21 Years old, no cdl, TYPE 1 Diabetic.

Unbeknownst to me, one CAN get a CDL now with type 1. I'll be ####. But there are hoops to jump through.

Commercial Truck Driving and Diabetes: Can You Become Truck Driver with Diabetes

 

LMAO....

Its not a job....its a lifestyle that could potentially kill a person with type I diabetes.

 

OP, a very close and dear friend of mine is also Type 1 and on the pump. Two weeks ago, her pump basically quit while she was sleeping. Thank God she was at her parents, and was taken to the emergency room before she slipped completely into a coma.

Yes, a waiver is TECHNICALLY available. But with so many non-diabetics available, why would a carrier take a (possibly fatal to you or someone else) chance on hiring an insulin dependent diabetic?

I'm truly sorry. But truck driving is not in the cards for you. And it never will be. The danger is just too high. Diabetes is a terrible condition that places a great many restrictions upon the victim, and this is one of them.

Stick with GM. Good job, good pay, decent benefits. And watch your health! There's only one of you. That makes you unique!

 

To put a positive note out there...
You are young. In the last 10 years huge inroads have been made for finding the cause of Type 1. Now that that is basically licked, they are working on cures. Who knows, in another 10 years it might be as dismissed as high blood pressure is now. I.E. easy fix that can easily be controlled, with no risk to the motoring public.
Keep the good insurance at GM, keep up on any inroads the medicos make on Type 1, and don't be afraid to take road trips to help with the wonderlust.

 

Like the others have said... You being on insulin is gonna be a deal breaker for any good driving jobs. This line of work will more than likely end up exacerbating your condition. It’s too much of a liability. And since you live in Michigan, if you wanted local work, you’d most likely be hauling auto parts for the big 3, which I’ve never personally dealt with, but I’ve heard many horror stories.

And I tell you what, you’re making a hell of a lot more money than I was when I was your age. And I’m only 28, so not too big of an inflation difference. The GM job sounds legit, and there’s so much potential for climbing the corporate ladder. You could make a great career there.

Good luck to you, and please keep your health in check. For your sake!

 

Swede, he would most likely be a train driver, cutting people off and spraying them with rocks as they pass them at 85.

 

Let's just set aside the diabetes issue for a second and get down to brass tacks here. Why on God's green earth would you give up a job like that to drive truck? Right now, you are earning good wages being paid for each and every hour you are on the job while enjoying a life outside of and away from the truck. Any hour after 8 or 40 is overtime. And I'm guessing the benefits at GM are top-notch and low cost? Throw ALL of that away when you hop into the big rig. Irregular route OTR trucking is a step up for the homeless, the unemployed, fast food workers, men dodging child support, ex cons, immigrants, etc. It is a HUGE step down for someone like you.

Where I live, GM rarely hires and when they do there's a HUGE waiting list of folks to get in. However, EVERY single road outfit is CONSTANTLY hiring and advertising for drivers. That alone should be proof in the pudding enough for you.

Don't throw away a good career and a future to chase a dead-end pipe dream !!!!

 

Ok now you know someone on insulin with a waiver lol.....it's not that big of a deal the initial paperwork requires your Endo to fill a packet out an eye exam and a current dot physical.
I think they are down to 90 days on processing initial app
Once approved you will have your meter audited every 90 days to your log book to ensure compliance along with an annual eye exam I automatically renews every 2 years . Been on this for 7 years easy to get hired anywhere.
They prefer your a1c runs around 7 but there is some leeway as long as your Endo signs off ...no driving when sugar under 100 or over 400 and must check sugar every 2 to 4 hrs but I am sure you have a cgm with your pump

 

I recall making around 620 average some weeks without the safety bonus which was anywhere from another 30 to 90 dollars weekly.

I think the electricity was 100, the cable another 40 and the telephone 120. (It had everything on it... until I disocvered the stupid roommate experimenting with the 900 calls once or twice.) and the rent of the two bedroom was 570 or so a month at best. It was not much of a life but even after half the expenses I was piling up a pretty good amount.

What I did discover was that roommate had been working for Dear Uncle Sam at the DOE (Department of Energy) which carries some weight actually. However they only paid him like 8.30 a hour (Not quite three times minimum of 3.35) and the gasoline commute was running him 200 per month into a non commute expenses of around two times that much running about every night to see his girl in DC and family and friends in the country. My own commute was either 3 miles round trip daily or 14 miles once a month if that.

What I did not know was that he was deeper into debt and found out his situation when dating someone who actually had a 7 year old daughter from a previously abusive marriage and found that I would have been loved (And vice versa) as a step dad. Children are that way sometimes when they choose to love you or hate you at that age. When we talked about marriage and the idea that the current roomate would have to relocate or we found a new home big enough for not just the new daughter but potentially more siblings in the future we learned that roommate was in less than ideal positioning.

That is one situation that I think got away a little bit probably I did not take a few days off that I had due me to take the girlfriend somewhere and really have a sit and talk over everything. That was the one thing that was both a problem and a asset. Too many friends around. Family actually. Which isnt that bad at all, but when something really important needs to be looked at privacy is the number one tool along with communication. I probably guess that daughter is probably around 32 now with children of her own most likely. I hope she has had a good raising up because that is not something you want to screw up being bad and abusive as her biological father was.

Sometimes I think trucking demands it's own price. To go away on a load away from family and friends. particularly new friends with a potential future together. That takes alot out of me.