

My imagination had visions of all the different places that these trucks had come from. Every imaginable type of freight was soon to be resting here along with me and my load. Car transporters, flat beds, van bodies, tankers and refrigerated trailers filled the lot.

Many men and women, far from their families and homes had stopped for some well deserved rest, many heading for Tampa with their loads.

Many truck stops offer conveniences and supplies that make our journeys down the highways more comfortable.

A safe place to sleep, to get a refreshing shower, and a good meal. This type of place is as close to a temporary home as some men and women get. Often drivers spend several weeks at a time away from there families. This can be an oasis of sorts to them.

Most people don’t think about the hardships that truck drivers sometime incur, while making sure products arrive for the pubic to enjoy.

Everything you buy has probably been brought to the store near you by a trucker. Night and day the wheels of America’s trucks turn so that commerce can continue.

When you shop this week, consider all the effort it took to get the products to you. You can probably thank a trucker.

My “View From The Road” this week recognizes the efforts of truckers that keep the economy moving.