escaping

Dispatchers and terminal managers ave no say so in determining whether I'm too tired to drive or not.

 

Definitely feel you on that one.
After four years of doing the milk related hauls, I always run into that symptom of feeling tired during the last part of work.
You get home, but then you can't fall asleep naturally, short of sleeping pills or the cinder-block method(you'll go to sleep alright, but you won't wake up the same either).
I've also been looking at firing up a workout regimen again, but then that takes what little energy you have prior to bed and then you're up for another 5-6 hours!!

It's a deadly industry, and despite all the laws and such, most people outside of drivers still think this is some ancient time like the 70s or 80s when outlaw running was at its peak.
That said, keep turning these negatives into positives.
Use it as continual motivation to move onto something less tedious.

Apart from the old-school, bad habits being kept alive in this line of work, the macho mentality still runs rampant as well.

 

Anything that is hazmat tanker is going to usually pay better than average. Potential is $60-100+ k a year.