Npr on driver shortage... Good info for new drivers

first mistake is listening to NPR tainted radio.

 

Well sir that's why they call it a forum and you can express your opinion just like I can .

 

I was being rather sarcastic. I do listen here and there.

is your handle based on the original Bazinga!!??

Love the Big Bang Theory

 

The "Good Old Days" you refer to is the story of one of my uncles running gasoline in the Red Ball Express under fire from German Warplanes. He was specifically commended by battlefield commanders and generals for demonstrating loading 300 fuel cans onto his rig rather than the standard load of 150.

This Uncle survived the war. went home and drive a gasoline tanker and made a good living. 1000 dollars in payroll wired via western union to Cumberland Maryland each weekend. One day he lost his brakes on the big Savage Mountain, which in those days did not have I-68 anywhere. It was the old 40, the National Road, and even older than the newer National Road designed and constrcuted to get trucks over a particularly steep hollaw that featured a boulder larger than 8 Greyhound buses stacked together.

After the Uncle ran the rig out on the bottom into down town Cumberland, lucky not to burn the city down somehow.. he hopped the railroad home. I think he knew he was good as done after that adventure on the mountain. Later in life I come along and met him, by then he had caregivers to try and make him comfortable in his last days in life which probably was a accumulated list of war injuries and a occupation without air ride suspension in sight.

Fast forward to about 10 years ago. Ive visited my brother with my bobtail on time off for a few days. A highlight of that bobtail was to take his Son, one of my nephews for a spin around the block. He loved it and declared then and there at 9 years old that he will be a trucker. I told him over my dead body because there are many things which is not tht nice and he ill understand some day.

As it turned out he followed his Father into the US Airforce and was deployed to war overseas in Afghanistan as a machine gunner, the exact same task my grandfather had in world war one with a BAR w/ the 79th Infantry Division under Pershing. The use of the BAR's by a infantry unit in the 79th was formally recognized as the first employment of light machine guns in battle. He would be more than pleased to understand that one of his descendants would do the same task with a machine gun of his own in time of war currently.

As far as trucking is concerned with me, It was a total and irrevocable escape from flipping burgers for 3.35 an hour, then the minimum wage. AND far greater attraction to me than money (Which was a nice part of trucking anyhow) was to see the United States and Canada as well as a little bit of Mexico.

Im very fortunate in trucking that all of the things I wanted to do I did. And humbled when the wife joined me on the road and made for a good solid strong reefer team. Im a rich man in things other than property and money for having done what I wanted in life without compromising or being weak or begging. Ive been also a home owner with a few acres of land free and clear and witnessed all the chances against same when Obama became president. We sold our home to get debt free by removing 45K in student loans that would have become a crippling anchor in our ability to use any kind of credit, any kind of financing or even be able to use a checking account that just got seized for missing a payment or three on that student loan balance.

That student loan is a monument to myself and my wife who left trucking but never truly left. We made a organized effort to learn a new trade in life Spouse succeeded and graduated, the first of her third and forth Generation immigrant family who became US Citizens to do so right around the world war two years on her side of the family. My side, we were lighthouse keepers and sea men and part of that family owned slaves which may or may not be true depending on the records which Im waiting on in a couple of years time. Part of my family date back to when Williamsburg was part of the Crown as British Subjects and another part possibly particpated in defense of Baltimore against the same when they came to invade the place in 1814 I think it was.

The good old days? been there done that. And they stand tall because it was our story, not always a successful story. A success any way you look at it.

Here is something else to consider. Im the first deaf in my family. I use hearing aids like you use glasses to see. No problem with DOT medical exams and no problem with the Telephone first then qualcomm later. Satellite communmiations that evolved with living arrangements which improved with the equiptment and eventually became a powerful situation in which I went ahead, took a 18 wheeler from Houston to Jaxville and return for 6 months and some weeks change without going north of I10 at all during one of the worst winters this nation has seen. T shirts and cut off jeans in the rain season. The money piled up really high as well that year. Prosperity baby.

The good old days. Ive also seen the BAD old days. And a couple I rather forget and don't wish on my worst enemy. You want a example? 400+ family members in the late 80's discovered I was going to trucking school in Baltimore off Haven Street and learn to drive a big truck on Big Savage mountain to the west and at the Beth Steel plant to the east and everything in between including Washington DC traffic.

90% of those 400 told me to go *&% myself I don't belong behind the wheel of a 18 wheeler. The worst thing they did to themselves was to be stubborn and stand against me telling me I can not do something that I am obviously doing and making happen with a Class A in my pocket which evolved into a fully endorsed CDL.

Ive have had employers in Westminster such as TBH concrete ready mix tell me Im over qualified and that A license is no good to them when they have 18 wheeler low boys, drop decks and so forth sitting outside the back door of that boss man's window in a sea of Class B ready mix concrete trucks. Oh by the way I wear hearing aids and it wont fit the radio. Bull ####. They are lucky I did not sue them under ADA.

The ingenuity of the Yankee Employer in denying a application is boundless.

Here in Arkansas I did work for a ready mix and went a step beyond work, I played well with a rock pile, sand pile feeding a ready mix plant with a CAT 936 wheeled front end loader which was my pride and joy in the blazing heat of 125 to 130 some days. Those stubborn yankees back home in Carroll County should burn at the stake for being stupid in denying a good driver like me and a future heavy equiptment operater to boot.

Their loss. My gain.

The good old days? We are living it today. Tomorrow we will have a converstation about the good old days.

The future? That's in the hands of God. There is no more stress or problems outside of deciding what to eat for breakfast and then deciding how best to use the time on hand to make today a good day and possibly help someone somewhere for a even better evening to celebrate.

I look forward to seeing you around a year from now to see this thread resurrected someday and we can take a moment and decide where we have been since tonight.

See you all in the morning. A new day.

 

The grass is NOT greener outside the trucking world. The trucking industry is one of if not the only place a person with a high school degree or no degree can actually make a living of more than 35k a year. This industry does have enormous draw backs for starting drivers that can actively deter them from staying. Most are just not cut out for it though.

I could have stayed in college and found myself in massive debt and fighting for jobs along side of 1000s of others like myself. Times have changed, college is not the go to solution for a cushy 9 to 5 job with great benefits or pensions that you can retire from at the age of 60.

These old time drivers must understand this. It's ####ty (bad) everywhere. Pick something you enjoy doing and run with it.

 

@Danch remember this place is a drop in the bucket when it comes to everyone in the trucking world. Most of the happy and content drivers will never come here. When people are angry they look for a place to vent. Happy and content people don't need to and you won't hear their side if the story unless you go out in the world and find them.

This is a great site with some very happy and grumpy people, take it with a grain of salt when you read these forums or any article. Don't be stuck doing something you hate because of a few.

 

A lot of truth in this post, Fallen. But let's not forget, not all the information is negative or false. I, for one, have had some really good help and information out of TTR forum.

I'm not really overjoyed to be out on the road,.I'm an OTR driver, and an I/C, doing what truck drivers do, but I do it because I kind of like a lot of the times I get into, I kind of meet some interesting people, and I like that settlement on Friday, a lot. So I do it and I think I'm just one of a number of people who accept the good with the rest. Like anything else, really.

It's true as you say, the grain of salt is useful. One thing I have noticed about many posts, is that the OP has a tendency to place any blame or fault on others, and rarely accept that they could have done better. Like the drivers who whine about moving over for stopped vehicles on the shoulder. Really? That's a problem? Best

 

Your original post was perfectly fine. It was honest and to the point. Unfortunately some got their lil feelings hurt because they've spent their lives making excuses and thinking of reasons why they supposedly can't find a better way of life.

 

@Danch Please understand that you need to do what's best for YOU and always remember that any profession is what you make of it. Life is full of ups and downs and any career path you choose will be a microcosm of your existence.

I've been in the industry for 25 years and, even though frustration gets the best of me sometimes, I don't think I'd do anything different. I've earned a darn good living throughout the years, making more than college graduates in some cases. I own a small side business and my personal home has no mortgage. I have new vehicles and a Harley because I wasn't afraid to work. Sure there were days, particularly in the beginning, that I wanted to say, "SCREW THIS" and run away, but in the end I'm glad I made it a career.

The flip side is that I can't wait to get out of it. I have a plan to move in to another profession in 10 years or less, that will give me right at 35 years doing this (I started at age 18. ) So many changes have occurred and it really does wear on a person, but that happens in any environment. Ask an experienced banker, pharmacist, grocery clerk, whatever and he/she will tell you that it "isn't the same as it used to be".

Most successful people will have one common denominator - HARD WORK. Pick your path, buckle down, and enjoy the ride. It's truly enjoyable.

 

So you are going to quit after reading a few whiny posts? How about you read some of the good posts on here first.