A question for whoever else has been through this!

I'm really trying to figure out if Chele is for real or not. If he/she IS for real, it seems he/she is certainly confused. Perhaps English is not his/her first language.

Anyway, to answer the first post here, If you are serious about staying in trucking, you need to forget about your vacation, and get busy finding another job. You don't need to wait any time, and the longer it is between jobs, the harder it is to find a job.

As I see it, you have some things going against you. First, your lack of communication is something that you need to work on. Second, you're driving record is certainly less than "Stellar." (That means in ain't very "bright.") . . .

Seems to me that you need to concentrate on what you are doing. When you are driving, THAT is what you need to concentrate on. Now that you are NOT driving, (or working at all, apparently,) you need to concentrate on finding a job. The bills and living expenses continue.

 

Ask the guy across the street from me....he's 72 now. He FINALLY retired, he was forced to, to care for his wife. She has cancer.

He tried to retire several years ago. Company sweetened the pot. He stayed on, his wife retired. They drove team.

He actually retired a year or 2 ago. County asked him to drive PT, couple days a week as needed. So he drove up until a couple of months ago. We have a small community, so it's easy to get jobs like that, everybody knows you....and your character.

Many people maintain a certain level of "work" in their retirement years. To avoid boredom and health deterioration.

Life and retirement isn't always about what you think it should be. Because everyone thinks differently.

The guy that does my yard, is in his late 70's. He had a stroke this summer. And we all called his wife to check on him. And to see if we needed to find another person. I certianly didn't want to be responsible for killing him.

HIS answer, he'd rather die on that lawn mower. Than sitting in a rocking chair.

He finished my yard again, about 30 minutes ago.

 

Not LTL, but take a look at some of Schneider's Wal-Mart dedicated tractors...the slip-seated units. Rolling atrocities!

 

The only real fender benders I've seen that don't always count are when elk or that buck you'd rather have been tracking ran out in front of the truck...bit messy and an OH C R A P! moment to any seasoned trucker...and unfortunately my mind keeps replaying a Monty Python skit of hedges since you posted the wall in the bushes.

 

I am a new driver, still in training. My trainer hit a big buck (probably upwards of 300 lbs) last night, and punctured the radiator amongst other things... I only have about sixty hours drive time, but could definitely sense the "OH C R A P!" that this caused! I try to look at the bright side though - staying in a hotel and got a fresh shower!! That and it goes on the record as "road debris".
I can not wait to get back on the road again though to get my training done and over with and see my family again!

 

Hitting bushes, signs, and overhangs is just complacent and lazy. You should be scanning the area at all times. Not sure you know this but you're in a diesel! If you don't know what's in front of, above, behind, and below you... Either get with the program or QUIT! I've been hit by two people so far in parking lots and they both drove away. Also got my mirror popped by some hot rodding dirt hauler in Dallas (scariest day of my life on the road so far, talk about "oh ####!" losing your mirror at five in Dallas qualifies.) The total disregard for safety or other's time and property is sad. You're eventually going to hurt someone. What if someone's kids had been in that bush instead of the wall?! This is just another reason it's so hard for good drivers to get started. Company's spend ridiculous amounts of money on insurance because so many "truckers" out there don't care about anything other than their next meal.

 

I think the point is, why in the heck would you hit the bushes, period? What's behind them doesn't matter.