The Good, the Bad and the Crazy Im going with England

Hi all, it's been a long while since I posted to this thread ... sorry. But some things have changed recently.

First, I had to give up the Maine CDL or be in violation of Massachusetts law and risk jail. So, currently I only have a Class D Massachusetts drivers license after leaving Maine and moving south.

My wife and I are considering a move further south to Virginia after discovering that you truly can't go home again. Living with family at 39 is not for the feint of heart.

I am amazed at the pull the road has on me. I worked for Stevens Transport for 6 months back in 2008 and can't get the road out of my heart and mind. Not that I've wanted to.

I am currently working as an Assistant Harbormaster on Cape Cod, but if we move to Virginia I am going to get back into trucking... and yes, I think I might be insane.

Given the potential location of Virginia, do any of you have suggestions for me in re-obtaining my CDL there. Should I consider a company like Swift, Werner or other just for their training program? It's almost heart breaking to have worked so hard to get my CDL in Maine only to be forced to give it up by the powers that be in Massachusetts.

Thanks for the advice in advance ... and after listening to all of you ... and reading extensively on this site ... C.R.E. is NOT AN OPTION. Thanks.

 

The thing is I moved to the Communist State of Massachusetts where nothing that comes from somewhere else is good enough.

I got my CDL in Maine in 2008, started working for Stevens Transport and promptly found myself in foreclosure with my wife stranded in Maine alone dealing with it all. I made the decision to come off the road to try to find something local and since the economy had collapsed to such a severe extent in Maine there were NO jobs to be had ANYWHERE at that time. We scratched, clawed and just about killed ourselves in the attempt to save our home ... we failed.

In the spring of 2009 we left our home with everything we could squeeze in a U-Haul that we borrowed the money to rent and moved back to Massachusetts (we're originally from there) to live with family.

I thought the same as most of the rest of the planet would. Scrape the money together, and since most of my headaches were now a thing of the past ... no house to pay for ... get my Mass CDL and go back out on the road.

I went down to the RMV and filled out the application (I had checked the website earlier and thought I had all of the documentation I needed). Come to find out, Massachusetts ... in their infinite wisdom ... passed an addendum to the CDL Transfer Laws. The new rules stated the following:

1. No CDL aged less than two years is transferable under any circumstance.

2. Two years of consecutive logs are required to prove rule 1.

3. A signed, notarized, letter from all CDL employers stating the dates you worked for them and the reason you left.

My details:

Rule 1: My CDL, at the time, was 16 months old.

Rule 2: My first idea was to string it along and wait until Two Years had passed since getting my CDL ... that when I read rule 2 closer. I would need to have 2 years of consecutive logs to qualify.

Rule 3: Try getting that letter from any trucking company ... I think you'll grow mold in your shorts first.

I held out as long as I could, using the excuse that I still technically owned a house in Maine (Wells Fargo STILL hasn't followed through with the Foreclosure). That worked until I got pulled over for having an expired inspection sticker. Apparently it's illegal to stay in Massachusetts for more than 6 months without changing over your drivers license to a local address. I was given these choices:

1. Go Back to Maine. - Not Possible ... the house is boarded up and most of the copper has been stripped, I am certain, thus no way to heat the #### thing.

2. Go to Jail - Over a CDL ... while I rabbidly attempted to protect that even going as far as writing letters and talking to State Reps and Congressmen, I had no real prospects for CDL work at the time. Funny, trucking companies won't hire you with a home location in a different state than the one on your CDL.

3. Give up the CDL, get a Class D Mass Passenger License and try to get on with life.

Needless to say, after a lengthy battle, and getting pulled over twice more, I took the third option just to be able to get on with life.

Now, just to be completely clear, I could have taken the driving tests again in order to keep the CDL in Massachusetts. Here in is the rub...

I would have to provide a CLASS A vehicle and a sponsor with the appropriate licenses ... I don't have one since my uncle retired ten years ago. And Renting a vehicle is just simply not cost effective for someone that spent a year out of work trying to find a way to live.

At any rate, at this point I have to start all over again just to get back out on the road. Many friends and family members don't understand the pull, no the call, of the open road.

I will have to go back to CDL School in one form or another, and I still have over $5,000 left to pay for my first CDL school. Maybe I am crazy, I simply don't know ... I know now that I have some work to do before I can get things back on all 18. It will likely be a year before I have my $H1T together, and likely I'll have to go with Swift or some other indentured servitude company. But I will get back on the road.

I will be using my time wisely though. I am taking business classes at the local Community College here on Cape Cod, and I am currently working as an Assistant Harbor Master in Hyannis. I have started an exercise program to get back in shape (I am considering going flatbed and will need to be in better shape than I'm in). I have every confidence that things will work out.

Thanks to all concerned, and I'll try to keep things updated as we go along. Thanks for reading along.

 

Lately my life has been like a dying whirlpool. It's not gonna kill you but the spin will make you sick until you finally swim out of it.

Changes may come from strange angles, but I'll try to keep updating.

 

It's been about a year since I updated this thread ... nothing much has changed. I still have that pull ... and the need for the sound of a large Diesel engine is tremendous. I am still working as an Assistant Harbormaster, but am working on getting back into the game as always.

As of this morning I still have a Class D in Massachusetts ... I have spend the winter taking classes at the local Community College (non-CDL related) and have reached the end of my patience for that evolution. I have some assistance approved for schooling, but have yet to see if I can switch my grants from the community college to a trucking school somewhere ... not sure if that will work.

Physically, I'm 50lbs lighter ... still have Type II diabetes ... and am back in training to loose more. The idea is to finish out the season here and get back into some training program in the fall. I will update more as soon as I can, but will more than likely be starting a more generic thread elsewhere on this site to chronicle my struggle. When I start that one I'll post the link here.

Cheers all.