8 times out of 10 the absolute worst part about every fire season....

A good crew can make all the difference. I've had my fair share of terrible fuel truck drivers. Makes you appreciate the good ones. 

This is absolutely true. You do appreciate the good ones. 

What esactly do you expect? How difficult is a truck driving job? How much do you expect from such a person?

no fire experience lol

we're talking about helicopter fire experience, not the bbq in your backyard

and Fire helicopter experience, and one helicopter fire experience. With well over 5 figure hours and 45 years I've experienced a lot. I still don't let support personnel affect my mood. If they are safe and productive, good. If they are unsafe I see that they go work somewhere else. If I fell they hinder production, I document that to the bosses and let them deal with it.

forgive me if I think that's all a bunch of bullsh*t

While I tend to agree, a whiney pilot is worse and has a better chance of getting a crew kicked off a contract than any truck driver. 

that still has nothing to to with the price of tea in China

It most certainly does if your paycheck depends on it. 

strung together, hoping and trying to mean something

nobodys paycheck depends on it. Are you lost or what.

Well I think we found 'that guy'. Didn't take as long as I thought. 

run off? haha you speak from personal experience no doubt

Show some respect

They wish

So the pilot, facing a big picture window, is having breakfast with the fuel truck driver, who has his back to the window, in a small Northern Idaho town cafe during a busy summer fire season. About halfway through breakfast the pilot calmly asks the fuel truck driver "what color is our fuel truck?" "Why?" asks the fuel truck driver as the fuel truck, which had been parked in the slightly sloping parking lot of cafe, crashes through the window and wall of the cafe .........

that was a stupid post. What the hell difference does is make what color it is...

Meanwhile, on the BIG RIG Original forum, fuel truck drivers gearing up for fire season have a thread going about how much pilots suck.   KARMA

I think it's just a general fact that 90% of Fire fuel truck drivers think they're the best thing since sliced bread when in fact they're usually the achillies heel of every single crew industry wide.

Genuine question from a non-utility pilot:

How does a fuel truck driver make your job/contract worse? What more does he/she do than fuel your helicopter? I honestly have no idea what happens on a fire job.

Having been through several seasons as a Carded fuel truck driver, I can actually sympathise with some of the pilots whos driver's are usually - a. Causing grief at the base, b. Sleeping on the job or not staying on station, c. losing or breaking equipment, or d. just plain lost, unable to read a map.

On the other hand, whiny pilots who find out they actually HATE flying fires and have no interest in daily briefings, aircraft maintenance or communication with the driver are also a pain to deal with. So it goes both ways. Fire season can often be an interesting and challenging project if you're open minded and have a decent work ethic. If you don't, then you probably deserve whatever misery befalls you.