Experiences

Seems like there’s part of the story missing, although I think I get it.

 

Dealing with other drivers who are clueless about driving.

 

An abbreviated version.

 

In my time family and friends disappeared. You were gone months at a time.

When you return you are not the same as you were when you left. Eventually very few people remain in your life that understand it and what you do. Everyone else goes on with their futures as if you do not apply anymore because you were no longer around.

Anyone can hire a dishwasher. But mighty few truckers get past a certain amount of time, and for my part being deaf and escaping that culture which has had certain very strong society type restrictions imposed against it since the founding of our nation to be a trucker and one of a few other deaf in my particular state doing the same type of thing in different vocations, dump truck, construction and fewer OTR.

As a kid i knew I was going trucking. Other kids did not know what they want until they got there. But I was working towards that goal since my uncle took us through some truck lots looking for equiptment to run freight when I was very little, it made a impression that pretty much set my life. a family friend pretty much set that when we were in the back of a B model dump to a quarry in Baltimore County and then learned how to operate (Sorta...) a cat dozer with tracks against little gravel. Nothing too wild. But worth a education a day out. That set it for me.

Trucking was first and best for me. Not necessarily for the people I left behind to do it. Out of all of them, mighty few has stayed with me over the years.

When I left trucking school, a instructor told me I got about 56 years old before something breaks in the health, body or getting injured, killed etc. Make it good. I got close enough. But lost many along the way.

I rather celebrate the ones I managed to save somehow. But first I need a few minutes alone to beat up the dumb ones who put me into that position with a 40 ton tractor trailer...

It's not all me. I had some good help along the way. Daddies if you pardon the term. Trainers is a better one. Teach you this and that and something else when in trouble or something is not right with the truck, load or something else.

But... I was not a professional back then, I became pretty outlaw back in the day and feel bad about it now. Because some of the companies could not give a flying #### about that logbook and silly hours. If you cannot be in toledo from Baltimore overnight monday like you were supposed to, they fire you and find someone who would.

Later in my years I swung the other way becoming pretty cold hearted professional and it created problems until I teamed with the spouse. I can tell you that I met a awful lot of wonderful gals, but #### few had what it takes to run with me. (Or the other way around.)

For that you have to ask what is the money value of the earth. To own the whole world against having the love of someone good?

Ive had that love and they can burn the planet for all I care. I consider myself rich in other ways than money.

Leave the tissue alone, this Nation runs on trucking. And we have to have this trucking the way it keeps our Nation not much more than say 5 to 10 days from loss of society to anarchy from no food, no gas, no nothing. ever since we stopped running steam railroads into every little town and everyone ran delivery trucks etc and have had a good life everynight at home and turned into a 24/7 country things changed.

It also changed when China, Mexico, Canada, and others took over our industry which was shipped over seas. Today students cannot learn much more than "You want fries with that?" ugh. Trucking offers something greater. Unfortunately I think if you looked at the industry as a whole, it's under alot of pressure like a failing star collapsing under it's own weight of regulations, money and the same old low pay and Circus barker recruiters bawling each batch of fresh generations of kids who knew nothing about what they are about to get into only that they are going to get alot of money and all that.

Not necessarily.

Some experiences will not be online ever. I'll take some of that to the grave with me. No harm done overall.. generally. You can be sure of that. The internet here makes it easy to learn things than before. But in my time you had 10 days to LA, get going yer late. Today you cannot hardly get anything done on your own time without management fighting to kick your butt moving again. Especially if you dare to run a few minutes late on a load that really isnt that important and will take a few weeks to sell out across a city wide area for example.

I found my best match running Medicines OTR (Very expensive...) and later into heavy equiptment. But that's it for me. I might still have a little time to pick up something else and get into it. But that's that for me other than stories and teaching. (Pending corrections and updates and so on so forth etc.)

 

Being away from your family for extended periods of time is probably the most detrimental thing you can do to yourself and to your family.

The lack of a personal life, the lack of companionship, your children, your dog, your friends, your personal hobbies. Everything you enjoy is robbed from you. This career will take so much from your life. Personally,.. I could never do this for company driver wages or the way they run their drivers.

I stop in a truck stop to grab some fruit and energy drinks. The clerk says,.. Oh thank god its Friday. She has a better life. At least she goes home. Friday? Its just another day. As long as your under a load,.. you are responsible for that load until it is delivered.

Constantly have to check over your truck. Check everything. Anything that DOT may gripe over needs to be taken care of. Then need to watch out for sabotage from other drivers or civilians while your were a sleep.

Always have to stay vigilant. Did you get caught in the left lane going up a hill with 8 cars in the right lane,.. none of which will let you over? Now the car that was behind you in the left lane, blaring his horn and flashing his lights expecting you to magically go faster has a case of road rage. You get over to the right,.. they pass and cut over in front of you only to brake check you like their whole world crashed because you blocked them for 1 minute climbing a hill. It takes so much mentally to keep on top of everything. Many people cant handle it.

Hurst

 

And thats putting it nicely.

Hurst

 

Exactly......the only thing that makes this job human is having your own truck. Working for nickles and never knowing for sure when you're going to be back home is no way to live. When I was a company driver, I'd start getting pissed off the day I came back on the road; because I'd know for sure they wouldn't get me back home on time.
The other thing is other truck drivers. Between traffic, low wages, no place to park, crummy food, insolent and straight up rude shippers and receivers, being subject to some kind of inspection every time you cross state lines, and the list goes on and on......the result, a lot of really, really angry and aggressive people piloting 80,000 of steel. It can be frightening sometimes.

 

The only way I survive mentally is to run back to back until I get enough cash put away to where I can take off for a few weeks.

There are companies where drivers only get a 34hr restart at home every 6 - 7 days,.. the rest of their life is spent inside that truck. Or others,. who may get 2 - 3 days off every 4 - 6 weeks and at completely random intervals.

Your son has a home coming game he wants you to be at? Good luck. Daughter getting married? Good luck. Wife in the hospital? Good luck. Company does not care. Complain and you will be replaced with a new rookie they can corrupt.

Thats trucking.

 

That truck was basically a jail cell I was paid to guard, and I still have nightmares about being late

 

It took almost a year for my family to adjust to me being gone during the week and only home on weekends. My kids are grown, but 2 still live at home. I started late (age 55) after 30 years of 9-5 with my own company and home every night. The kids and wife called me almost daily for the first 6 months I drove and now barely call the entire week I'm gone. I guess they get used to not having me around after a while and learn to deal with things themselves and became more independent.

Life on the road isn't bad depending on who you're working for and how hard they run you. A couple years ago I worked for a very small outfit with 2 trucks. They made it sound very easy when I hired on, but after a couple weeks I was driving 11 straight hours a day and loading/unloading 4-6 additional hours 6 days a week. That burned me out quickly. In the process of becoming an O/O now with my own authority and will never work for anybody else in this God forsaken business again.