A recent lunchtime stop for a truck driver and his young daughter offered an opportunity to share how important the trucking industry and its professional drivers are to the country.

Truck driver Kevin Swisher says his daughter Letty was along for the ride with him earlier this month when they made a stop for snacks. Swisher wrote on a now-viral Facebook post that Letty was “all over the CB and giving the Trucker Salute (a nice big honk) to as many drivers as she possibly could.”

According to The Trucker, he went on to describe that when the two got in line at the truck stop, he heard “a woman (who) was doing nothing but complain about big rigs and how they’re always in the way and messing things up in the economy as well as the road.”

Swisher wrote that he and other truck drivers standing in line for food “were struggling to keep our mouths shut.”

That’s when Swisher said Letty decided the woman needed to learn a thing or two. She told the complainer that “Truckers like my dad save the world one truck load at a time, if you don’t like them, you should put back what you have because this is a truck stop and everything, like what you have in your hand and on the counter came here on a semi.”

Letty’s comments made such an impact that Swisher wrote the woman left the truck stop empty handed, and Letty received a round of applause for her speech defending truckers.

“As we made our way out the door after getting our lunch, a driver came up handing her this big bag of candy thanking her for her support and standing up for truckers,” Swisher wrote on his Facebook post.

“Once back in the truck we turned up the CB and the radio was nothing but drivers talking about how this little girl stood up for what she believed in, defending those who sacrifice so much for others to keep the world moving.”

Swisher’s original post has been shared dozens of times online and has thousands of Facebook likes.

Swisher told The Trucker that “Letty is ecstatic knowing her story has made the impact that it has.”

The post Big support of truckers from little girl becomes internet sensation appeared first on Truck Drivers USA.

Why? The plush decorations are kind of like the mascots on the front of sea vessels, the New York Times reported after speaking with numerous truck drivers. Jake Rossen, a reporter for Mental Floss, wrote that the often-cuddly animals are used to make truck drivers, and their trucks, less intimidating. Instead of “enormous road beasts with the capability to dominate lanes,” they’re softer, playful, and more approachable.

“There was some sort of heraldic device to deny the fact of this gigantic machine,” Monroe Denton, a lecturer in art history at the School of Visual Arts, told NYT. “You would have these humanizing forms, anthropomorphic forms—a device that both proclaims the identity of the machine and conceals it.”

Trash collectors often strap salvaged toys to the front of their trucks to signal the same.

“It’s a kind of customization that falls in line with bumper stickers,” Rossen said on mentalfloss.com.

In England, however, some sanitation companies ban the practice to prevent children from trying to grab the toy off moving vehicles. Other cultures, like those of Southeast Asia, attach more meaning to the plush toys. Some reportedly believe that the stuffed animals or other decorations on vehicles are there to occupy ghosts.

Some truck drivers simply bring them along to break up the monotony of driving long distances, or to add visual interest to their truck. Regardless of the reason a truck driver may put one on their truck, the little mascots can add a bit of brightness to the lives of truck drivers and those around them.

The post Why some truck drivers carry stuffed animals in unlikely places appeared first on Truck Drivers USA.

The 42-year-old told reporters that she used to love being a nurse, but staff shortages and a lack of advancement opportunities pushed her to look for something else. Her boyfriend, a CDL-A owner-operator, encouraged her to look into truck driving.

“I was just going to regret my career being where it was and not being able to advance was really maddening to me,” Gorham told CNN. “So I just needed to do something else.”

Gorham enrolled in a 12-week program to get her CDL. She and her boyfriend drive together and are working toward becoming a professional truck driver team.

“Eventually, we’re going to be trading off like, I’m going to sleep when he’s driving, but right now, while I’m still training … it’s almost like we’re one independent super-driver,” she said.

Gorham had gotten as far as she could in her nursing career without upgrading her qualifications. And with the weight of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers adding extra pressure to already short-staffed hospitals, Gorham said “there was no end in sight.” But she kept her license on an inactive status, in case she wants to go back.

“I do have time to see [if] maybe I want to go back casually or something like that just to maintain my license, because I put my time in and I did really love it,” she told Williams.

For now, CNN reports, she’s happy behind the wheel.

The post ‘There was no end in sight’: Woman leaves nursing to become CDL-A truck driver appeared first on Truck Drivers USA.

Her post, which has been shared over 1,000 times, reads:

Dear Fuel Hauler,

I saw you on I-74 coming up behind me.  You moved over when I was merging back onto the road from the shoulder of the ramp. As you passed me I saw you were a fuel tanker. You had your blinker on to move back into the driving lane in front of me and I flashed my headlights at you.

You safely moved in, flashing your lights back at me.

A warm trucker hug. That’s what that means to me. I grew up with an appreciation of truck drivers as my dad has driven a semi since before I was born.

I followed you from Downs, through Bloomington-Normal and on up I-39 on my way to Olgesby. You pulled off at Wenona, about 20 miles before I exited. I highly doubt you realized I was a state trooper. I was in an unmarked silver squad.

I saw the trucking company you were hauling for was out of Sullivan, IL. That’s near my stomping grounds. You had some sweet smoke stacks on your truck.

I felt safe traveling near you on the roadway. I think I passed you once due to traffic, but I seemed to just stay behind and enjoy the drive. You moved over for other merging traffic. You used your blinker, obeyed the speed limit, and respected driver’s following distance.

I was on the interstates traveling to a college to visit and before I left the house my daughters told me “Be Safe Mom”. It’s people like you that make me happy to be a state trooper. I assume you have a family at home too that you want to return safely to at the end of your work day.

You showed several true signs of a great driver. I felt comfortable sharing the road with you…and that’s why I chose to fall in behind you and take in the scenery and listen to the radio.

You have a huge responsibility as a trucker hauling fuel.

Your placard read 1203 .  I hope others recognize that placard and type of tanker you pull and the importance of driving safe around such vehicles.

I appreciate you and applaud your driving I witnessed.  I may be in Recruitment now, but I will always continue to shout out the drivers with the great behavior I see.

Well done Sir. Well done.

Sincerely,

Trooper Tracy

The tanker driver, Dan Fehr, commented on her post the next day.

“Trooper Tracy, wow I appreciate the compliment and thanks for what you do, I remember a silver 4 wheeler following me yesterday,” he commented with a photo of his shiny fuel tanker, decked out with some sweet smoke stacks.

The post ‘I appreciate you’: Illinois State Trooper thanks tanker truck driver in heartfelt post appeared first on Truck Drivers USA.