A cost benefit analysis

[thelittleguy]

Picking up a hitchhiker may have it's benefits, but I think the risks (cost) outweigh them. Let's look and see.
Benefit: someone to chat with an kill some time while going down the road.
Benefit: potential "no strings" s----l escapade.
Benefit: possibly kicking you some cash for the ride.
I can't think of any more, maybe someone else can.

Risk: getting caught by your company, law enforcement, or being snitched on by co-worker. Any one of these could cost you your job and hamper re-employment efforts. If johnny law catches, he'll give ya a citation and kick your passenger out. you'll be required to report that citation to your company.

Risk: your new passenger has the potential to steal your stuff out of the truck while you sleep, are in the shower, or away from the truck. This includes merchandise, money, and/or ID theft.

Risk: the hitchhiker could be a criminal, could be armed, or could be a mental patient. Your life may be at stake and you could be totally unaware of it.

Risk: the hitchhiker has the potential to get out of your truck, scream or assault, and now you could be faced with criminal and/or civil legal actions against you and your company.

Risk: the hitchhiker could have an STD or other disease that you could catch. Ya don't have to have S-- to catch crabs! Plus, you don't know where they've been or their past s----l partners. You could very well end up with the gift that keeps on giving and not want it in the first place.

Risk: the hitchhiker could be an incessant babbling idiot and continually repeats themselves. In which case, you will deeply miss the peace and quiet you enjoyed before picking up this flake!

Maybe you'll disagree with me. But these aren't the olden days and the world has changed drastically. In my opinion, it's just too damn risky picking up a hitchhiker these days. there's too much potential at harming you, your company, and your family.

If you're a hitchhiker..............sorry! Go Greyhound and leave the driving to them!

[cheriee]

i just thought i would give my opinion on your post first of all those people who have never traveled with a trucker or was stranded some place no money and got stranded because of a man that proved he really wasn't much of a man should not have an opinion on the subject.espicelly someone who has everything they want in in their life as it seems a know it all does.i don't just sleep with anyone and i just got out of a bad marriage, and i let him out of my life with everything i owned cause i didn't want to get beat,so for your info i was stuck here in a small town and just wanted to get back home where i belong where tere is work ad help. i attend colleage to get a degree in programming and software engineering. i am a lady not a babbling idiot. and for your infomation there are alot of truckers out there who are family men and they just like a rider for company not s--.i have had one tech me chess,and another one that saved my life once.and as for some that steal well i am not one of them and you shouldn't go and put everyone in one catagory.Do not judge if you haven't been there. for a news person or whatever you do don't you think you should do research before you start throwing out all that talk. oh and by the way there are some companies who do allow passengers.

cherie richardson

[thelittleguy]

`Ok, so maybe I need to make some clarifications about my post since it has been taken personally by some.
First, of all, I am a college graduate. Hence, the proper use of spelling, grammar and punctuation.
Second, I am an owner-operator truck driver. I am out here, day in and day out, moving this freight nationally.
Third, I was simply discussing the pros and cons of picking up hitchhikers. Fourth, I was regurgitating what every experienced truck driver already knows. We are not the only ones with this special/secret knowledge. Go to any trucking company, and discuss the pros and cons of picking up a hitchhiker with their safety director. You will hear the same things and maybe more that i left out.

So, even if you think that you do not fit into any of these categories and that your circumstances are special, it does not matter. You are just as much of a stranger to the truck driver as he is to you. You can never fully know or understand each other's intentions until that hitchhiker gets into that truck and they go down the road.
Now, the ride MAY go off completely innocent and harmless. But, there is A LOT of risk that it won't. A knight of the highway or a damsel in distress has the potential for having their lives either turned upside down or simply ended by the hithhiker scenario in this day and age!
So, if you are going to participate in hitchhiking, beware and be forewarned! Also, please understand why it takes so long to find a ride when you're at a truckstop on the CB and nobody wants to help you. I mean, a family man may want to be noble and do the right thing. However, he and his family have the most to lose by a hitchhiking situation gone wrong!

[yourpalinsc]

`Dear Little Guy,
Hey, if the picture didn't give you a clue about the true character & job career of a certain one, the essay would end all doubt - hee hee!
I really hate that some predators think all truckers are stupid & nasty just because they have success with some of them.
Your postings are just perfect.
Be safe & have a blessed trip!

[thelittleguy]

`yourpalinsc,
Well thank you!
In the the first place, I'm glad that somebody else actually SAW the post. These forums are dead!!!
Second, I'm glad that I have some support from the feminine side. It's reassuring to know that i'm right on the mark!

[yourpalinsc]

`You are absolutely correct!!!!
Actually, I have met a few people who aren't the sharpest saws in the shed, but you are pretty keen!
I think these forums are dead too, it seems there is nobody home here.
Be safe & I am very proud of you for being careful!!!

[easyrider63]

`My company is pretty liberal with their rider policy, they give us blank rider forms so that we can fill them out thereby not risking tickets for unauthorized riders.
That said I refuse to pick up riders for all the risks you previously mentioned plus on other you couldn't possibly have thought of....about 20yrs ago I gave a ride to someone who claimed to be a driver looking for a ride home. He was really a strange dude who couldn't seem to remember which exist he wanted to get off at and when he finally decided that he had found his stop I noticed that the passenger seat was soaking wet, yah! that's exactly what he did. He was the last hitchhiker I ever gave a ride too

[easydrifter]

`Hitchhiking has changed since the hippie days when every college student and protester was traveling, via thumb. They clearly understood the principle of arse, grass, or cash and nobody rides for free. It was a mode of transportation for the younger generation and those down and out on their luck.

Since the government outlawed drug use and hitch hiking. The scene has changed. First there is not very many hitchhikers. Because the harassment of law doing their so called job. The holy right chasing them out of truck stops.

There was the brief period when the government cut their funds to mental institutions and those wandered the road not knowing where to go.

Rare is it the lady or gentlemen down on their luck looking for a ride and/or escape these days. Of course their are also those that are taking advantage of truckers generosity, but most of these want no ride. Which makes drivers skittish about strangers.

Many truckers are afraid of their fellow truckers might turn them in for their well doing. What happened to the good old days of minding your own business.

As for me giving strangers a ride. Anytime. Well, if the company fires me, so what. I will have another job before they replace my drivers seat. Of course I would not work for most of the companies that these newbies have been trained/indoctrinated by and work forever for.

This has left few independent souls driving a truck to give a nod to anyone anytime a helping hand because the driver is to busy pleasing their boss and e-log. And then you wonder why the trucker knight of the pass has gone with the wind.

[turkey]

`My roomate picked up two hitchhikers this weekend and brought them home with her and while these two seem harmless I still locked up everything that was important to me and Told her if she wants to give them rides fine but dont bring any more home with her and she just cant seem to understand why I am upset about it. My aunt and uncle also truck drivers do not agree with her but they think its cool now that they met her I think it's unwise regardless of how these two are to ever pick up a hitchhiker. oh and that woman whos all for it you know the trucker could very well be the unsavory character who might kill you in your sleep or whatever so maybe you should think about that

[bizzare1976 (deleted)]

`my not so humble opinion on this subject?
i am well aware that i may as has happened in the past, have certain personal items stolen from me.
i am well aware that, as has happened in the past, i could lose my job for it.
i am well aware that, as has happened in the past, there is a very real possibility that i could be providing a place for a total stranger to come in out of the cold of the north plains in the winter.
helping a 14 year old hooker go back to her family.
giving a junkie a chance to go to bed in sacramento (where their drug of choice was readily available) and wake up in wendover,ut, where some of his family was going to help him get off the s---.
helping a woman get out of boise,id with her 7yr old girl after her husband had a bad night on the booze and beat both her and her girl so badly that i could not even see her left eye, it was swollen shut, and they needed to vanish from town before he woke up, so they were on the run with $23 and one suitcase full of rags that wasn't fit for a scarecrow.
or maybe i just wind up spending 3hrs trying to get a total strangers truck running because its -20 deg and i was the only one to think ahead and bring insulated coveralls. we thought he was gelled up, turns out the fuel pump quit!

my point is simply this, you can be as scared as you want, and that's fine, cow down in fear of what might be! hide behind co. policy! or just TELL THE TRUTH you just don't feel like helping. there is no shame in not helping a stranger, who knows you may never see them again, and after all whats in it for you.

but as for me............... i know the risks very, very well and i choose to accept that risk, no i don't call for help, what the ---- am i? i AM help, i make a difference. because what is my life worth if i can't use it to serve others and make a difference? NOTHING!!!!
ladies and gentlemen, i am a TRUCKER! not a wannabe in a trucking school, or a j.b.hunt steering wheel holder. you don't need to know or understand what makes us tick, we just f-ing TICK. and we serve.


lead by example.

[sweetbbwbaby]

And that is why i like truckers! I have a respect for truckers like YOU, who have kept a heart for humanity even as this world grows so cold! It was how my grandpa lived his life as a trucker and he was an amazing man! the greatest wisdom comes from kindness. Now why cant I find a good man like you to love and care for???

xoxo
Janna

[easydrifter]

`Yes, picking up two hitch hikers has it's risks. Especially when one brings them home. But then I guess I take my Dad's and Granddad's approach to this as they did with hobo's that existed far more often back in the fifties and sixties.

To give kindness one must always risk their safety to some degree. Just the way love is.

[cuzzinit]

thelittleguy wrote:
Risk: the hitchhiker could be an incessant babbling idiot and continually repeats themselves. In which case, you will deeply miss the peace and quiet you enjoyed before picking up this flake!





Thats my experience 3 out of 4 times......
But that 4th one is why i still do nice things for people even when i might regret it.......