10 years--Gettin' back on the horse!

I just went and took the first step today--it's been ten years and I'll be getting back on the horse again. I guess this'll be my little documentation thread for us Old Hand/Newbies that have been out of the business for a while. I looked into going to the local college, but the next class is too far out. I'm going in the hole every day I work for Crap-Mart so I have to make it happen a bit quicker.

I made the appointment yesterday for my DOT physical and drug screen. Showed up there today at the appointed time and the place was packed to the rafters. Kinda unusual for two-doc office in Podunkville, I thought. I signed in, took a seat and filled out the six-thousand page medical history. Let's see, diabetes... nope... heart disease... nope... sex with aliens... uh, well...

After a while, the nurse called my name and I went in. Apparently they were a little short on exam rooms. The room she brought me to wasn't much bigger than a small bathroom and it was filled to the ceiling with... drum roll please... DRUGS!

Yep, every kind of drug you can imagine, from Ativan to Zyban, little sample packets, big bottles, all in little wooden bins mounted to the wall. The nurse took my blood pressure, temp and pulse--turned her back and I filled my pockets with Viagra... LOL... not really, but I could have!

I was just in shock that they would even let people off the street into this room. For all they knew, I could have been some drug-crazed psycho.

The pharmacist at the store where I currently work almost had an aneurysm one time when I stepped behind the counter to get a chair they wanted fixed. She said, "You can't be back here, it's against the law!" All I had done was open the little swinging door to the pharmacy area and reached in to grab the chair. She almost popped a vein over it, so I take it the law is pretty serious about keeping us regular folk away from drugs.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I peed in a cup, the doc fondled me and then pronounced me fit to drive. Certificate in hand... out the door I went.

Next step will be study, study, study for the written test. Should be a piece of cake!

 

Yep, let it lapse... and had no intention of driving a truck again.

Actually, it went kinda like this:

1. Quit driving truck
2. A few months later got a DUI
3. Lost my license for a year
4. Got a really good job at GM
5. Makin' the big union bucks and figured I didn't need the CDL anymore when it came time to get my license back.
6. Plant I worked at became Delphi--separated from GM
7. Delphi went bankrupt
8. I took a buyout and left Delphi
9. Moved to a right-to-work-for-less state
10. Now I'm broke


I don't think I'm even gonna try the OTR/big company route. I know a few O/O's that have extra trucks. There are also a few companies around here in the logging and pulp industry that would hire a dead monkey if it could hold a wheel. Anything will be better than where I'm working now.

There's no way I'd go OTR and ride with a trainer EVER again. I've been there, done that--the worst one month of my life! It's because of that narcoleptic-hillbilly-so-called-trainer that I will not sleep in a vehicle while someone else is driving. I'd buy a cheap truck and haul logs before I'll do that again.

 

I made a few phone calls today to some area trucking companies. Ruled most of them out except for one--I'm going over there tomorrow.

In the meantime, I've been reading up on idling laws... good god how things have changed! It makes my blood boil just reading all this crap!

Delaware: 15 minute limit if it's between 32F and -10F. How generous! I say let the butt lickers who live in Delaware turn the heat off in their house when it's -10. What? Your pipes will freeze? Too bad... buck it up!

In Aspen or Denver you can get up to a year in prison. I wonder if they turn on the heat there? Might be better than staying in your truck.

New York takes the cake for the most ridiculous fine--$15,000 for the first offense. That right there should be enough to call for a nationwide strike and boycott of the Communist Republic of New York.

The company I am looking at now doesn't run in any of the communist territories except for the Communist Republic of Atlanta... and I guess Florida--they're scheduled to become a Communist Republic soon.

They do run in Texas, but at least there is an exception to the law for "hours of service" compliance there. I guess that means you can have heat and air conditioning while you sleep. I can live with that.

As for the rest of you Liberal-Communist-Wacko-Totalitarian regimes... y'all can kiss the nether regions of the sphincteral portion of my colon.

 

Heck yeah! I'm legal to drive again... with another licensed driver that is. (grin)

I took five tests and passed 'em all, in 38 minutes, with flying colors. Got a Class A Learners Permit with Doubles, and Tanker endorsements. Now to study my pretrip cheat-sheet and then go take the skills test. I found out Reid State Technical College does third-party testing for $100, and they even supply the truck. That's a heck of a deal! I'm gonna schedule that for next week.

 

Sorry notarps, you don't qualify to haul sticks... you're still breathin'. Lemme know when you give up the ghost and I'll put the app in for ya.

 

I went over to Reid State today to pay the $100 for the test. It was almost 4pm by the time I got there and they were closing up shop--gotta love those small town colleges.

After seeing this person, then that person, then calling the testing guy on his cell, then seeing yet another person, they finally decided who would get the money--WHEW! I guess it was still quicker than mailing the form and the cash. Now I just have to cross my fingers and toes tomorrow and hope that he'll answer the phone when I call to schedule the appointment.