Our country is vast and requires a lot of drivers to fill the needs to keep it going. People not only come from various places in the country to fill this need they come from around the world. That, combined with the high turn over rate in the industry do to the fact the industry demands a great deal of commitment with very little reward, we have lost our basic principles of ethics in the industry. It should be mentioned that high stress levels play an important role toward unethical behavior as well. People develop a breakdown in their discipline and integrity when they are over stressed and mistreated. We as truck drivers need to overcome this dilemma, because we can't get ahead if we are working in dysfunction. As long as we are fighting among ourselves then we are wasting our energy and not taking the fight were it belongs. Below is a list of rules on ethics. Please bear in mind that no one is trying to tell you what to do or how to behave, only you can decide if you agree with them and only you can decide if you want to work as a fellow member in the industry we all work in,live in and share. It is our desire that we as truck drivers can find a way to reduce our stress levels and create a good fellowship with our peers. If you feel like there is something missing or an improvement can be made on the list, please, view the contact page and send an e-mail with your concerns. This list is a work in progress and will be updated from time to time.
1) Drive with courtesy to fellow drivers and the general public : Accidents are most likely to happen when we get in a hurry. Feeling stressed or pressured for time will lead to poor decisions like tailgating or cutting off other motorist. It is important to take it easy, relax and enjoy the drive. Why hurry through life without enjoying it? Usually dispatchers give appointments as if they are set in stone, most times there is a window for delivery. Besides it's not like any one is making great money so the best thing anyone can do is enjoy themselves.
2) Signaling another truck it is safe to get over in your lane: This has been an age old tradition in trucking, as a courtesy to the fellow drivers and other travelers behind the truck that they want to pass. It keeps traffic flowing. The acceptable method in daytime is to turn on and hold for a second or two then turn off your headlights. The acceptable method at night is to turn off your headlights and hold for a second or two then turn them on again. NEVER should anyone use their high beams to indicate that it is safe to come over. This is highly counterproductive. Great, now the driver thinks that it is safe to come over, but they can't see for the next few miles because they have been blinded while looking in their mirror. If you are driving a truck with automatic lights and the standard system doesn't work, then please, don't worry about it. It's just not that important, to have to blind people.
3) Head lights, driving lights, and fog lamps: As an operator of your vehicle, big truck or other, it is your responsibility to make sure that your lights are in a proper setting as to not blind other motorist on the roadways. If you find that your lights are out of adjustment, then you are obligated to have them adjusted, asap. Many drivers run with their driving lights or fog lamps on, it probably helps a little with fatigue but more than likely they just think it looks cool. These lights are really designed to shoot a beam of light under low laying fog so you can see better. It is important to use these in their proper setting so you can utilize them for their purpose when you really need them. Otherwise they will be counterproductive in fog like conditions.
4) Trash: Trash does not belong on the ground. There is a reason we have trash receptacles people should use them. How difficult can it be to get a small box and put a grocery bag in it as a liner, then when a person stops they can empty the bag into a can? It is a display of a lack of respect to the individual and others to throw trash on the ground. Especially urine bottles and bags of feces. We all know it's not a glamorous job, but life should be lived with dignity and their is nothing dignified about human waste on the ground or in the parking lot.
5) Urinating in the parking lot: Years ago drivers were driving smaller trucks, a person couldn't stand up in them. Fortunately we have bigger vehicles to drive with plenty of standing room. Urinating in a bottle is not only acceptable but preferred to urinating on the black top in the parking lot. A person should properly dispose of the contents by pouring it out on the ground where it can be absorbed by the earth and where people are not going to be walking. Then the bottle can be recapped and disposed of in a trash can. If this is too much work for some of you, then at least urinate behind your truck on the ground Where other people wont have to walk through it and track it back into their trucks. That's gross.
6) Restroom: No one needs to urinate all over the seat. There is toilet tissue a person can use as a barrier to lift the seat. No one can be that lazy, and if so they shouldn't be a driver. There is no laziness allowed in trucking. Space management is required in the restroom. Don't you just hate it when there's a long row of urinals that aren't being used and some one steps up to the one right next to you. People should wash their hands before they leave the restroom and no one should leave the sink and counter top a mess for the next person. Again, wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands and use plenty of soap. Every one opens the door to leave and it is rude to leave bacteria on the handle. In fact it is a health hazard!
7) Lot Lizards: Women are forced into prostitution every day. Using that sort of service is crude and only supports the growing epidemic of Human Trafficking, as well as disease. We live in a different world today, the use of such services only supports criminal activity and is a violation of basic human rights. Were not animals, that's what makes us human,and being human requires discipline, self respect, and dignity. There is a good reason to have a spouse, one of them is to fulfill our sexual needs, as well as intellectual companionship.
8) Prejudice : Everyone has a right to feel as they wish. As Americans we should respect peoples right to their feelings. Prejudice is a learned behavior usually based on personal experience or associated with a psychological function known as group think, where people who gather together may develop the same thought process about an issue or adapt to how a group may think on an issue. No matter what the reason a person may feel ill will toward others, they should respect their fellow drivers enough to keep their thoughts or feelings to themselves, this is not something that really requires an announcement. No one needs to tell others their hatred for an individual for race or sexual orientation, even on the cb radio. We are all Americans first and foremost, it doesn't matter a persons skin color or sexual orientation we are all Americans, and that means a great deal. Also, a person should keep their skin color and sexual orientation to themselves as well. There is no need to provoke the worse out of others by making inappropriate statements on the cb radio or in a public space. People should not look for dates with other people of the same sex on the cb radio. 9) Dress and personal hygiene : Respect goes a long way. In order to gain the respect of ones peers or members of the general public, one must make themselves presentable. That involves wearing clean clothes (non stained) and to wash regularly. Given the profession it is understandable if a person doesn't get a shower every day, a person can use a basin and a wash cloth in their truck, and by all means don't wear yesterdays clothes. Clothes hold odors from sweat that has bacteria in it and will stink even when the body doesn't. Something to be aware of, if you start to notice that you stink you have gone far too long without a bath, because others have been putting up with your stinky self for days. Brush your teeth regularly, the mouth is a haven for bacterial growth, which causes bad breath. A person should use a tooth brush at least twice a day on their teeth,gums, and tongue in order to kill bacteria and eliminate bad breath. This is for your benefit, your fellow drivers benefit, and the benefit of the customer.
10) Parking : At the fuel island-It is rude to pull forward and run inside for a shower , to go shopping for a half an hour, or sit down and have dinner. It is just as rude to drag the trash can behind your truck and act like the fuel lane is shut down, when the only reason it is down is because you want to have an extended stay on the fuel island, and it doesn't go unnoticed as one may think. In the parking lot- It is rude to park on the line or crooked in a parking space. One should take pride in their work and park in a straight line in the center of the parking space. This not only shows professionalism, it helps to prevent a person from getting their hood ripped off. A person should use available parking spaces as opposed to making them up along side of the curb or parking in the drive. At the dock - Take the time to back into the dock in a straight line, centered to the dock. It is so rude how some people back into a dock and the nose of their tractor is practically in the dock space next to them. Then the next driver gets that door assignment and struggles to get in there without hitting that truck.
11) Being passed : Sometimes when a truck is climbing a hill in the left lane at the maximum allowable speed limit they may crest the hill with another big truck next to them and the truck in the right lane accelerates with them on the down side, trapping them in the left lane. Sometimes a truck may move to the the left lane to pass another big truck that is moving slower, then suddenly for no apparent reason at all they speed up and drive right next to the truck they trapped in the left lane. Drivers in the right lane should slow to let the driver in the left lane to finish their pass and allow them to return to the right lane when they are finished. this type of courtesy is a show of respect and professionalism, and helps to free up the passing lane for other motorist. Which makes the trucking industry look good.
12) General Courtesy: Politeness goes a long way and it say's something about a person's character. It's generally polite to be aware of your surroundings when going through an entrance or exit and know if someone is directly behind you before you let the door go. Nothing like getting a door slammed in your face because the person in front of you let it go before you expected them to.
If someone is in line ahead of you, then you should wait your turn before being waited on. Truck drivers were always courteous this way, It used to be that they would direct the cashier or shipping clerk that you were there first. These days some people will step right in front of you and start conducting business as if you don't exist, and that's just rude. If someone does this to you, then by all means, you should assert yourself and correct their poor behavior. Otherwise, it will never stop and we will lose sight of our high standards.
Backing into a parking space can be difficult for seeing what is behind you when others move into your space. Some people have been killed for standing behind a truck while they were backing up. If someone is backing into a parking space it is considered to be rude to just go around them. Wait, let them finish what they are doing, and then proceed, unless they direct you to go around.
13) Using The Right Lane All too often trucks are using the center lane(s) for travel even when traffic is not that congested. Even when you are traveling at the maximum allowable speed it's considered inappropriate to use the center lane(s) for continuous travel. All vehicles are supposed to the far right lane for travel and left lanes are for passing only. The exception to this rule is when it is safest to travel the center lane while traveling through a large city such as New York City.
14) Help A Fellow Driver Trucking has always been an industry where drivers helped each other when needed. It seems that drivers these days feel that they are too busy or it's not necessary to help a fellow driver in their time of need. A driver shouldn't have to ask for help, if you see that another driver needs some assistance, offer it. This is what helps to keep fellowship among drivers and makes life on the road a little bit more bearable.