Question:
Nowdays it seems that 'truckers', in general, have a shittier image than they've had in the past.
Here's few tips to help you on your way in you new 'career'.

• Get a hair cut and trim your beard! Keep your hair & beard neatly trimmed.
  
• Dress respectably, clean clothes. It doesn't matter if you wear a suit and tie, but put on clean clothes with NO holes.
  
• Respect. Talk to the person you're dealing with respectfully.
  
• Be POLITE and use TACT! Always talk 'nice' to the shipper / receiver. As a LAST RESORT type thing, It is possible to tell someone they're a P.O.S. while making them feel like they smell like a rose.
  
• Run Legal! This is the most important! Running legal is detrimental to the survival of you and YOUR wallet! (possibly more) Also, insist on being paid for waiting time in excess of 2 hours.
  
• Drive courtious and defensive! (self explanitory)
  

There's more, but once you 'master' these techniques, life can be and will be easier. ?

Answer:
Very excellent advice, HOSS ... and, it should also apply to everyday people too!
I have my own little world --- but it's okay; they know me here.

Answer:
Get a hair cut and trim your beard!
Dress respectably It gets discusting to see all the drivers new and old that dress, look and act like slobs. It seems truck stops are a who cares place. Lots of drivers coming and going dressed and looking totally rediculous. I see lots of them in the morning that look as if they just woke up put on some old clothes and didn't bother to comb their hair. Truck stops are filled with travelers on vacation, locals fueling their cars and people eating. All of those people form an opinion of truck drivers. With what they see no doubt their opinion is not good. It is also very frustrating to be at a shipper or receiver to be the only driver with their shirt tucked in. Others waiting wearing shirts with the sleeves cut off, some strange looking pair of shorts and sandals. Or just old dirty clothing. Male and female drivers alike dressing nasty is very embarassing. I've seen females wearing tight short shorts and skimpy tops. Trying to impress someone. Unfortunatly the affect is just the opposite of what they want. Except of course with some brainless drivers.
Respect. Talk to the person you're dealing with respectfully. It is very important to be respectful wherever you go. Dressing properly and showing respect can also get you respect in return.
Be POLITE and use TACT! Not always easy. Most of the time talking politely and tactfully you will get much farther ahead in bad cituations. The old saying, "you can catch more flies with honey than with vinager" usually works. Because of the way some shippers and receivers treat drivers, no doubt because of the lack of professionalism they've become use to by drivers, you really have to bite your tongue to help from saying something.
Drive courtious and defensive! It gets scarry watching some of the truckers drive. They dodge in and out of traffic like they were in a car. Tailgaiting and just driving wrecklessly. They are a danger to all including other truckers. I guess they think they'll get ahead that way. They don't. More times that not you'll catch up with them sooner or later in traffic. Or you just pass them when the traffic clears because their truck is governed. It makes no sense.
Good post HOSS. It would be nice to see newbies starting off right and possibly helping the industry instead of joining the crowd and making things worse.
Run LegalNot much more to say about it. Just do it. You won't make any more money by not doing it.
"Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of all who threaten it"

Answer:
Whenever you pull off at parking areas, ramps, rest areas, truckstops, etc., etc., DON'T JUST OPEN YOUR DOOR AND CHUCK YOUR TRASH OUT!!!!!!!!! If you can't find a trash can somewhere, keep the dang stuff with you til you do!
AND.... If you're of the male species...DON'T THROW PEE BOTTLES OFF THE SIDE OF THE ROAD!!!!!! Those pee bottles and trucker trash are worse than a driver's appearance. Highway workers and ordinary citizens who've adopted that particular stretch of highway to clean, are beyond disgusted picking up pee bottles! You want to get off on the right foot, take the words of Hoss, and take these words I've said and remember them!
My kids know all the trucker's pull-offs for miles around here. If they notice the trash and bottles, anyone can notice them. It's one of the biggest black-eyes you can give the name of "truckers". Have some respect for yourself and others.....Don't trash your areas!
Head Warrior, TFBU
On The Mend.....

Answer:
Listen, we only have one life to live, and man, it can eat you alive. Every day I make an effort to be ready for those challenging moments that tempt your temper, attitude, words and what have you. Why, just today I have one come up--first in a while, though--and I told myself, if this person's going to act this way, well, I'd like to walk about the better man, at least in this situation. And so I did, but it challenged me.
So, men, women, newbies, oldbies (is that a word? I can use oldbies, can't I?), don't let 'm get ya down or get your dander up! We're all in this together, and I'm pulling for you! (Now, that's some Red Green for ya!)
***********************************************
Look before, during, and after when making those right-hand turns!
Starkman

Answer:
I think the most important thing to be done about image is the constant tailgateing that goes on day in and day out.
Realisticly the public has the most contact with drivers while driving,they can't realy see what you look like or whether your peeing in the bottle. What they do see and leaves a lasting impression is that grill in the rearveiw mirror.
They get scared,angry and talk about it to everyone they know. Bottom line being do not tailgate anyone, it does not improve the image
and could cost you the career that you worked so hard for.
Mike
Answer:
The fowl language at the T/S resturants, the trash being thrown everywhere plus add everything else. We consider these people as the problems of image degragation yet they see us as the oddballs and the geeks of trucking.
If your a clean cut business oriented driver, your considered lazy looking, not a real truck driver.
These same drivers your refering to exhibit the very same characteristics at their home terminals and no one even raises an eyebrow.
I'll give you an idea of a lasting positive image. I was fueling at the T/A in Ontario, CA, it's been about 5 or 6 years ago and to this day I still remember vividly. There was a young couple, somewhere in their low to mid 20's, driving for Knight, they were fuel and washing their windows. They both were dressed in a very clean business manner. They seemed impeccably clean both personally and in dress. As I stood there watching this couple, I couldn't help but wonder what our industry would be like if we had more people like these two.
Why do I still remember this after so many years? Because looking at many of the other drivers in comparison, they stuck out in my mind in a positive image.
What I have learned after a number of years on the road is, many drivers tend to tear a positive image apart to justify their lack of a positive image. They search for and find an excuse, no matter how small or irrelevent, to verbally degrade the concept of a positive image.
What is even more amazing, is the ability of these negative image drivers to easily influence others drivers who lack the intellectual capacity to think on their own two feet.
The reality is, it's easier to be a slob, it's easy to open your truck door and throw your trash on the ground, instead of having to walk to throw your trash into a barrel. It's easier to wear the same cloths day in and day out and not wash them. It's easier to use the f word in every sentence because you lack the discipline, morals and education to speak intellectually. It's easier to portray a negative image, anyone can do it with little effort or thought.

Answer:
Originally posted by Hoss:
+ _Get a hair cut and trim your beard!_ Keep your hair & beard neatly trimmed.
Also keep your hair washed and combed.
+ _Dress respectably, clean clothes._ It doesn't matter if you wear a suit and tie, but put on clean clothes with NO holes.
Jeans are fine if in good shape, not faded excessively, or frayed at the hem. Wear a collared shirt. A new, clean t shirt is fine in some instances, but stay away from the t shirts with the "Budweiser, belching, and big hair-a redneck fantasy" slogans and the like on them.
+ _Respect._ Talk to the person you're dealing with respectfully.
If you drawl, excessively, learn to speak better. People gauge your education and intelligence by the way you speak and the words you use. Learn proper grammar, and loose the thick southern accent. It only makes you sound stupid and uneducated.
+ _Be POLITE and use TACT!_ Always talk 'nice' to the shipper / receiver. As a LAST RESORT type thing, It is possible to tell someone they're a P.O.S. while making them feel like they smell like a rose.
Very Important. Courtesy and tact will oftentimes gain you a position at the front of the unloading line, in the spot that the driver who was here 5 hours ago had, but got so impatient that he mouthed off to the customer. It may also mean the difference between a cursory glance and verbal warning by Mr DOT man, and a full blown inspection and multiple citations.
+ _Run Legal!_ This is the most important! Running legal is detrimental to the survival of you and YOUR wallet! (possibly more) Also, insist on being paid for waiting time in excess of 2 hours.
You mean running illegal, right? Running illegal not only puts you at risk of citations, and accidents, but at having your arse sued off if you do get into a crash.
+ _Drive courtious and defensive!_ (self explanitory)
But rare nonetheless! This includes proper following distance, signalling lane changes and turns, and obeying speed limits.
Answer:
First off Highway Man I agree with everything you say about our image out there on the road, but I'am from the south and proud of it, the draw I have is part of my heritage, it does not mean I am any less educated then the next guy.To me that was a stupid comment on your part so think before you speak, I understand you are from the northern states and can't help it so I will forgive you this time.

Answer:
Just a suggestion. My driver purchased a couple company tee-shirts that he wears when picking up and delivering loads, and of course the company cap. It was his way of putting together a "uniform" and it identifies what company he is.

Answer:
highwayman:
You apparently have come in contact with some of those "good ol' boys from them thar 'Bama hills" --- I was born-n-raised in Deep South Texas; have a very heavy southern accent; yet, am extremely highly-educated ... and, I've ran into quite a few "Northeners" who had great difficulty with not only proper sentence structure, but also in spelling words correctly!
After all; just read some of the posts here and look at how alot of the words are misspelled and the sentence structure is so horrible, it takes a few times of re-reading to figure out what a person is trying to say.
I have my own little world --- but it's okay; they know me here.

Answer:
Take all the above noted INFO and follow it and your IMAGE should be improved DRASTICALLY.
It is time that a little "I HAVE PRIDE " in MYSELF and WHAT I DO starts kicking in around the GREAT WORLD of TRUCKERS and TRUCKING.
I like the ones who COMPLAIN that a shower might cost $5.00 ( if you did not buy fuel ) but they drop $25.00 on the old VIDEO GAMES and brag about it. Or spend $6.00 on AIR FRESHNERS cause something has an odour in the truck.

Answer:
I agree with most everything said on this thread. Now, losing an accent, well, I just don't see any neccessity in that. Speaking without using foul language while conducting business, however, is a bit of advice we should all try to adhere to. Some shippers are obviously (edited), but I believe there are probably quite a few that have been hardened into (edited) by being subjected to so much negativity by billy bad *** truckers. Does it excuse them? Of course not, but by being professional with one another, we could all benefit. My 2 cents.
"For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings. And, folks, this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable. We're going to do something about it." George W. Bush

Answer:
Originally posted by springer93softtail:
First off Highway Man I agree with everything you say about our image out there on the road, but I'am from the south and proud of it, the draw I have is part of my heritage, it does not mean I am any less educated then the next guy.To me that was a stupid comment on your part so think before you speak, I understand you are from the northern states and can't help it so I will forgive you this time.
I did think before I spoke, and I am not insulting all southerners. But if you are honmest, you will admit that a thick southern accent is stupid sounding. That is why many highly educated people work to get rid of their thick accents, and bad grammar. I certainly wouldn't want to hear my surgeon say something like "OK, y'all, we just need ta git in ther and yank that malignant sumbitch out, and sew him bak up and hopefully we ain't gonna leave a big dadgum scar." No, I want someone who sounds as intelligent as he is.
I understand the heritage arguement to a point, but to make such an arguement is the same mentality that many drivers have of "this is the way I am, and if you don't like it you can go F**K yourself." Sometimes you have to adapt to accepted customs. Use your thick drawl at home wiht friends, fine, but when in public, you will do wonders to improve your image by appearing educated and intelligent, which is harder to do when speaking in a dialect most often used by those who are not educated and intelligent.
And this North vs South BS is just that-BS, We are all Americans, and no one area has a monopoly on stupidity.
Posted by piks95:
highwayman:
You apparently have come in contact with some of those "good ol' boys from them thar 'Bama hills" --- I was born-n-raised in Deep South Texas; have a very heavy southern accent; yet, am extremely highly-educated ... and, I've ran into quite a few "Northeners" who had great difficulty with not only proper sentence structure, but also in spelling words correctly!
The fact that you make a distinction between "Bama hills" and elsewhere indicates that you know the difference in perception an accent or dialect can make. You are right about the general lack of english skills everywhere.
As an aside, I have found that the dialect spoken in Texas is different from the south, and as such I don't include Texans as Southerners. A Texan accent is different from the southern accent.
After all; just read some of the posts here and look at how alot of the words are misspelled and the sentence structure is so horrible, it takes a few times of re-reading to figure out what a person is trying to say.
Yeah, that's a no shi**er!.
Answer:
There is a difference between a southern draw and ignorant spoken english, I think you need to read over what you just wrote. People can talk ignorant whether or not you have a southern draw or a loud northern accent.So what do you really mean,is it the southern draw or ignorant spoken english you dislike.
[This message was edited by springer93softtail on November 23, 2002 at 13:34.]