Many of us travel 70 hours every 8 days due to the rules and regulations placed on us by FMCSA. So we have lots of time to think and wonder. When we do get down time to do anything other than sleep, eat, shower and clean laundry, it’s usually spur of the moment choices! We get stuck miles from home and we have time to kill. So many of us are known to get “truck fever,” which is the same as “cabin fever” … We just gotta’ get out!!
On Sundays I often go to my social media and do fun things like my “Sunday Fun-day questions.” This week was not just entertaining but I learned a lot about drivers in every sector and their different types of freight. About solos, teams, women and men who have multiple days but sometimes just a few hours. I found the creativity to get out of their truck at any given time is better than Rand McNally and enough to make me want to create a longer bucket list! And I even saw posts from a trans-Atlantic driver who shares from the UK.
I asked a sequence of questions and asked drivers to share their ideas.
The questions went like this:
“What and where do you have fun and spend your time out of and away from your truck?”
“You’re not a stick in the mud are you?”
“You don’t stay on your phone or computer on your time off do you?”
“Is it motels, hotels or your truck that you spend your time in?” “So, what do you do?”
The responses were so diverse and fun I want to share quotes from some of them… I know they are factual as I have seen them or I have done some of the same things. Many will touch you and others will tug at your heart reminding you of how so many of us miss our loved ones and home.
Without further ado, and with over 300 responses and more coming in, let’s see words directly from drivers.
Mary Storm
“I unhook and just go touring around. Like a tourist I find interesting places to explore.”
Allan Dodds, London, England
** Allan, who is a driver from the United Kingdom, and his wife Linda, travel to AMERICA every year to attend the Mid-America Truck Show in Louisville, Kentucky. Afterward, they spend a couple of weeks touring the USA and visit the friends they have made here in the States. In 2012 I was honored to have them in my home for a week in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the NC/TN line. We definitely played tourist!!
Allen says this about his time off: ”Depends on timescale. I’m often sitting for several days, so either I walk, rent a car or motorbike. One time a group of us drivers rented snowmobiles while in Austria.”
Jason Thomas
“We work when we’re not working…”
Will Carmine
“…Listen to a lot of music and look at other trucks so I can get ideas for doing things on my own.”
Jack Engbarth
“I just take it a day at a time to see what happens.”
Doug Caspers
“Time off? What’s that?”
Catherine Hamlin
“Depends on where I’m at and what’s around me. I like to go and check out flea markets and antique shops.”
James K. McKee Jr.
“When I am laid over a whole weekend sometimes I cook on my BBQ grill. Or rent a car and see things like the U.S.S. Texas, which served in two world wars.”
Janet K. Medlock
“Cruising every month.” (She means like on a big ship!)
Robert Davis
“Snowmobiling!”
Carl Davis
“Summer fun finding dune buggies and motorcycles.”
Jason Hambone
*Jason sent a video sitting in a truck stop “People Watching” …I am a big people watcher myself and I’m not sure I know of anyone who isn’t…
Dennis Mitchel
“Who has time off to sit? Own to operate and operate to own. Then repeat!”
Beth Frost *Team
“Busy and stuck in the mud. Both LOL… And Tommy stays on his phone.”
Al Parish
“Uber from the truck stop to downtown, area attractions and state parks.”
Lee Haywood
“16 days straight! Now we are having a day and a half off. Cooking for next week’s adventure! Guess you could say we’re a stick in the mud keeping to ourselves and out of trouble. LOL!”
Jeff Wade
“Fishing and camping.”
Johnathan Bowman
“I am a stick in the mud.”
Russell Nelams
“Golf course and shooting range.”
Dana Drinkman
“In the winter time I hibernate in the truck somewhere down South.”
Linda J. Kulczyk
“Making a home-cooked meal, then walk around in wide open spaces. Find a beach, park or some place that I can park.”
Randy Reynolds
“Go fishing!”
Benjamin White
“When I’m on the road I will get a hotel every now and then.”
Janelle Kestner
“Today we are sitting and relaxing at a truck stop until the football games start. Then we’ll be in the sports bar enjoying a good meal.”
Will Smith
“No idea; I never get away from trucks!”
David Foster
“Go to Tulsa, Oklahoma as often as I can of course!”
*David’s grandbabies are the luckiest ever!!
Adam Chambers
“Have fun with my dog.”
Amy Mayfield
“When I am on the road I work and play with my pups and sleep.”
Jake Bast
“Anything that involves trucks. Mostly hanging out with old-school drivers talking trucks and swapping stories for hours.”
Shannon Riffle
“I try to spend as much time with my nieces and nephews. Don’t want to be known as the aunt who is never around.”
Shane Witt
“Find water to get in.”
John Polk
“Lobster and fishing. But I’m addicted to work.”
Josh and Becca Czebatul (Husband and Wife Team)
“Becca and I went on the ‘Grand Ole Opry’ tour today here in Nashville. It was amazing! We love adventures together!”
Many of us really do stay on our phones for hours once we get extended time off in the truck! It’s down time to talk to family and friends through FaceTime and video that we haven’t been able to for the 11 hours we are driving and our 10 hour break when we are trying to eat, shower and sleep. First priority of any down time is family and friends first. I’m sure glad we have unlimited phone plans these days!!
These are just a few things drivers do during down time. Over the years many of us have crossed and gone under the Hoover Dam before it was closed, ridden the train out of Williams, Arizona into the Grand Canyon, seen Mount Rushmore up close and personal, walked out our back door at 0 degrees into our own private hot springs in Idaho, put our feet in every ocean that borders the USA and we’ve felt the water splash our face from Niagara Falls. The adventures are endless and never seem to disappoint or amaze us.
I call all of these adventures a “BLESSING” because through our journeys we can share them with those who will never get to travel and experience these wonders. So if you don’t know an over the road truck driver, find one and get to know our story. You just might find your next vacation is in Moab, Utah rafting down the Colorado River and eating lunch on its banks with new friends from across the big pond in England!!!
And remember, a professional truck driver just isn’t a truck driver. We are adventurers just waiting to take you along.
Read more articles by Ingrid Brown
