Trucking can be like a bad marriage...

On my way here I ran out of gas...in an area I don't really like, and there happened to be bible canvassers in the area, and fate would have it they came over to my vehicle...

Anyhow, it's a story I shared elsewhere, the mentality of this forum isn't really set up for that kind of sharing...

This forum is more 'nut's and bolts'...



Just kinda like basic raw emotion sharing...

I have other places I share my more intamite thoughts, with a much more broader audience.

Not that a few here couldn't appreciate a more 'refined style' and or presentation...

But the majority here are like 'nuts and bolts'

(funny thing is, others probablly feel the same way, and only come here to satisfy their nuts and bolts side, but like myself, probablly have other, more refined sides that they feel others would not be receptive to here)...

But anyhow back to the nuts and bolts...

Things are hard...I gave up good or decent money on the road, for this...well not this per say, but for the unknown...

It would be easy for me to jump back into a truck and escape...it would be so easy...and I'm daily tempted to...as I've done so many times in the past...'escape in a truck and leave all problems behind'...



And I still may, if I've exhausted all other realistic opportunities...

But often times in the past, instead of sticking it out, I would take the easy route, not realizing that had I stuck it out a bit longer, something big would of come through...

And such is the case now...I can see little things starting to piece themselves together...but it's a slow process...and sometimes painful and humiliating.

My logical side knows I can't turn around an empty life, in 2-3 months, when it took years of over the road neglect to make it this way.

When I was over the road, I needed know inferstructure...when your at home, or one place, you very much do.

People have to get to know you all over again, jobs, or those in positions to hire you, have to get to know you and so on...it's a slow process...and in the past i wasn't willing to wait around for it to develope...

But if I go back out there again, and bury myself over the road for weeks, months, at a time...it will never happen...

Not only that, but I did learn a few things from reading other peoples comments in the bad trucking section...I'll share that next...

 

Thanks, that was cool, the poem that is...

But hey, speaking of deer, since I see one in your signature...

Check out this Eagle taking down a small deer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeEhHrtPItU

 

Ok, this is...is...odd....

Yesterday I ran out of gas and was approached by bible canvessers...a man and two ladies...

Before that, a security guard started talking about nutrition and God to me...a security guard of all people...

And before that a grocery store employee led me outside (while on duty and in their uniform), and publically started praying....

And now souls on here have kinda stepped up and are telling me about the love of God...wow...

Wait, I need a calculator so I can compute all this...



All I can say is I'm baffled...and it takes a lot to baffle me...

I'll be back shortly...

 

Ok, back to trucking for a moment...

When I first started it felt totally different...

I forget who said this, but someone on the 'report a bad trucking company'...an old timer...

Something to the effect 'there are no more dispatchers, just college graduates who are called 'driver managers' ect ect...

And that's it...when I first started, dispatchers were always older than me, and mature...they were more like air traffic controllers...



You kinda felt you were in good hands, people who were mature and above and beyond childish games...

It seems now those days are gone...
Now when you go out there your like in the hands of some Charlie Sheen type...

Or some Brittney Spears type of dispatcher...totally clueless...
And your literly in their hands for weeks, months at a time...

It seems trucking has become about games now...

The origonal titans of trucking, like Schneider, Werner, Knight, ect ect...

It seems when they got old, they left these companies in the hands of their sponge bob generation off spring...the Jerry Springer generation off spring...and now we're seeing the effects...



I mean, can I make a serious living out there anymore while in the hands of such
dispatchers or 'driver managers'??

In the past, I could go out there with confidence that I could make decent money, and living...but now...now...I just don't know...

The Sponge Bob generation has tooken over...and I don't know if I can deal with that...

They took a few college courses, and now their qualified to be dispatchers...ok...

I relate to you old timers more than you realize...cause when I first started...you were out there...but the industry was trying to get rid of you...I remember...

They were trying to get rid of the what I call 'Hippie cowboy' types...now look what it has turned into...it's scary...the honor and prestigue is gone...

I don't feel confident that these modern day 'driver managers' know how to earn me a good living anymore...

And it seems, at least from me reading the 'Report a bad company thread' that any time you leave company now, they go out of their way to make you look bad by leaving bad remarks on your DAC...again...games...but games that can destroy your ability to find work...

It's tough...cause many of us still like, enjoy trucking...but aren't down with the new enviornment or climate of games...

There is no easy solution right now...I wish there were...

We'll just have to see what happens I guess...
Thanks for your continued support...we're kinda all in this together...

 

Ye, that's one scenerio....

That's why companies, over that last decade, have gone out of their way to make it as comfortable for drivers as they possible can...



Many of these trucks are out fitted better than small studio apartments, as far as feature comforts...



This particular model is nice and spacious...allows for a TV, cooler, and all the other goodies, and many come with apu units now for perfect tempurature control...

Plus with satelite radio and your cell phone or ipod...it can get very comfortable at times...

And the commute...I use to always joke, it's the shortest commute of all jobs, just hop from the bed or bunk, to the seat...in your under clothing if you want...

I've done it, so have other drivers...it's freedom, it's fun, until DOT asks you to step out of your vehicle for a quick inspection, and they open the door and see your bare legs and undergarments..

Plus if you have a CB radio...



You can at times talk to other drivers out there, shoot the breeze, get instant real time traffic reports, sell stuff, find a date...

What I'm saying is...some guys or gals get in a truck like this, get dispatched out to Arizona...and just enjoy the ride, the scenery, the food, and when stopped or parked or have down time, some get out and explore...catch a cab to the zoo or a nice resturant or other sites...

(ok, obviously I'm trying to sell myself on trucking again, in case I end up back out there)

But it's not all doom and gloom...it just depends on ones personal needs at the time and moment...

Ones mental state, goals and obligations...

Me personally, I don't like where I'm at, work is slow, things cost, and I feel like I'm lugging along...trying to live some past glory that just isn't there anymore...

So I have some tough decisions to make here soon...for my own future...

If I have to go back out, I'll adjust my attitude, and do what I gotta do...and make the best of it until next time...

Continued on next post...