What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country?

Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by throwaway0a5e on Monday July 19, 2021 @06:32PM (#27888042)

Nobody does it for the money. Everyone does it for the bennies.

This is probably the least risky OTR trucking job ever since you have so many people making sure everything goes right and you don't have dispatch pushing you to do insane shifts that stretch the law.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by tehjoker on Monday July 19, 2021 @08:12PM (#27888753)

This article is illuminating:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/14253/the-us-moves-nuk...

"The expose painted a dismal picture of an overworked and underpaid organization where over a third of the personnel would put in more than 900 hours of overtime each year, equal to more than 35 extra days on the job. Couriers and agents spend most of that time on the road on long, boring drives unable to stop for protracted periods or even leave their vehicles in many circumstances. If they get pulled over by local law enforcement for some reason, the truck drivers aren't even allowed to speak to the police without the security force commander being present during the conversation.

Underscoring these issues, in 2010, the Department of Energy's Inspector General cataloged 16 alcohol-related incidents within OST in the preceding three years, including an incident of public intoxication where a courier was arrested and another where two employees ended up in police custody after getting into a drunken bar brawl. The report uncovered New Mexico court records showing the office's top executive had gotten a DUI after police came across him parked on a sidewalk apparently drinking in the car with a blood alcohol level of 0.15 percent."

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by throwaway0a5e on Monday July 19, 2021 @08:28PM (#27888860)

Reading between the lines they're making a killing on OT and while the job is mind numbing these guys party it up real good when they're not on duty.

Sounds a lot like gambling auditing TBH.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by ttul on Monday July 19, 2021 @06:36PM (#27888082)

Imagine the security going on behind the scenes that the drivers never even know about…

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by TedDoesntTalk on Monday July 19, 2021 @08:04PM (#27888690)

Yeah and I’m guessing the vehicles are unmarked, vanilla trucks that we pass on the roads all the time without knowing.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by beerandt on Monday July 19, 2021 @10:30PM (#27889516)

That was the idea.

The truck manufacturer has been out of business long enough now that seeing a surviving example is relatively rare.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by rootusrootus on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @12:00AM (#27889927)

Peterbilt? I believe they still make trucks.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by shadilay on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @04:27AM (#27891237)

The trucks the Peterbilt's replaced.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by queuebert on Monday July 19, 2021 @11:20PM (#27889747)

Based on the article picture, you might be able to pick them out by the bulletproof windows.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by ttul on Wednesday July 21, 2021 @12:48AM (#27902444)

I bet 2/3rds of them aren’t even hauling actual weapons.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by DaiPlusPlus on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @05:44AM (#27891723)

I thought “bennies” was short for Benjamins - $100 bills, I.e. the money?

Or they provide benzodiazepines on the job now?

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by kevinbowman on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @05:58AM (#27891810)

I assumed "benefits", i.e. perks beyond the basic salary

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by DaiPlusPlus on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @08:38PM (#27900972)

As a non-American living in the US the way people talk about tangible public-sector benefits (or lack thereof...) led me to think otherwise. The only significant "benefit" people do talk about is job-security, I guess because people are hard to replace if they're being underpaid...

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by wolverine876 on Monday July 19, 2021 @06:44PM (#27888143)

> Nobody does it for the money. Everyone does it for the bennies.

Is that based on experience?

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by throwaway0a5e on Monday July 19, 2021 @06:49PM (#27888185)

>Is that based on experience

Yeah pretty much. Ask any government worker why they're still working for the government and they'll tell you something about benefits and stability.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by wolverine876 on Monday July 19, 2021 @06:56PM (#27888239)

Government workers I know seem to primarily credit reasonable hours (e.g., government coders don't get 100+ hour weeks; they go home at 5) and decent management (i.e., actual professional management, not screaming morons), but certainly stability and benefits too.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by MisterBastahrd on Monday July 19, 2021 @07:26PM (#27888437)

Every government dev I know who isn't a manager will strongly disagree with the "professional management" take. People generally don't become managers of government dev shops because they're great at managing people. They become managers because they're what's left after everyone else has gone on to do other things.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by vmception on Monday July 19, 2021 @10:58PM (#27889631)

+1 to this

Public sector is serious brain drain

The counterpoints are people so uninspired and risk averse that it is the same as brain drain, and a subset of them are the people that began with a “serving the public” ideal and accidentally accumulated too many obligations by the time they figured out they wanted to live in a nicer neighborhood or send their children to a good college

The good talent are people that took a plea deal for non prosecution that included public service

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by wolverine876 on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @04:17PM (#27898729)

Beyond insulting intelligent, motivated, highly capable people I know in public service, do you have a basis for that?

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by KirillPanov on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @03:13AM (#27890879)

> The good talent are people that took a plea deal for non prosecution that included public service

Wait, wat? This is a thing? Did you mean "community service" instead of "public service"? Or do you mean people like Frank Abagnale?

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