An old man's career goes flat, Snackbar moves to open deck

You tried your hand at something new. Thats mire than some of us can say. Wish I was doing flatbed and oversize but I stick with what I know. Oh and retirement you are a truck driver there is no retirment for you

 

In the blood isn't it? I retired after 40 years on the road amd frankly missed the road and all that goes with it, especially here in France where the camaraderie between drivers is very close and is well catered for with the numerous family run restos specifically aimed at drivers, as well as the larger, big company, truckstops.

I stuck it for 8 years, owning and fostering dogs for various organisations and then was asked to transport a couple across the country. Word of mouth spread and before I knew it I was delivering and collecting dogs, and occasionally cats and other animals, thoughout the continent of Europe doing 80,000 kms a year. I only stopped after a midnight asthma scare and the arrival of covid. I still do the occasional short runs now, but my 2 dogs always go with me, so a bit limited in numbers.

If you retire it is essential to find another interest as close as possible to your own personality. At the moment one of those is this forum and the other is a UK one.

 

I see that new gate in Wichita. That might stop a vehicle from getting in, but that gap at the bottom won't stop someone from getting in without much trouble. That's gotta be a 2' gap at the bottom where the driveway drops to the street.

 

Did some calculations. Since the belief that it's the downturn in freight that is the reason my pay is down, I ran the numbers. Jan-June in 2023 I ran 64366 paid miles. Jan-June of 2024 I have turned 62614 paid miles. 1752 less miles this year. Here is the difference in pay

2023 -


2024 -




(This is the 1st paycheck in July for both years which reflects the earnings for the miles thru June)

So the downturn in freight volume has had little to do with the drop in my pay.

 

Got a load. A different customer in Wichita(not skid steers or TMX) going to LAX for Monday, and I keep my conestoga.

 

Wonder if I should check my axle weights to see if I'm legal (825 is the total weight)

 

You live in Florida why not look at Indian River? Food grade with no pump, they seem to get miles and long loads if not on the regional board

 

Never been too interested in tanker, especially smooth bore food grade.

 

There’s no downtime, not much aggravation, and very few incompetent customers in the tanker world. Three of SSB’s key requirements in trucking jobs.

 

But it's tankers so it's bad