Hi Vern, Walt, and others. I never really had any trouble, but a little more than a year ago, I was at a truck stop and I saw a Swift truck that caught my attention. The driver was in the truck, but I thought nothing of it. I wrote the trailer number down, and was taking a photo of the truck, when the driver popped out and asked me what I was doing. I told him that I like Swift, and I like taking photos of Swift trucks and trailers. He also told me that he saw me writing something down. I told him that I collect trailer numbers, and he told me that he didn't believe me. I showed him the number that I wrote down, and then I told him about the trailer. I also told him about the year that his tractor was built. When he saw that I was serious, and knew what I was talking about, things were better.
Do trucking companies send people out to spy on drivers? I wonder if this person thought that maybe I was watching him, and writing things down to report to the company? Last year in the spring, Mom, Dad, and myself were coming back from St. Louis, and we always stop off in Bloomington (Illinois) for lunch. The place where we stop, there's a small lot there, where some trucks are usually parked. There was a J B Hunt parked there, and it had a new at the time trailer, where I can tell by the number that I could use it for when it was built. I didn't see the driver in the truck, and I wanted to walk over there just to see the date, because the trailer was a Wabash National, where the plate would be a snap to read. I could just walk by and look and that's it.
I didn't walk over there though, because there was another truck parked right next to it, and there were two people in the truck. I was worried that if I walked over to the J B Hunt to take a look, and then turn around and head back to the car, I wonder if the people in the truck might have had a camera and tried to get the license plate off of the car, and then give the number to the J B Hunt driver and tell him that someone walked over to his truck and looked at something, and walked away. If that happened, I don't know how the J B Hunt driver would react, and if he would give that information to his boss, and then the next thing you know, someone from J B Hunt is calling Mom and Dad about someone looking at something on their truck and why were they doing that.
I don't know if that would happen, or if I'm nuts or paranoid, but you never know what someone will do, and you never know who is watching you. On You Tube, I see truck drivers at a truck stop parked with their camera rolling, and making fun of another driver and the company that they work for, who is having a hard time backing into a spot. I also see the same thing with a driver making fun of another driver who might have had an accident, or who got stuck, and has them on video. As for me personally though, most of my photos are of containers or trailers, where I don't have to worry about drivers too much.
I will admit though, that I like doing as much J B Hunt and Swift spotting on my bicycle as I can, or even on foot. I have several locations within a 1-8 mile radius of my house, and I just feel safer riding to these places, as for if someone does see me, there's no license plate to record. I'm not sure if anything would happen, but you just never know who is watching. Also, does anyone here live close to places where they can bike? Does anyone sometimes have the same worries as me? Even if I go to a Home Depot or Costco to write down some trailer numbers or take a photo, I look around for employees or if someone is watching me. Again, maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, or maybe I worry too much, or maybe I'm paranoid. Thank you, and this is an interesting topic.
