Brad Clayton Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 It takes a lot to get my attention when it comes to everyday life. I saw something today that made me almost come to a complete stop so I could fully comprehend what I was witnessing. First a preface; I love 18 wheelers and all that is trucking. I will chat up a truck driver anytime I can. One day I was stopped at a rest area and saw a lady smoking a cigarette outside of her truck. I started up a conversation and she commented that she was carrying paint in the 53 foot van trailer and it was always a pain because the rules state you can't smoke within a 100 feet of the truck. It seems that house paint is just a wee bit flammable. So every time she wanted to light up meant pulling over and going for a stroll. I was on my way to work today and coming up on a bulldog Mac with a can on the back (big rig hauling fuel) and all of a sudden a cigarette flies out of the drivers window of the truck. This fool is not only smoking in a rolling bomb but to put the damn thing out in an ashtray. I mean sure lets throw a lit choocher out the window and hope it lands on the side of the trailer where the fuel unloader hoses are. I don't know, maybe I am just a stickler for common sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Mutter Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Sounds like the fuel tank truck driver might be a future Darwin award winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Browning Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 But tanker trucks are "relatively" safe. People are not. Back in the day a lot more guys in the shop used to smoke cigarettes and smoking in the shop while working was tolerated. It always amazed me that guys would be so complacent and risk the safety of everyone around them... spraying Brakleen with a butt in their mouth, while replacing a fuel filter, while standing right in the next bay where another tech was replacing a fuel pump spilling gas everywhere. You get the idea. Nowadays people wine that they "smell" a cigarette. Pussies. Common sense? Nonsense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DwayneGorniak Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Common sense is just not all that common anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Common sense is so rare it should be a freakin' suiperpower. Dwayne - text me. 5198902941 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Warman Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Not sure about anyone that has an obsession about anyone that drives a truck.... though I will say that the US appears to pay more for truck drivers than truck fixers. And most truck drivers are nowhere near as safe or professional as they claim. Truck drivers deserve no measure of admiration.... and I owned a MACK R700 as well as "serving" in the truck driving trenches. Don't ever imagine that truck drivers are the noble knights of the road that the songs tell you they are. Next, let's address "paint". Waterborne latex paints are not flammable. Certainly, flame impinging on a latex can can cause an "explosion" driven by pressure.... but it wont be a "fireball". Let's consider a truck driver hauling gasoline flicking a cigarette out the window... The worrisome consideration isn't the cargo - it is the cigarette going out the window. Last year, nearly 1/3rd of our town was wiped out by fire. That anyone would throw a cigarete butt out the window NO MATTER WHAT HIS LOAD is a fucking cretin and deserves all the disdain, dislike and chastisement that our society can muster. If you are barreling down the road at 55 miles per hour in a semi, what chance is there that fumes from your load are going to enter your cab? Getting to the bottom line... I don't care if you threw a pop can out the window, a sandwich wrapper out the window or a Molotov cocktail out the window.... None of us should be throwing ANYTHING out the window. (or out the tailpipe, I might add). Common sense? What is "acceptable" jetsam on our highways? Considering the next fuel/refreshment stop has garbage cans, I have to say......... not a fucking thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Let's consider a truck driver hauling gasoline flicking a cigarette out the window... The worrisome consideration isn't the cargo - it is the cigarette going out the window. Last year, nearly 1/3rd of our town was wiped out by fire. That anyone would throw a cigarete butt out the window NO MATTER WHAT HIS LOAD is a fucking cretin and deserves all the disdain, dislike and chastisement that our society can muster. Well put, sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff Clyde Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 ^^^ agreed 100 % Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joshbuys Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 Common sense? What is "acceptable" jetsam on our highways? Considering the next fuel/refreshment stop has garbage cans, I have to say......... not a...thing! Amen to that!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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