888.Fix.Tire 888.349.8473

What You Should Do For Truck Driver Appreciation Week | Semi Truck Repair

This infographic has been shared far and wide, but it’s timeless, true, and totally relevant to today’s post, so I’m sharing it again here before I even begin.

If you really want to keep it simple, here’s what you should do during Truck Driver Appreciation Week:

Hug a trucker. Like a big ol’ hug that ends with one of you pulling away a little ’cause it’s starting to feel awkward, type hug. (You know what hug I speak of, we’ve all had one at some point in time.)

Do the same for a dispatcher. Or a fleet owner/manager. Or a maintenance manager.

Alright, truth be told, the media is primarily trying to give a shout out to the actual truck drivers during this time, but it should be taken into consideration that all of the abovementioned people of the trucking industry are the very reasons that hospitals are able to maintain basic supplies, that you are able to buy food from the grocery stores, clothes for your family, beds to sleep on, gadgets and trinkets that you or your kids “have to have,” and/or all of the other wonderful things that you purchase or sell and that makes our (albeit a little messed up) American economy function on a day to day basis.

Did bolding that help stress the importance of this? The trucking industry doesn’t get nearly enough love, people.

Now onto the unsung highway heroes.

It takes many parts of a machine to keep it running – that’s the truth. But too often the “pretty” parts of the machine are the ones highlighted – i.e. the face of the clock, the paint job on a restored vehicle – the parts whose appearance alone holds the most value according to society’s ridiculous standards. It’s unfortunate, but when was the last time you heard someone cheering on Gear Part B of the gear train that allows pulse by pulse bits of energy to escape via the escapements of a clock? Yes, thanks to Google that was a mouthful. But it also just proves the point that not many are generally familiar with clock mechanics – you know, the things that make that beautiful clock ACTUALLY TICK??

Or what about the up and coming mechanic that took countless hours in his damp garage teaching himself how to figure out what was making the weird ting-tinging noise on his vintage vehicle? You know, so he could drive it out and about and people could actually appreciate the aesthetic of the two-toned sparkle paint job he put on that classic beauty?

(Side note: I’m not sure why I chose an inanimate object and then a person to demonstrate this point, but I did; so just roll with it. Are you picking up what I’m putting down though?)

What I’m trying to say is that the most important parts of a real life machine are seen exactly like the behinds-the-scenes parts of our societal machine – the American economy – unmentioned, unappreciated, and often overlooked. What’s worse, in referencing the group that we’re actually making these comparisons to, the truckers, society’s general opinion of these folks is NOT a good one! (Much like the fact that not many think that Gear Part B is very sexy or deserves mention.)

BUT IF ANYONE IS DESERVING OF MENTION, THESE FOLKS ARE.

And not that all of them would even want a big boast-ey party to talk about how awesome they are, but some probably haven’t seen their family in a couple weeks, or remember what it feels like to regularly wake up in their bed at home, or even remember what a “weekend” feels like – and that’s all so you can have the stuff that keeps your family healthy, fed, entertained, and the American economy in motion. They deserve, at the VERY LEAST, a round of applause, a high five, or a thank you.

I personally encourage you to find a trucker and give them one of those almost too long hugs. They’ll probably think you’re pretty strange at first, but I guarantee they won’t mind too much, especially when they awkwardly pull away first and see the smile of appreciation on your face.

Or if you’re weird about personal space, hugs to strangers, or buying someone lunch, here are three simple things you can do everyday to “let them truckers roll.”

  1. Stop cutting off big trucks in traffic. 80,000 pounds does NOT stop as fast as your car can.
  2. Stop thinking that big trucks are the cause of most accidents they are in; and point out to anyone else trying to further this lie, that they are NOT.  There are statistics to prove by WIDE MARGINS, that it’s not them, it’s over 80%of  all of the other unthinking drivers involved in these crashes.
  3. Give them room on the road. Keep in mind, you’re driving in THEIR office.

And, if you’re feeling a little gutsy but still uncomfortable with the whole full on hug thing? Give them one of those man-hugs, you know where you shake their hand and give them a pat on the back at the same time?

That counts too.

Post On: September 8, 2019
Tags : truck driver appreciation week | trucking |
Back to top