THE TRUCK DRIVER

[Music] there [Music] bye honey see you Day After Tomorrow Goodbye K so long kids mind your mother know bye R Slugger take good care of that truck now bye bye bye bye another overnight trip Begins for Tom dwire a truck driver hi Mike oh hi Tom what have you got for me today you've got a hot load to sanduski Ohio Tom you're going to get your regular tracks here 3880 and 1136 okay I'll leave as soon as I'm loaded s Mike have a nice bit [Music] time this big Trucking terminal in Chicago is one of many where thousands of tons of freight are shipped all over the country big cans of paint tables in their shipping cartons heavy tractor tires new automobile wheels these and other shipments are sorted and packed into trucks Bound for many different cities Pittsburgh Pennsylvania lensing Michigan Toledo Ohio and here's Tom dwi's truck for Sandusky Ohio loaded and ready to go the rear part of the truck is the trailer the front part with the motor is the tractor it's backed into place by a Yard Man the yardman connects the air brake hoses from the tractor to the trailer this gives him brake control over both sections of the truck then he locks the two sections together the front trailer supports are cranked up they're used only for parking then the yard man drives the truck to the checkout station yard men do all the driving inside the terminal the truck must be ready for the open road before Tom starts his driving [Music] [Music] this man is pumping in 120 gallons of gasoline Tom always stands by to keep watch on his own truck this man weighs the trailer to make sure it's not too heavy or unbalanced then the trailer doors are sealed with a metal strip Tom checks his safety equipment red signal flags red flares flag stands spare headlight kit and a loaded fire extinguisher looks like everything's in good shape now Tom is on his way [Music] destination Sandusky Ohio 340 M East of Chicago in Tru language Tom is carrying a hot load that is a load that must be delivered by a certain time he's expected to be there by 5:00 tomorrow morning much of the nation's goods are moved by truck Tom passes many trucks on his way out of town longdistance giants like his own City trucks of many kinds as he leaves Chicago Tom crosses the state line that divides Illinois from Indiana for part of his trip he's going to travel on the Indiana State toll road on this road he can keep his truck moving without having to stop for cross traffic drivers must pay a toll to use this road Tom will pay when he leaves now he receives a pass showing where he entered the road Indiana State Police Patrol the road each state has its own police [Applause] force here's a truckload of paper leaving the toll road on its way to Chicago and here's a truckload of new automobiles from Chicago on their way East on the toll road it's smooth driving for Tom many miles without a stop good modern roads are a welcome sight to truck drivers fine highways like this one are being built in many parts of the country often they're called by different names toll roads turnpikes freeways Parkways super highways all of them mean safe steady driving for longdistance strips just before Sundown Tom stops at one of the service stations on the toll road this is called a safety stop truck drivers are required to make them every 3 hours while Tom rests a serviceman at the station checks his truck from Bumper to Bumper safety is very important to such drivers for their lives depend on it the serviceman looks over Tom's engine carefully he checks to see whether there's enough oil in the engine he looks at the radiator to make sure there's enough antifreeze mixture in IT service like this helps to keep the truck from breaking down in the open [Music] Highway the serviceman finishes by pounding all 14 tires with a hammer he can tell the air pressure just by the sound after his rest Tom is ready for the Road Again he still has 250 Mi to travel before 5:00 tomorrow [Music] morning although Tom is carrying a load that weighs about 16 tons his truck moves fast and is easy to handle [Music] shortly after dark Tom comes to the place where he's going to turn off the toll road this is where he must pay toll for using the road Thomas Drive more slowly now the road goes through small towns there are traffic lights and Crossroads these cause many more stops and starts midnight is Tom's meal time and at last he sees a welcome sight this restaurant is one where truck drivers often stop it serves good food and there are hotel rooms where drivers on long trips can sleep Tom sees some of his friends here [Music] here's one who drives for Tom's company he says he ran into snow coming in Tom orders his food Tom relaxes and rests and enjoys his Meal hot food a cup of hot coffee and it's soon time to be off again again these are lonely hours the hours after midnight when a driver wishes he were home with his family safe warm and asleep [Music] with the fire out Tom makes sure that the driver is all right the driver explains that he must have rounded the curve too fast and went off the road Tom offers to get some flares and shows the driver how they're lighted he tells the driver to put them around his car and out on the road too it's important to have plenty of warning lights when a car is parked near the highway the driver thanks Tom but to Tom it's just part of his job he'll send back help from the next town which is only a few miles down the road [Music] Just Before Dawn it begins to snow Tom must drive more slowly but he's still making good time by the time day breaks he's almost at the end of his [Music] trip he pulled into sanduski right on schedule and brings his truck into the terminal the seal is broken and now the big load of freight which Tom brought from Chicago 16 tons 32,000 lb will be unloaded onto the platform [Music] [Music] the men there will separate each shipment according to where it goes in the city Tom's allight trip is over he's done his job well but the men of the Trucking terminal and the City truck drivers are just beginning their day's work many many things will be delivered by truck today painting supplies Lumber and construction materials bread and coffee cake for breakfast tables ready mixed concrete for New Roads milk cream butter and eggs yes and the United States male [Music] too the trucking industry Works Around the Clock Tom will sleep today in a nearby Motel while his trailer is loaded for his return trip tonight by tomorrow morning Tom will be nearing Chicago with another 16 tons of freight things made in sanduski and other Ohio towns being sold to companies in Chicago and Beyond and best of all Tom will be driving home to his family [Music]