Rain And Truck Drivers

Raincoats don't fit truck drivers.  If you have ever been to a truckstop when it's raining, you'll see truckers walking across the parking lot in their normal jeans and t-shirts without an umbrella or a raincoat.  You will also see this on loading docks and on fuel islands.

Truck drivers don't normally use raincoats for many reasons.  One of the reasons is that they have to dry out the raincoat and there are limited places to dry your rain coats out in the truck.  Usually it will be hung from a hook in the truck and drip dry all over the floor leaving a wet puddle mess.

We carry umbrellas and we will let them dry out in the shower, but hardly any trucks have showers, so umbrellas are also not used much.  Truckers usually will just go out into the rain and do whatever they have to do because they will just end up getting back into their trucks and taking their wet clothes off to dry on a hook. 

I am a fan of the cheap plastic poncho:

In your mind's eye, picture a group of people walking around Saint Augustine, Florida's streets at night wearing these white plastic hooded ponchos.  If you go to the ghost tour there, you will get to be a part of a historic tour of old Saint Augustine and eventually realize that you are wearing a white hooded suit.  You don't want to wander off the tour.  White hoods in the South don't have the best reputation.

As I was saying, truckers can use these cheap $1 ponchos and then throw them away.  This is the preferred rain protection of most truckers, but rarely does anyone use them.  Another reason for this is that many times you can simply decide to wait out the rain and work outside when it's dry.  It's usually safer that way.