How Long-Haul Trucking Works

Animation by Josh Sherrington
Thumbnail by Simon Buckmaster

Select footage courtesy the AP Archive

References:

Musicbed SyncID:
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[kelseyhorton]

My dad was a long haul truck driver. He hauled haz-mat, so team driving was off limits for him. He would leave Monday morning and come home Friday evening. He had a love hate relationship with the job. He said he saw some of the most beautiful scenes, met great people at truck stops, but it did his body bad. He has neuropathy in his clutch foot, and wrist problems in his shifting wrist. Towards the end of his career he got an automatic truck and said it was a dream.

He recently retired to log truck driving which was one of his first loves. He loves the woods.

Edit to add: after dealing with diverticulitis for several years, he had his entire colon removed, doctors said logging is too rough on his body. At 62 he can't stop working, so now he hauls scrap metal for a cousin 3 days a week. Nice truck, paved the whole way, and only driving 4 to 5 hours a day.

[nachiketmalpathak]

There should be a movie about a truck driver couple who have been married for 10 years but don't really know each other because one of them is always asleep.

[tybirous]

Me, a long haul OTR truck driver: "Oh hell yeah, time to learn shit I already know"

[pucirepu]

“One driver will sit behind the wheel in the lead truck, and a series of driverless autonomous trucks will follow” — the next Fast & Furious movie heist script is writing itself lol

[SuperB]

I am a long haul OTR trucker. I am impressed with your knowledge. I’ll be around for a while though. They aren’t as close to autonomous trucks as one would think.

[danielshaikhali]

Since Air transport is hampered he has moved on to other means of transport.

Feels like a breakup and moving on :(

[vinitsinha]

The airline industry is suffering such a monumental crisis that wendover productions has to make a video not related to airlines.
Now no one can save the airlines as wendover productions has also deserted them.
RIP aviation.

[timothyearp]

As a driver I think this video skips over many of the duties of a driver. We are often put in a weird security guard status, ensuring that freight stays safe and untampered between shipper and receiver. Drivers also keep shippers honest because shippers sometimes cheat and load heavier loads than the bills reflect, which could be an issue when they are already loading trucks to their capacity. Weather is a major reason to keep drivers in the trucks, especially if trucks get electrified because the range with bad weather will become an issue and being able to navigate a snowstorm is also a problem for a computer that can't chain the tires or see the road though an Icey windshield

[Oliver_Karlsson]

Wendover is like a solar eclipse:
He doesn't come out often, but when he does it's a treat.

[AlbertusVanSchalkwyk]

"In America it is 11 hours, Europe 9 hours"... and South Africa 16 to 36 hours, while avoiding weight bridges and customs police.

[daanbarr]

8:05 Imagine just trying to merge on to the highway and a stack of 20 trucks is blocking you

[mlneale]

I love how he points out that most drivers own their own trucks and then talks about companies going driverless. Actually the people who should be most concerned are the brokers, freight forwarders and dispatchers. We already have the technology to bypass all of them and send freight options straight to the truck. If the driver doesn't have to keep his eyes staring at the highway and hands on the wheel, he can choose the best load for his operation. Who knows, maybe we can even get rid of the mega carriers.

[brtecson]

Thanks for this video. As a truck driver, albeit "home daily", I see A LOT of bad information about trucking posted online by people who don't know what they're talking about.. Especially Tesla youtubers, a lot of them get more wrong than they get right. Once they use the Tesla "semi" misnomer, you know the bad info is coming. Either way, I would like to say that this video is 99% accurate (truckers getting paid $.35/mile and 6mpg for efficiency are outdated numbers) I appreciate the research that you put into the video.

Something that I've been looking into myself is, per your footnote#3, transportation electricity is $.10/kwh and overall electricity in the USA is $.10/kwh across sectors, but Tesla claims that tesla truck owners will only be charged $.06/kwh in their operating costs breakdown. I would looove to know how they plan on getting 6 cent electricity, considering their own superchargers currently cost $.26/kwh on the low end and $.40/minute at the high end. But IDK why I'm ranting about this here lol

[TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

This is information that I never thought I needed, but am grateful to know

[fortherepublic]

Can we all just take a moment, and appreciate these truck drivers for still working in the midst of the current chaotic situation? For essentially delivering our foods to the markets.

[squrrll]

Considering the "train" concept, with one driver in the lead vehicle, what about an even longer autonomous "train" of trucks, on a dedicated truck only lane, along the most common routes (you could call these "tracks")? To make it even more efficient, you can put one big engine in the front to provide the locomotion, and then just directly connect the trailers together. You could have tens and eventually even hundreds of trailers in these so called "trains". Why hasn't anyone thought of this sort of road?

[brianholmes]

So basically they're trying to turn trucks into trains?

[canyonoverland]

I did long haul for 12 months a few years ago, and drove team for 4 of those 12. At first it was fun. Got see lots of new places I'd never been before. But the other guy I was with was an ahole, so I went driving by myself for the remaining 8 months. Fun factor kept going down. All I saw was loading bays, hookers at truck stops, and blacktop. As soon as I came back from a trip, my dispatcher bugged me to head back out on the road. 2 weeks driving, 2 days off. To heck with that! Now I drive locally and I'm in the comfort of my own bed every night.

[tibbers]

tbh autonomous convoys sound a bit like road trains with extra steps

[TheRafaelRamos]

One of the most important jobs today, and low-key underrated. Respect for all truck drivers out there carrying the weight of the world economy✊🙏