Another newbie fellas!!...

Wow!

You work with the less fortunate in the mental health field, don't like people, and think they tend to blame other people for their problems. I don't think a career change is going to help you like people anymore than you do now. No one has to like people, but you do have to "people" even from inside a truck.

It doesn't sound like you're heart is in it, or ever was, to serve your're clients. Sad that you wasted you're time for 20 years and your clients don't have an advocate that is giving it their it their best effort to fight for their lives - because that's how serious you're job is, it's a literal fight to save their lives. Well, it's definitely a great thing that, as you said, "decided to walk away from the field before someone (mainly me!) gets hurt" - except I would disagree with and omit "mainly me".

I'm commenting on this post, because like you, I work in the mental health field. I've spent the last 10 years either volunteering or working in the mental health field. My current job is working with adults with mental health disorders and developmental disabilities and am I am your age (52), I am also thinking about getting into trucking, but not for the same reasons as you.

 

You're both tougher than I am. I can't think of any job that would be more stressful than working with people that have mental health or drug problems. Trucking is a great career to get away from all that and have lots of solitude on the open road. Lots of night driving pulling refrigerated trailers; just sit back with a thermos of coffee and listen to Satellite radio and do some trucking through the night.

 

@Chinatown I am more way more of a night person than a day person so I think I would enjoy night driving.

 

You're a good fit for refrigerated trucking then. I like this video even though it's not my taste in music.

4:32

OGT- Las Vegas

Take a ride with One Girl Trucking and Rosie as they slide through Las Vegas in the middle of the night!

 

I used to stop in Boise every now and then at the Flying-J. Friend of mine lived in a trailer park close to the truck stop and I'd go to their home and have dinner and a long chat about the good old times we had in the Navy. Is that place still open?
.

 

Welcome and good luck. Keep us posted with your progress.

 

@Adelmo , when reading your initial post, I was shocked you lasted that long in your previous field of work. It is a hard and thankless job, coming from friends I have that do the same. Congrats on your sobriety, congrats on taking a new path and welcome to the forum. Chinatown is a wealth of knowledge. I follow him a lot on this just for his positive spin. Good luck.

 

@Adelmo I apologize for being so critical of you in my first post. I'm just so passionate about helping people in recovery, and you obviously are too. After you provided more context I understand better why you feel the way you do and why you feel so so burned out after all these years. You should definitely not put your sobriety at risk. I can relate, I've been in recovery for 10 years.

I commend you for all you've done for the recovery community. It obvious you were passionate about your work and you spent many long hours doing it. Compassion fatigue coupled with all the hours spent at work, I imagine it was very difficult for you to find time for self care which is so important when you are in recovery yourself.

I think it's great that you are ready to start a new chapter in your life, at our age, and that life may be trucking.

 

Yes @Chinatown the Flying-J is still there. I stopped by there today because I was in the same neighborhood checking out Knight Transportation's terminal. I wasn't sure if Knight's Boise terminal was still there so I drove by to see if it is, and it is still open.

I'm considering applying with Knight and having a terminal in Boise is a bonus. They used to show it as a terminal on their website, but it's no longer listed as such on their website. It looks more like a drop yard, but it does have an office on site and card reader access to open the gate.

So far from my research on Knight I like most of what I've learned. Not everything. Pro-tip for wannabe truckers: sneak onto company driver facebook group to get the skinny LOL. I snuck onto a Knight driver's facebook group that is for current and former Knight drivers "only". I wasn't even that sneaky - when I requested to join, I was asked if I was a former or current driver and I answered "no, but I want to driver for Knight" and they added me to the group anyway.

It's a really good Facebook group. The majority of drivers comments about Knight in the group are positive which is encouraging. The CPM pay is decent, not the best, and definitely not on the bottom end. But what I liked is their bonus pay which I think is realistic and achievable. This is based on seeing the actual Knight quarterly bonus pay document and what other drivers on TT forums and on FB have said.