An apology from someone who misses the road....

Life is about learning lessons. I'm a big believer in 2nd chances. It's the people that need 3 and above that aren't getting something out of it.

I'm curious as to what the bad idea was. PM me if you want.

Fired, no unemployment, not re-hirable anywhere else. It's not a good gamble in these days with unemployment where it is.

Maybe it did. I learned quite a few lessons on life, and I would have never had the experience of seeing how scum-baggy the sales business is. Actually, I heard from someone who ran a pretty straight up dealership and then got out after management changed hands. Maybe I was just working for the wrong group of people. Still an eye opener.

After speaking with a really cool substance abuse professional at length ( he was actually up in Indiana someplace), we spoke of how common is was for people to test positive for weed, because it stores in your fat cells long after the buzz is gone.

I'm not fond of the cannabis laws myself, but like I said in the OP, it wouldn't matter if it was legal or not, the industry wouldn't give you the liberty to enjoy it in your off time. They would have to remove it from the 5 panel, and come up with a test to determine "impairment".

That would mean a spot check with a saliva test roadside, as they do in Europe, and most drivers would scream that their liberties are being challenged. I'm not sure how Canada handles it, but they seem to be a little more tolerant of what people do in their free time.

Repeat, "free time...."

I know a lot of y'all live in your trucks, and it's a fine line you walk with regard to that.

I'm guessing Uncle wasn't in transportation to begin with? I suppose if I was a furniture restorer, or something like that, I could see the benefit of being able to concentrate.

In your last sentence, are you comparing prescription drugs to weed? It's funny, I've seen folks be anti-pot and scarf down Xanax like it came from a Pez dispenser.

And to agree with Rag, prescription drug abuse is way out of hand.

I believe in being honest as well, and it's why I bowed out to begin with and take a swat at selling cars. The DAC and the FMCSA rules are 2 different animals. In fact, my 11 year stint in foodservice is no where on the DAC, they don't use it.

There is a record of the failed test. It quietly sits in a file cabinet of my previous employer in the HR office. They didn't report it to DAC, I didn't get my CDL jerked like you would in a different state. However.....

Lets say I omit that pesky little job. Get back to big truck truckin'. No pot smokin' in my free time, of course. Life is good, I've got a wallet full of cash, a nice shiny new Peterbilt with a load of lumber running the speed limit, coffee cup steamin' away in the cup holder, listening to the Eagles sing, "Take it Easy...." and all of a sudden, a drunk driver crosses my path and shiny Peterbilt T-Bone's his Honda Civic - and him and his equally drunk friends all die in the resulting crash.

Well, a lawyer is gonna get involved, because of course, he needs lots of money, and we all know it was that trucks fault for being there anyway and getting in the way of his poor innocent intoxicated client/victim.

Lawyer is going to start digging. Tax returns, background checks, lots of phone calls. Trying to find some way of blaming that killer rig and driver. And he's going to find out one little minor detail when he stumbles onto Ms. HR Lady from that pesky little job that I reported on last years 1040.

Per the Department of Transportation guidelines, Mr. SmoothShifter wasn't legally qualified to drive a CMV because he left out a little important detail on his job history, and failed to complete the "return to duty process". That makes Mr. SmoothShifter guilty of voluntary manslaughter, even tho' Mr. Drunk 4-wheeler had a BAC in the stratosphere.

Granted, that's a worst case scenario, but it could happen. In my 31 years of big truck' truckin, I've had many close calls as inebriated drivers weaved all over the road.. And in retrospect, I'm pretty #### lucky that Mr. Drunk 4-wheeler didn't cross my path and I ticked the meter on a post accident drug test.

As I started to ponder whether or not to write my original post, I knew I was going to come across someone who had lost someone to an impaired driver. I'm sorry for your loss and I'm sorry for any time I got behind the wheel when I shouldn't have, whatever the circumstance. I was fortunate, I never hurt anyone, or wrecked any equipment. Still was wrong, tho' ....

Look, a lot of us who have been around the industry for 30+ years will whistle and innocently stare at the ceiling when reminiscing about the old days. I was around rigs since I was 18, and I didn't calm down for a good 10 years. I had hair halfway down my back, was the atypical "outlaw" for quite some time.

Having kids brought me around, and the only thing I was guilty of for a long time was driving too tired ... which should be equally unacceptable in this industry. That's impairment too.

The sad thing is that I had a good job with a pretty bright future. I'd probably be in management right now if I had played my cards right and kept my focus. And I was the kind of manager you would really want, because I never, ever, will forget what it is like behind the wheel. Stable company, righteous equipment, good contract and a lot of potential. And..... a zero tolerance policy. Had they given me a 2nd chance, I would have jumped through flaming hoops to keep the gig.

I think the words "zero tolerance" are overused. The SAP I spoke to said verbatim, " The guys that failed one random are typically the best ones to have. They get tested more than anybody, and 9 times out of 10 have learned their lesson...."

But, maybe I had some lessons to learn. Maybe I wouldn't be inspired to write about it. Maybe, just maybe, I need to learn the frustrations firsthand of trying to do the right thing. I wouldn't write exactly what I'm saying, if I hadn't experienced what I did so far.

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Stranger, it's ironic you have a picture of a crackerbox, that was the first truck I ever drove. 238 Detroit, 10 speed and a tag axle. It took me 21 minutes to climb the hill on 84 outside of Matamoras, PA heading back into NY.

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Thanks for the kind words so far, folks. It's pretty inspiring, actually.