Driver: Six Weeks In An Eighteen-wheeler

By Phillip Wilson

Driving a big truck on America's highways is among the most difficult, demanding, and highly regulated occupations open to the average American. It's also one of the least restrictive ways of life... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1592286798
• ISBN13: 9781592286799
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: UNKNO
• Length: 376 Pages
• Weight: 1.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.8" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Like reading my memories..

Great book. I was a truck driver for seven years. I had many co-drivers, ran solo for a few years and was a trainer for a short while. (ick) This guy lived it...and wrote it. Made me laugh out loud remembering similar situations. If you have a love for trucking, like I do, or just an interest in what it's like, read this book. It's not a 'how to' book at all. You wont learn a thing about physically driving a truck. If you are looking for the ugly that is out there, and it's most definately there....he chose to leave that out. This is just Wilsons personal experience. Light and funny....to me.

What I'd hoped for

This book is what I'd hoped for when I bought it: An inside look at the day-to-day life of someone in a occupation I don't know a whole lot about. Wilson explains mundane but fascinating things such as how drivers refuel, descend steep grades, even where they eat and sleep. While the prose at times turns purple, Wilson is a very thoughtful, well-read man who gives a lot of insight into what is for most of us an unusual way of life.

appentice driver's journal of life as a long-haul truck driver

Wilson's journal of his time as a driver trainee for an eighteen-wheeler truck is a travelogue across much of America combined with the work, lore, and challenges of driving such a mammoth truck. Wilson decided to give this occupation a try after losing a job he had in management, the field he went into after service in the Navy. The author's combustible relationship with the driver who was training also makes for much of the unfailingly colorful, light tale. Wilson and his trainer spent long hours together in the cab of the eighteen-wheeler. The rewards and low points--though never regrets--of driving one of these behemoths across desert and mountain, prairie and forest to deliver goods to towns and cities across the country has never been more amply and engagingly described.

Great Reading

These days I have more time to read for the poure pleasure of reading. This book was a real pleasure to read. Not being a fast reader, I found that I could just sort of Cadillac along reading. I felt truely sad when I was finished with the book. It was such fun reading. He makes you realize that everything we own or see in the stores got there because of these dedicated drivers/trainers. So next time you mumble words you wouldn't say in church about a big truck. If it were not for them you wouldn't be going to the mall on your shopping spree. Plus your cupboards would be empty when you get home hungry. I have a renewed respect for the working men in those big trucks. Working all hours and under adverse conditions to keep America moving. I could write much more but I don't want to ruin any of your fun. Read the book. You'll be so glad that you did.

Trucker's Odyssey

I really enjoyed this book! Mr. Wilson lets his reader experience what it is like to drive and/or ride in an eighteen wheeler. But this book is more than a description of life on the road. Mr. Wilson makes observations about life, his and other's. He shows kindness toward the people he meets and tries to understand why they are out there,too. Mr. Wilson, like the authors of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" and "Moby Dick" uses detailed descriptions of men performing a particular occupation to make universal observations about his beliefs and questions about life. He never gets preachy, though, and just when the writing might be getting a little bit "mystical" something happens with the "load" or the equipment and he pulls us right back into the urgency of the moment. This is a fascinating book for anyone who ever wondered what those guys inside those big trucks that whiz past us on the freeway at 3:00 am. are really like.