Cleanliness, Decency for Student Trainees
To dive right in here, I'd like to post here comments I made on another subject here on this board.
There, the topic of "pee bottles" came up - for both men and women drivers.
I appreciate that there are times when Nature Calls, and there is just no way to find a restroom. For women, there are companies which manufacture and sell special little bags which contain chemicals which 'congeal' the liquid and can then be disposed of neatly. I have ordered those through direct mail in the past.
ALL STUDENTS WILL HAVE TO DRIVE TEAM WITH A TRAINER FOR THEIR FIRST JOB -- FOR TWO MONTHS AT LEAST. I didn't know this when I went to school, and nobody told me. Then, in the real world of the jobs with these big companies, the process became clear.
Now, aside from personality conflicts, etc., HOW DO YOU GO TO THE BATHROOM? Portable toilets in the cab take up room, and there is also a privacy issue. But why not just have a driver exit the cab while the other person does his or her business? And use the toilet as a table in the meantime, with a tray on top of it.
But nobody seems to do this...?
Enter the issue of PEE BOTTLES. Many times these are just dumped out on the road through the window, without the cap being on by the way. And so here I will paste the comments I made in the heat of the moment on the other discussion forum. All this is true. -------
Pasted:
What was that famous line from the movie?
Didn't it go like this -- "I am not an animal. I am a HUMAN BEING!" (Film was THE ELEPHANT MAN.)
With the "Trainers" I have driven with, I was surprised there are actually those bottles around at all. But you see, these men don't go outside the truck first thing in the morning, as you might think. Why not? There is no problem of their not wanting to get dressed and go outside -- they sleep in their clothes night after night. Do you realize some of these people are SO OBESE getting in and out of the truck, unless they really have to, is just another 'pain'?
Secondly, did you know some TRAINERS, when they're really stuck, seem to think bending down under the catwalk somehow is the perfect place for No. 1 and No. 2? As a woman, I have been advised on two mornings by two different "Trainers" to do this.
Since I respect myself, and since I am a "HUMAN BEING," I don't believe
the pavement of the Interstate is supposed to be my bathroom. In these
situations, I informed the "Trainers" I would wait for a suitable stop, which
of course was just a few minutes down the highway IN BOTH INSTANCES. In fact, there is usually ALWAYS somewhere suitable, when you have a little self-control, or PRE-PLANNING THE NIGHT BEFORE.
Drivers have it hard. Yes, the hours and the lack of breaks and the stress levels and the fatigue and hunger, yes they all add up! But this is still a job which can pay the bills AND give the individual some joy on a daily basis, if they're not
hung-up on a pity party all the time.
And when you're early at your destination, your time is your own.
Why, then, this brutality? Not only performing basic physical functions, but the profanity, hair-trigger anger, and sexual exhibitionism in word and/or deed?
It's a lack of self-respect, and that started WAY BEFORE the person got behind the wheel of a truck. It's even a reflection of self-loathing.
Valuing themselves and others so little, trucks become potential weapons of suicide or murder. And the accident records in the industry are skyrocketing. THERE IS A CONNECTION.
The Safety Departments AT EVERY TRUCKING COMPANY are reeling, and so are the Insurance Companies. Do you know WHY there is a shortage of drivers? I'll tell you. SO MANY ARE BEING FIRED for crazy, unnecessary accidents and negligence.
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