S09.E06: Trucks

[PrincessPurrsALot]

Main topic:  Trucks

Also: OJ's reaction to Will Smith's Oscars Slap; Madison Cawthorn; local news has an urgent warning about season 2 of Bridgerton 

Original air date 2022.04.03

[Annber03]

Seth had a hilarious take on the "sexual fueled orgies" line this week, too. And yeah, GOP, glad to see where your priorities really lie, as always./ Jesus, those quotes. Look up the word "obnoxious" in the dictionary...).

(Also? "I think you can run your life better than I can." THEN WHY THE HELL DID YOU DECIDE TO BE PART OF THE GOVERNMENT IN THE FIRST PLACE? I will never understand these people who run to be part of the government and then rail against the very job they were elected to do.)

Literally nobody cares what you have to say, OJ Simpson. 

I've heard of that "BJ and the Bear" show from my mom, but WOW, that summary of that episode was bonkers XD. Seriously, though, I like how that clip of that trucker explaining that he doesn't have much impact on the success or failure of his company followed the one with the guy chewing the trucker out for being too tired to drive. If these guys really don't matter that much, ignorant boss dude, why are you so hellbent on making them drive when they literally can't afford to do so? 

Also, on the one hand, I shouldn't be shocked that Amazon makes truckers pay their legal bills, but on the other hand, what the actual fuck? That's insane. My mom's business dealt a lot with truckers and shipping, and I remember her talking about how the issues they dealt with affected the business as a whole. So many jobs in this country where we treat the workers like shit and then the employees are like, "But why isn't anyone applying?" Yeah, it's a real mystery, geniuses. 

I've always wondered about the lack of seatbelts on school buses, too. 

[ahisma]

While John was talking, I was trying to figure out whether Transportation, Labor, or Commerce would have jurisdiction. And then he said Transportation and Labor are working on it! Seconding his hope that they actually take action soon. 

[scarynikki12]

For what it’s worth season 2 of Bridgerton is plenty steamy. They filmed after covid protocols were instituted so that’s why there’s not as many sex scenes.

Cawthorn. That fucking guy. All he cares about is his image yet proudly posted on his Instagram about fanboying Hitler. Also Twitter pointed out that tree he was punching was decaying so it was even more “tough guy” bullshit than at first glance.

Ok literally everyone needs to be compensated for their time even if they’re just waiting around. Pay the truckers what they deserve.

[paigow]

6 hours ago, Annber03 said:

the guy chewing the trucker out for being too tired to drive.

An example of which led to the Tracy Morgan tragedy...

[peeayebee]

I get so ticked off when I hear people say that the problem at the ports is a trucker shortage. Unfortunately my sister has said that. The first couple of times I told her about the container situation screwing up the works, but then she would just repeat that trucker talking point at a later time.

A while back I read about all the things John talked about last night. I even thought at first that he had already done a story about truckers. Even though I already knew about the key facts, I really appreciated seeing truckers talking about it.  One additional bit of info: At the ports if a truck happens to get into the wrong line, it can't move, so it stays there all day, without pay, and then goes home, without pay.

I'm sure we all hope the Depts of Transportation and Labor act on this terrible situation. Obviously trucking and shipping companies will lobby against any change, so I'm worried.

The John Wilkes Booth negative $5 bill was genius "because Booth cancelled out Lincoln." Same with Aaron Burr/Hamilton on the $10 bill.

I'm glad there weren't a lot of sex scenes in S2 of Bridgerton. I get that some people enjoy watching steamy sex. Not me! Besides, I'm not a fan of Anthony in the show, so I wasn't too interested in seeing him during sexy times. However, Regé-Jean Page? Yes please.

Madison Cawthorn is so transparently a terrible person that it boggles the mind to know there are people who like him. Is it just that he "owns the libs?" Someone pointed out that since he said, "you watch them do a key-bump of cocaine in front of you," does that mean he went to the sex party? Also, who here is not thinking that he's talking about Matt Gaetz? So many people talk about singular things or a single person in the plural to make it sound worse or better. (For instance, "People are saying..." when only one person said it.) So it is possible that Gaetz had invited Cawthorn to a sexual get-together, which Cawthorn then talks about as if it's happening all the time with multiple Congressmen. It's hard to pick which liar to believe.

 

[swanpride]

...Frankly, regarding Bridgerton 2, I watched the first episode, the last episode, and I don't feel like I have missed anything remotely important inbetween. Maybe I will catch up at one point, but frankly, the only character whose love live I remotely care about is Penelope anyway. 

[iMonrey]

The BJ and the Bear promo spot was everything. And I actually remember that show, that's how old I am.

I've seen that clip of Madison Cawthorne so many times I finally had to Google "what is a key bump?" (Spoiler alert: it involves an actual, literal key.)

Quote

I've always wondered about the lack of seatbelts on school buses, too. 

Are they still that way? I know they were when I was a kid back in the dark ages but we're so child-focused now I can't believe they still don't have seatbelts. On the other hand how many kids even ride a school bus anymore? I see parents lining up outside the local schools every morning to drop their precious angels off curbside.

[Annber03]

10 hours ago, paigow said:

An example of which led to the Tracy Morgan tragedy...

Oh, that's right! I forgot that was the reason for his accident! 

6 hours ago, peeayebee said:

Is it just that he "owns the libs?" Someone pointed out that since he said, "you watch them do a key-bump of cocaine in front of you," does that mean he went to the sex party? Also, who here is not thinking that he's talking about Matt Gaetz? So many people talk about singular things or a single person in the plural to make it sound worse or better. (For instance, "People are saying..." when only one person said it.) So it is possible that Gaetz had invited Cawthorn to a sexual get-together, which Cawthorn then talks about as if it's happening all the time with multiple Congressmen. It's hard to pick which liar to believe.

Seems like it :/. Imagine thinking that's a good way to run one's campaign. And of course, it's also a great way to distract his constituents from the fact that he doesn't have any actual legitimate policy or platform to run on. So long as he keeps railing against those "libs" and Pelosi and the like, his voters will eat it up, because that's easier than having to think about the fact that hey, this guy's not doing anything for our area. 

It's so depressing and maddening, both that he can pull this kind of crap and people can be gullible enough to fall for it. 

Good question about Gaetz as well. I loved John commenting that Cawthorn seemed to be telling on himself a bit, given how knowledgeable he seemed to be about these parties. And I think the fact that the GOP is getting so bent out of shape over this seems to indicate there is some truth to his statements. How many times have we seen politicians who rail against LGBTQA+ issues or women having control over their reproductive rights or so forth getting caught in many a sex scandal of their own, after all?

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

Are they still that way? I know they were when I was a kid back in the dark ages but we're so child-focused now I can't believe they still don't have seatbelts. On the other hand how many kids even ride a school bus anymore? I see parents lining up outside the local schools every morning to drop their precious angels off curbside.

I dunno, that's a good question. I'd hope there's been some dhanges since then in that regard.

Course, alongside parents taking their kids, there's also all the virtual learning kids are doing nowadays, too, which would obviously be a factor as well. 

[peeayebee]

I know of BJ and the Bear, but I don't remember ever watching it. I just checked the schedule for that time, and it aired against The Love Boat and, another time, Hawaii Five-O, both of which I watched.

[Victor the Crab]

What I liked about Ollie's bit on Madison Cawthorn is that he went right at the person responsible for this mess; Kevin McCarthy, who showed that he was a weak excuse of a leader as well as exposing what Republicans really care about, which is their own self images to America.

[DoctorAtomic]

3 hours ago, iMonrey said:

The BJ and the Bear promo spot was everything. And I actually remember that show, that's how old I am.

Television was 100 miles an hour get out of the way like from 1977 to 83,84. No one knows why chimps were a thing.

BJ, whatever. You had a chimp. It's derivative. I give you - Manimal. Lee Van Cleef as a ninja. The dude from Pirates of Penzance driving a robot motorcycle. These were all actual shows. 

 

[zenithwit]

What I like about John Oliver is that he highlights topics that aren't often covered in other outlets and can really shine a spotlight on it.  But I feel like sometimes his main stories can be a bit shallow.  I think the Trucks story is a good example of that.  At the moment the trucking industry is having a big push towards driverless trucks.  The driver shortage, driven by all of the reasons John highlighted, is a major factor in this push.  At this point, driverless trucks are probably more of a question of "when" rather than "if".  So I was really surprised that John didn't even mention it.  Then tying it back to John's story, I'm not sure what incentives trucking companies have to improve conditions for drivers other than it may take a while to replace them.  Maybe that's too grim of an outlook... even for John?

[wknt3]

I really liked this week. It was a great example of what he does best which is to point out the utter absurdity that makes something deeply depressing completely hilarious. Also it's always nice when some of the old Daily Show is there. Besides Rob Corddry nailing it as the trucker I am 99% sure I heard Rob Riggle as one of the VO guys.

Edited April 5, 2022 by wknt3

[smittykins]

12 hours ago, DoctorAtomic said:

BJ, whatever. You had a chimp. It's derivative. I give you - Manimal. Lee Van Cleef as a ninja. The dude from Pirates of Penzance driving a robot motorcycle. These were all actual shows. 

 

I see your BJ And The Bear and raise you Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp.

As for seatbelts on school buses, New York requires them, but usage is left up to individual districts.

[peeayebee]

3 hours ago, wknt3 said:

Besides Rob Corddry nailing it as the trucker I am 995 sure I heard Rob Riggle as one of the VO guys.

You are correct, sir. I couldn't place the voice, so I watched the credits afterwards.

 

1 hour ago, smittykins said:

I see your BJ And The Bear and raise you Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp.

OMG. I loved that show. Yes, I'm old.

[DoctorAtomic]

They got so many chimps on tv they have to make them secret. 

I guess this is derived from Planet of the Apes, so they put chimps on tv in case they actually tried to take over at some point. "Come on! We gave you your own show!"

Edited April 5, 2022 by DoctorAtomic

[swanpride]

driverless trucks are still years away. Meanwhile there is an acute shortage. Not to mention widespread exploitation. 

[paigow]

1 hour ago, DoctorAtomic said:

I guess this is derived from Planet of the Apes, so they put chimps on tv in case they actually tried to take over at some point. "Come on! We gave you your own show!"

Fearing that other animals might beat apes / chimps to the evolutionary punch, Wonder Pets was developed as Plan B...

[Popples]

7 hours ago, wknt3 said:

I really liked this week. It was a great example of what he does best which is to point out the utter absurdity that makes something deeply depressing completely hilarious. Also it's always nice when some of the old Daily Show is there. Besides Rob Corddry nailing it as the trucker I am 995 sure I heard Rob Riggle as one of the VO guys.

It was Rob Riggle; the voice was so familiar to me that I watched and paused the credits to find out.

On 4/4/2022 at 10:24 AM, peeayebee said:

The John Wilkes Booth negative $5 bill was genius "because Booth cancelled out Lincoln." Same with Aaron Burr/Hamilton on the $10 bill

I want a negative $10 bill with Aaron Burr on it so badly that I wish I had learned to photoshop.

[xaxat]

In an unfortunate coincidence, CW McCall, the musician who performed the song Convoy passed away last week. I think John actually understated how big truck culture was for kids back then. 

 

 

 

[andromeda331]

I wish I could be surprised but as soon as John said "independent contractors" I knew they were getting screwed over. It's really not that hard to pay people a decent wage. The only surprises were it was Jimmy Carter's fault and not Reagon and that the right departments are actually looking into it. I hope they fix it. 

I loved the Booth and Aaron Burr money. Only John would think of that. 

[peeayebee]

13 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

The only surprises were it was Jimmy Carter's fault and not Reagon

Unforeseen consequences. It seemed like a good idea at the time!

[Hanahope]

On 4/6/2022 at 11:49 AM, peeayebee said:

Unforeseen consequences. It seemed like a good idea at the time!

Yeah, Congress/President really need to hire someone that solely thinks about how a law can be abused before voting/signing it.  like we can thank the gop attack on the post office and amazon's deal with it for why now amazon is abusing truck drivers.

I get that trucks are always going to be needed, but i don't understand why trains are not utilized more to transport goods.  

and this show is exactly why i am always terribly nervous when i have to drive on a highway with trucks.  

 

[Rlb8031]

2 hours ago, Hanahope said:

Yeah, Congress/President really need to hire someone that solely thinks about how a law can be abused before voting/signing it.  like we can thank the gop attack on the post office and amazon's deal with it for why now amazon is abusing truck drivers.

I get that trucks are always going to be needed, but i don't understand why trains are not utilized more to transport goods.  

and this show is exactly why i am always terribly nervous when i have to drive on a highway with trucks.  

 

Trains aren't utilized more primarily because most urban centers have removed freight rail into the city such that you still need robust warehousing and distribution chains for that last-mile. In places like the east coast where you have highly concentrated large populations, freight rail gets you to close, but then you need to offload, break down and then deliver. For years, businesses opted to ship from China to the west coast of the US where goods were either trucked east or, for expensive durable goods, railed to Chicago for distribution to the East Coast. Between labor issues and the lack of drivers, this started to turn around during the pandemic, but we still haven't gotten to a point where rail has outpaced trucking. Rather, we've seen cargo come to the East Coast, then get trucked west, north and south instead. Not to mention there are still a ton of historical supply chains that continue simply because (ever hear about the Tropicana Juice Train?), which impact how freight moves around this country. It's really both fascinating and frightening when you learn how much it takes to get a glass of OJ or a men's shirt.

[b2H]

On 4/4/2022 at 2:57 PM, iMonrey said:

The BJ and the Bear promo spot was everything. And I actually remember that show, that's how old I am.

I've seen that clip of Madison Cawthorne so many times I finally had to Google "what is a key bump?" (Spoiler alert: it involves an actual, literal key.)

Are they still that way? I know they were when I was a kid back in the dark ages but we're so child-focused now I can't believe they still don't have seatbelts. On the other hand how many kids even ride a school bus anymore? I see parents lining up outside the local schools every morning to drop their precious angels off curbside.

My grands ride in a school bus now, and no seatbelts.

However, when the two younger ones were in preschool, their bus didn’t have seatbelts.  They had full-fledged child seats, which the driver was not permitted to help with if the mechanisms got messed up for the harnesses.

[Lantern7]

Forgot to post. This week's Saturday Night Live episode ended on trucker songs.

[ETA: Clip has been posted. Good laughs, fitting for the last sketch of an episode]

Wouldn't it make sense to mandate secondary drivers to travel and take over when the main guy is ready to pass out? Seriously, though, great for John to shine a light on an overlooked problem yet again. Just because trucker culture passed out of the mainstream (no talk of CB radio?), that doesn't mean truckers no longer exist . . . and they get treated like shit.

Was BJ the "Bear"? Or was it the name of the truck? And was that show produced before or after the Any Which Way movies? "Well, we gotta coast on Clint . . .but we can't afford an orangutan that can one-shot other truckers . . . '

On 4/4/2022 at 1:33 AM, scarynikki12 said:

Cawthorn. That fucking guy.

It's so bad, you can't even think of Nandor shouting "Fahkin Guyyyee!!!" The last few years have shown that anyone can run for Congress and win . .  including a dude that makes me forget about Marjorie Taylor-Greene. Ugh.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Lantern7

[swanpride]

People should also consider WHAT kind of material those truckers sometimes transport....

[Ceindreadh]

11 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

Was BJ the "Bear"? Or was it the name of the truck? And was that show produced before or after the Any Which Way movies? "Well, we gotta coast on Clint . . .but we can't afford an orangutan that can one-shot other truckers . . . '

 

 

BJ was trucker and Bear was the chimp.  "BJ McKay and my best friend Bear" (and now I have that title song as an ear worm, thank you very much!)

[Kel Varnsen]

On 4/4/2022 at 11:54 PM, zenithwit said:

What I like about John Oliver is that he highlights topics that aren't often covered in other outlets and can really shine a spotlight on it.  But I feel like sometimes his main stories can be a bit shallow.  I think the Trucks story is a good example of that.  At the moment the trucking industry is having a big push towards driverless trucks.  The driver shortage, driven by all of the reasons John highlighted, is a major factor in this push.  At this point, driverless trucks are probably more of a question of "when" rather than "if".  So I was really surprised that John didn't even mention it.  Then tying it back to John's story, I'm not sure what incentives trucking companies have to improve conditions for drivers other than it may take a while to replace them.  Maybe that's too grim of an outlook... even for John?

Yea I thought this one could have gone deeper. The driverless trucks would be a good example. I believe Amazon is already using driverless trucks inside some of their huge distribution centres. 

Plus John only really touched on how people really like their free next day shipping. How much would conditions have to improve for trucking to become a viable career and how much would that raise the price of things?