the trucker stereotype

This was not the image in the past. It is the image that a group of people have created due to their own personal lack of pride. Those same people would be pigs in any industry. Unfortunately unless a company goes to uniforms it becomes difficult to correct an employee's poor appearance without lengthy legal action no matter if that company is a trucking company, a store, or a doctor's office.

 

Nana you hit the nail on the head. I've seen both ends oif the spectrum and everything in between. I stop a driver over a year ago that was wearing dress slacks, dress shoes, collared shirt and tie. When he exited the truck he put a sport coat on. At first he made me sit back and wonder what the heck he was dressed like that. I even asked him, do you drive all the time or are you coming from a meeting or something? He told me point blank and was dead serious. "I'm a professional. No different than anyone in a board room or any other industry. How will anyone take me serious if I dress like a bum. This is the way I dress everyday." I must admit he was impressive. He is the exception, all to often I have the fella that is wearing a shirt with parts of his last three meals left on it, who smells like he has rolled in a hog lot and would make anyones child cringe if he met them in a dark alley. First impressions do go a long way, just like your momma taught you as a child.

 

What truckers and bikers have in common:

Free spirited and independent
Love the open road
Are a family and community amongst themselves
Drive a vehicle that takes more skill and concentration than any 4-wheeler

We even share the stereotype of being sloppy, rough around the edges and uneducated.

 

That's not the first thing that comes to my mind, although I've seen a few like that. Mostly, I see working people--young and old--who are, at times, dirty (like the men and women waiting in line for a shower). There's just no mold to break. If you want to be proud of yourself, act accordingly, and bear in mind that anyone can be seen when they're not at their best. There's been pride in trucking since it began.

@Texas-Nana: This was not the image in the past. It is the image that a group of people have created due to their own personal lack of pride. Those same people would be pigs in any industry.

Indeed, that has been the image, or one of the images, and it's been around for awhile. It goes back to the general negative image of transportation workers (wagonmen, sailors, drayage workers, railroad workers). Try this: ". . . an uncouth, swearing, discourteous, horn-blowing, don't-give-a-#### truck driver is the personification of the trucking industry." (from a 1935 newspaper article about the trucking industry). Take a look at 1920's/1930's/1940's photographs of truck drivers. The image is staring right back at you. You'll see a few uniforms too. The phrase, "If you've got it a truck brought it" (truck, not trucker) was coined by the ATA in the late 1930's to get people to accept the (ever-growing) presence of trucks in their lives. The uniforms were part of an attempt to dispel the long-standing image.

Oh, yeah, some drivers were pigs long before they climbed into a cab. They're not pigs because they drive, they're pigs who drive. I'd guess that we've all met a few.

 

We even share the stereotype of being sloppy, rough around the edges and uneducated.[/QUOT




speak for yourself on that one
i may be a bit rough around the edges--but not sloppy or uneducated

 

Thanks ChromeDome. This is my goal. I've already had a few 'careers' in my 40 years--soldier, carpenter, draftsman, architect--and always strive to be a professional. Trucking will be no different for me. Like my other 'jobs', I see trucking as a critical part of this nation's infrastructure, whether most people realize it or not, and therefore should be treated as an upstanding profession. Like the Smokey said, if you act and dress the part, people will treat you accordingly, and vice versa. The guy in a suit might have been over the top, since dress slacks and dress shoes probably aren't appropriate for yards, docks, and fuel stops, but there's no reason to not take a little pride in your appearance. You're still out there representing your company every day, even if you're the owner.