How did Soviet truck drivers live?
How Soviet Truckers Lived
For many born in the 1990s or earlier, the TV series "Truckers" has a special, cult status, enhanced by the power of nostalgia. But, generally speaking, this distinct subculture of people who spend most of their time behind the wheel is relatively underrepresented in modern pop culture, especially in the post-Soviet space. And few schoolchildren dream of becoming truck drivers. But in Soviet times, truck drivers were a special caste, especially those who traveled abroad. Of course, back then, people dreamed more of becoming cosmonauts or doctors, but being a truck driver, especially an international one, always commanded special respect and reverence. All the secrets and mysteries of Soviet truck drivers, exclusively today and just for you
⚡ Subscribe to the channel: / @historyshow
Timecodes:
00:00 Introduction
01:02 General information about Soviet truck drivers
04:02 What Soviet truck drivers looked like
04:46 What Soviet truck drivers wore
05:46 Where Soviet truck drivers lived
06:16 What truck drivers ate
07:12 What Soviet truck drivers drank
08:11 Hygiene of Soviet truck drivers
08:46 How Soviet truck drivers washed and went to the toilet
09:28 How Soviet truck drivers brushed their teeth
09:50 How Soviet Truckers cared about their clothes
10:14 Who did truckers sleep with?
10:38 How did Soviet truckers take care of their health?
11:20 How much did Soviet truckers earn?
💪 Our second channel, Megashow TV: / @megashowtv
👉 Our website: https://historyshow.tv/
History Show is a fascinating channel about history in an unusual way. You'll find two types of shows here:
1) How certain people lived, what they ate, how they lived, what they wore, and other delights of life.
2) What if... the most unexpected twists and turns of history that never happened. We tell, reflect, and show alternative worlds and twists.
It's important for us to find our audience, who won't just subscribe, but will watch.
Some general information about Soviet long-haul truck drivers
While working as a truck driver within the Soviet Union, or rather the requirements for it, weren't particularly demanding—you had to have at least three years' driving experience, no bad habits, or at least the ability to forget them for a certain period of time, and, of course, efficiency and punctuality—international truck drivers underwent special testing.
International routes within the USSR were handled by a company, or more precisely, an enterprise, called Sovtransavto, which, in addition to being a monopoly on international transportation in the Union, was also completely under the control of the KGB. This isn't surprising—they had to ensure that the candidate wouldn't run away as soon as they found themselves in what was, so to speak, an enemy capitalist country. Therefore, a driver seeking employment with Sovtransavto not only had to pass strict selection criteria but also prove their trustworthiness and loyalty to Soviet ideals and other such things. Furthermore, the candidate was required to have a family—a wife and a couple of children, at least one. At first glance, this requirement seems a bit odd, but dig deeper and it becomes clear: a married man with a family is much less likely to choose to stay abroad rather than return to the USSR. It's well known that many such fugitives, not just truck drivers, were returned home precisely because their family ties were undermined.
If a driver proved himself trustworthy, and after a KGB check revealed no unreliable relatives, such as prisoners or dissidents—a real thorn in their side—then they were allowed to take a sort of exam. Besides having at least five years of work experience, a potential international long-haul driver had to speak English at a conversational level, be familiar with international transport regulations, and, of course, have good references from their previous employer. In short, such a driver had to be almost superhuman to be able to travel abroad for work. And then some people get offended by the fact that the USSR is called a prison of nations.
After a lengthy internship, lasting at least a year, the long-haul driver was finally allowed behind the wheel, but for now only on domestic routes. Then, on routes to neighboring countries, the so-called socialist bloc countries, and only then, finally!, could a Soviet long-haul driver get a chance to travel to farther afield, or simply to capitalist countries. Seriously, it feels like in the Soviet Union it was easier to become a cosmonaut or a KGB officer than a Soviet truck driver. But then, he became a true working elite, with whom every ordinary citizen wanted to be acquainted, and many envied the standard of living such a job could provide.
#ussr #history #truckers #HistoryShow