Old hand, new poster from TX

I have got lots of great info off of here through searches over the years and finally decided I needed to make an account.

I have been driving since 2001. I went to the academy that Swift has over at what I believe was a Central Freight terminal at the time over in San Antonio. I don't remember exactly but it seems like the class was about a month long and I took my first driving test on my 21st birthday no less. I actually didn't pass that one and had to retest a couple days later and got it. We had older FLD 120's back then.

We had to do a month out with a trainer then after that another month out with a classmate that we had already picked during the class before we went on our own. We somehow lucked out and got a Classic XL for that month.

I actually jumped ship after that and went to J.B. Hunt for more cpm.. I had to pay Swift for my CDL but do not remember how much they billed me. I drove as a company driver with J.B. Hunt for about 8 months. then went into their lease purchase program. The lure of non-forced dispatch and more money per mile and a slightly faster truck seemed great because as a company man the joke that "John Boy Has Us Never Trucking" was quite true. 2500 miles a week seemed the norm and the way they matched our logs with the Qualcomm ensured a tight rope around the neck.

The lease purchase program turned out to not be the hot ticket I was hoping for either. Same miles per week it seemed and I never hauled as many heavy paper loads as I did as a company man as I did being an O/OP and if you used your right of refusal on a load you seemed to be left sitting a good while. Needless to say, I decided to end my relationship with J.B. Hunt after having talked to a few CFI driver during my travels as I had the required experience needed at that time to go to them. CFI was the best OTR company I drove for and the last one. We had trucks with 13 speeds that would run 70 if I recall and I was able to run loose leaf as well. My first T600 had a Cummins ISX and around that time CFI was transitioning to the CAT C15 ACERT in the new T600's they were getting. Several months in with them got one but remember having to go through a class at the Joplin MO terminal on shifting and driving with the new engine. I did over a year with CFI and loved it back then but ultimately decided I wanted off the road and came in local.

I did a short stint at a construction company driving R model Macks, twin sticks with end dumps then a demolition company also pulling end dumps for a couple years before finally landing at the job I am at currently have been at for 19 years hauling construction equipment locally home every night.

Sorry for the longer post but figured I would share my blast from the past journey to today.