Here I go, don't know where, but I AM GOING!!!

Well look here man. Today I went swimming in the ocean at Newport Oregon. I lay on the sand and read my book in the sun. Then I took a nice afternoon nap and now getting in some TTR time. I am taking a 34 hour reset. Now it very rarely happens that you are at a sweet spot like the beach for a reset, usually it's wherever you ended up when you ran out if hours. Most likely a truckstop or a parking rest area etc. but occasionally you luck out like I did today. I own my own truck and I work my butt off to make a living and keep my show on the road but it has it's advantages. Last week I saw 2 black bear cubs playing on the road in front of me in Northern Ontario Canada on my way to Winnipeg from Montreal Quebec. . I was at the " worlds largest truckstop" in Iowa not long ago. Before that I was in Los Angeles and this trip has brought me from British Colombia canada through idaho and along the Colombia river Gorge to the coast in Oregon . I could go on and on but you get the idea that you will see lots of countryside . Trucking is great if you can handle the BS , of which there is a lot. But if you can get past the rude shippers/receivers, stressfully tight schedules, frustratingly slow traffic, equipment challenges( a nice way to say " #### breaking down"), restrictive HOS, and over zealous law enforcement ( which you will meet as you try to overcome all the above problems slowing you down) then every now and then you get a nice day at the beach! Or as the song says " some beach somewhere there's a big umbrella casting shade over an empty chair". Just maybe once in a while you get to sit in that chair and when you do then you have earns it and deserve it.

 

Yeah, I think I inferred earlier that might be coming.
They also insisted on proof of how much I made since the beginning of the year.
So you have to be careful you didn't make too much, probably.

 

You'll be fine man. The biggest concern of most newbies is home time and that they have families. If this is not an issue it will make life on the road a lot easier. Once you are out there you can do whatever you want. If you want to take pictures, knock yourself out! There are many beautiful spots in this country to do so. That is one advantage of driving over the road, especially for the carriers that truly run all 48 states. You will get to see just about every town and city out there! Like any other job you will have your ups and downs. If you are negative type of person your experience will most likely be negative. If you are a positive person and have a good outlook on life, you will probably find the career to be quite enjoyable.

When choosing a carrier or company you don't have to settle for one of the top 5 mega-carriers just because you are new driver. With a little research and effort you should be able to find a pretty decent company to work for. Usually the smaller, less known companies are the best ones to work for. While you are in trucking school however they are going to push the top 5 down your throat! They get paid to do so. They also make it very easy to get a job with them. Like I said, the extra effort will most likely be a better pay off.

Good luck...

 

Hey Geo, I hope it all works out for you. I'm taking this journey as well.

 

Interesting thread. Thanks for sharing. Just finished my second week of school. I'm really enjoying it.

 

Yo Geo; It doesn't take long to get a pr-hire in most cases. I got a pr-hire from con-way in 2 days once I submitted my info.
Why don't you call Harris corporation and see if they need your expertise in composite material. They have a carbon fiber department down in Melbourne Florida. They do a lot of work for DoD.
Good luck