My dad was a trucker up here in Canada, I spent my summers out of school traveling all over the USA with him. There was never a time when he wouldn't stop to help people broke down on the side of the road, anything from pulling people out of the ditch to changing tires. We even were held at gun point rendering aid, my dad being very clever got us out of the situation pretty quick.
Many people tried to pay him for stopping and helping, he would never accept anything. I can tell you this though, some of the people he helped used to send him Christmas cards, a few still do to this day, those cards mean alot more to him than he would ever let on.
I asked him why he always stopped to help strangers? Why he refused hundreds of dollars for the help he gave? "I don't do it for the money". Guy was literally stacking the karma deck in his odds for 35 years driving truck.. it has served him well. He wouldn't want you to buy him a dinner although he would appreciate the gesture, he would want you to help someone who really needed it instead.
I miss those years traveling with him especially in the USA. I've been to every mainland state other than Texas and Alaska.
Want to show appreciation to a trucker? Next time a rig passes you and needs to get back into the lane in front of you, either flash your brights a few times quickly, or turn your lights on and off a few times. Trucker code for your clear to pull in. Bet they will flash their hazards at you as a thank you ;) also if he's signaling to take the lane in front of you, and you give him space to do that, flashing your lights at him tells him he's clear, huge help when your pulling a trailer and judging distance through a mirror.
My dad was a trucker up here in Canada, I spent my summers out of school traveling all over the USA with him. There was never a time when he wouldn't stop to help people broke down on the side of the road, anything from pulling people out of the ditch to changing tires. We even were held at gun point rendering aid, my dad being very clever got us out of the situation pretty quick. Many people tried to pay him for stopping and helping, he would never accept anything. I can tell you this though, some of the people he helped used to send him Christmas cards, a few still do to this day, those cards mean alot more to him than he would ever let on.
I asked him why he always stopped to help strangers? Why he refused hundreds of dollars for the help he gave? "I don't do it for the money". Guy was literally stacking the karma deck in his odds for 35 years driving truck.. it has served him well. He wouldn't want you to buy him a dinner although he would appreciate the gesture, he would want you to help someone who really needed it instead.
I miss those years traveling with him especially in the USA. I've been to every mainland state other than Texas and Alaska.
Want to show appreciation to a trucker? Next time a rig passes you and needs to get back into the lane in front of you, either flash your brights a few times quickly, or turn your lights on and off a few times. Trucker code for your clear to pull in. Bet they will flash their hazards at you as a thank you ;) also if he's signaling to take the lane in front of you, and you give him space to do that, flashing your lights at him tells him he's clear, huge help when your pulling a trailer and judging distance through a mirror.