Newb concerns

Hi there! I don't have any of the problems you have but I personally know truckers with similar injuries that are much older than you and they're still trucking and wouldn't consider anything else. They're in and out of the tractors a little slower than the rest but so what? Good luck to you - it sounds like this is what you want to do so GO FOR IT!

 

I have a bad back and bad knee both. The back gets to bothering me only after a good 5 or 6 days out. By then I' getting sore. My knee hurts all the time. I have a knee that dislocates with any side pressure at all and it has arthritis to boot. If I have been sitting a long time I have to get up slowly and work it some before I can jump out of the truck. I can do that in the bunk or on the steps before I get down. Trucks have come a long way, some of those volvos are nicer than a new mercedes ride wise.

 

Hey...a fellow Kentuckian...
If your bad knee is the clutch knee you may want to narrow your search to companies with autos.I`m rapidly approaching 40 and am getting out of automotive service and into trucking.
I have been fortunate enough so far to have been called to start cdl school with Maverick.
Good Luck and go cats and cards!!!
Les

 

I work with some older guys (pushing 70). One will put his back out, and he will be hobbling around still working, cos he is just a trucker at heart. I dont think a broken leg could stop him coming to work.
He usually gets in and out of the truck slowly, but he is steady, and at the end of the day his work is done, like the rest of us.
Go for it! If you like it, great. If not, something else will turn up!

 

Same here. Blew it out in Tech School USAF, it's my clutch knee. Thinking of getting a brace.

If you're going through the school, the old Freight shakers are beat to hell, and run down. They want you to double clutch. Double the clutch, double the agony.
However.
If you just can't get the double clutch down, they will teach you to float the gears.
The instructors never use the clutch. Totally unfair, but what can you do.
Backing kills my knee more than anything.

 

You've been given some good examples of how 'less than perfect' specimens manage to get a medical card and do the job.

I'm disabled at the moment...it's a disk problem, and knees..arthritis etc. however I kept driving until I just can't walk around much at present. With medical care, I'll find and hopefully fix the problem and get back out there.

If you can crawl around the attic and walk a couple of city blocks you can probably deal...climb up to clean windows, haul fuel hoses, lift the hood to check your liquid levels etc.....thump tires, do your walk around and check your 5th wheel...I think the sitting may be the hardest for you...but as has been said air ride seats with an auto transmission are great...a slow, careful, three point entrance and exit from the truck...common sense.

About the sitting...you can't use anything stronger than advil jell caps (example) but they help...and you can schedule a stop and stretch without getting into your time unless you're under an express load...even then you can manage it.

If your wife understands that you'll be away (OTR I assume) and is comfortable with it...go for it...even if you sign up with a carrier that will sign you up for a year for repayment, most of us can do anything for a year.

Good Luck,
KJ

WooHoo...20 posts!!!

 

Yes Kapman you will need to pass a physical ability test to obtain your medical card...no prob for you I don't think...if/when I go back I'll get a new medical card..

Thanks for the good wishes, and Good Luck there guy...woot!!!

KJ