Truckers
Driving a truck is no easy job! It's such a heavy vehicle and when loaded, the load is impossible. A teamster or a trucker is anyone who earns their living driving a truck!
The drivers travel day and night to supply essential commodities whether finished goods or raw materials, transporting them from one place to another. These people drive any goods, be it food, industrial products or tools and vehicles.
Life of a teamster involves taking care of his truck. After all, his truck is his and his family's means of economy! Typically in India, you would see them lighting incense sticks in the trucks. Decorating them with very beautiful and colorful plastic flowers, and other decors. The trucks are all colored in bright hues. The most fascinating feature of the trucks are the slogans they write behind the trucks. Some slogans like "Hum do hamare do", "Bure nazar wale tera mu Kala", and most important of all "Mera Bharat Mahan" are all fascinating!!
The truck drivers could be mainly three types - the owner operator who lease or rent their vehicle to drivers and drivers are responsible for the vehicle. The company operator where companies own the trucks and they hire truckers to move their products, to and fro. And the independent owner operator, where truckers not only own the vehicle but also drive them. And in all the three cases, drivers have a full-time job of taking care of their vehicle along with the goods loaded in trucks!
You might be wondering why I am writing all these today! Well it's because, yesterday when we were driving down from Goa, on our way back to Bangalore, we saw so many trucks. Lorries that had registration of Haryana, Gurgaon, Tamil Nadu etc. Now you might be wondering what's the big deal. Obviously a truck would get registered somewhere.
Imagine this, my hubby drove all the way from Goa to Bangalore which is around 1300 kms two ways. He was exhausted. Now imagine a driver who drives such a heavy vehicle all the way from Uttarakhand to the tip of India, Kanyakumari! Do you realize how much pain he must have taken to supply the goods? He must have travelled days and nights together. Did he have any good hotel accommodation to rest? Did he have a platter full of food? The answer is obvious, No!
The truckers are away from home for days together. Some might have had a baby just a few days back and still he has to drive because after all he needs money to run his family. Some who might have been newly wed and yet he has to drive all the way to a remote village in North East India. Why? To help the people with a few things! Driving on the highways, or the mountain terrains; they deliver the goods. They might be carrying any good - be it perishable or non perishable food items, tools or vehicles, any thing!
The truck drivers typically travel such long distances to supply food, and other important items for us. Us, we the people. They cook their own food by the road side or catch up some food in the dhabas. Sleeping in the trucks or by the roads to release their fatigue. You might argue that's their way of earning bread and butter. Yeah, absolutely. But somewhere, they are helping us get our food too! The vehicle we are using for transportation in remote town in India was also transported in by one of these truckers! If not anything else, we can at least show some respect to them. We can be little less rude when they break some traffic rules. All they want is little empathy. After all it's empathy that every human needs, isn't it?
We talk of the farmers and defense people. But truckers are no less. If farmers produce, it's the truckers who help us in getting the product at our place! Let's give them some deserved applause and gratification. May their tribe progress.
The drivers travel day and night to supply essential commodities whether finished goods or raw materials, transporting them from one place to another. These people drive any goods, be it food, industrial products or tools and vehicles.
Life of a teamster involves taking care of his truck. After all, his truck is his and his family's means of economy! Typically in India, you would see them lighting incense sticks in the trucks. Decorating them with very beautiful and colorful plastic flowers, and other decors. The trucks are all colored in bright hues. The most fascinating feature of the trucks are the slogans they write behind the trucks. Some slogans like "Hum do hamare do", "Bure nazar wale tera mu Kala", and most important of all "Mera Bharat Mahan" are all fascinating!!
The truck drivers could be mainly three types - the owner operator who lease or rent their vehicle to drivers and drivers are responsible for the vehicle. The company operator where companies own the trucks and they hire truckers to move their products, to and fro. And the independent owner operator, where truckers not only own the vehicle but also drive them. And in all the three cases, drivers have a full-time job of taking care of their vehicle along with the goods loaded in trucks!
You might be wondering why I am writing all these today! Well it's because, yesterday when we were driving down from Goa, on our way back to Bangalore, we saw so many trucks. Lorries that had registration of Haryana, Gurgaon, Tamil Nadu etc. Now you might be wondering what's the big deal. Obviously a truck would get registered somewhere.
Imagine this, my hubby drove all the way from Goa to Bangalore which is around 1300 kms two ways. He was exhausted. Now imagine a driver who drives such a heavy vehicle all the way from Uttarakhand to the tip of India, Kanyakumari! Do you realize how much pain he must have taken to supply the goods? He must have travelled days and nights together. Did he have any good hotel accommodation to rest? Did he have a platter full of food? The answer is obvious, No!
The truckers are away from home for days together. Some might have had a baby just a few days back and still he has to drive because after all he needs money to run his family. Some who might have been newly wed and yet he has to drive all the way to a remote village in North East India. Why? To help the people with a few things! Driving on the highways, or the mountain terrains; they deliver the goods. They might be carrying any good - be it perishable or non perishable food items, tools or vehicles, any thing!
The truck drivers typically travel such long distances to supply food, and other important items for us. Us, we the people. They cook their own food by the road side or catch up some food in the dhabas. Sleeping in the trucks or by the roads to release their fatigue. You might argue that's their way of earning bread and butter. Yeah, absolutely. But somewhere, they are helping us get our food too! The vehicle we are using for transportation in remote town in India was also transported in by one of these truckers! If not anything else, we can at least show some respect to them. We can be little less rude when they break some traffic rules. All they want is little empathy. After all it's empathy that every human needs, isn't it?
We talk of the farmers and defense people. But truckers are no less. If farmers produce, it's the truckers who help us in getting the product at our place! Let's give them some deserved applause and gratification. May their tribe progress.
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