Applying for scholorship training and need to interview 3 truckers.

ok ill give you mine... ill send it to you in a pm

 

lol. lord jesus shes not using my cb

 

1. the ladies
2. the ladies
3. hard
4. not hard
5. looking out the window(especially driver side)
6. yes. the ladies
7. you get weekly advances
8. yes
9. all you can get.
10. 14 hour days
11. look and smell good. cant hear or talk a must.
12. alone(until pick up or delivery)
13. you need to keep learning how to get out of it.
14. yes
15. add 16 more questions
16. work hard.

 

1. What do you like best about your job?

captain of the ship. Assign a load and go. Be on time. One of the last work you can do without a excessive college expense or micromanagment.

2. What so you like least about your job?

Willfully obtuse Dispatchers. I always afraid I would be one someday.

3. If you were to become unemployed, how difficult would it be to find a job in a similar occupation?

That depends. Ive taken years of economic losses. Sometimes falling back on a farm and paving locally was a good "Retreat". It does depend on knowing persons who are willing to put you to work regardless of your history. Been fired OTR then show up 6 am ready to run Blacktop and Paver Trailer etc.

4. How hard is it for an experienced person to find employment in this occupation?

Moderately difficult. You would think I can have any trucking job I please. However I found Medical High Value loads in excess of million a niche work that eliminates much of the BS and problems of the industry. For myself. I find it motivating personally.

5. Give me an example of a typical day of work.

There is no Day. You are tying coil onto the flatbed and building a lattice lumber and nail securement around each one. In Logan County Ky at the shipper. It's going on 3PM and you need to get moving to be at Williamsburg VA to Anhauser Busch Bottling that is waiting on your three aluminum coil at 7 am sharp. (They are JIT, literally hours from running out of coil) The overnight issues related to mountain work to get there is incidential. It was a favorite shipper reciever pair for me in my life. Sleep will have to take care of itself after you got empty and refueled, breakfast etc down in Warwick.

6. Is this a high stress position? If so, what makes it stressful?

Yes. I consider it a form of battle. I have not yet maimed or hurt anyone that I know of with a 18 wheeler, but who am I to know when the people get in your way and physics don't allow you to get that 40 ton killing machine off them. I am one of those damaged people who need to have that kind of trouble to do well. Im just not very good when bored and nothing happening.

7. What are the opportunities for advancement?

Ha. You might become dispatcher or trainer someday. But you will find that St Peter will have plenty of large cars for you in Heaven as a Driver. But aint got any dispatchers routed to him just yet. (Gone to hell)

8. Does this occupation typically provide benefits? A retirement plan?

Ha. Break the body, spend years fixing it. Like i am doing now. Just finished a total hip replacement surgery on clutch leg this week. That's about a $60K repair work and counting.

9. What kind of training, education, and experience would you recommend to get into this field?

You cannot. Your first load after earning CDL from State you learn how inadequate you are. But you pull up big boy pants and get going. Yer late. Each load will give you the knowledge you seek, provided you are not run into the ground within 90 days first by dispatch.

10. What hours and days so you typically work? Do you have to spend time working outside of these hours?

HOS has no meaning, you spend all your awake time (168 hours in a week, assuming 6 hours sleep night or day and you get going for 20 hours before another rest.) You try to eliminate anything that adds unnecessary or parasite type time to your problems getting unloaded. (Ie, Drop hook instead of live unload or load)

(Preparation, maintenance of equipment, overtime, meetings, volunteer work)

You are not going to have the stamina to volunteer nothing, overtime will grind your bones. There is no meetings, only one way converstations focused against you by DOT, Lawman, Safety, Irate Dispatcher etc. Maintaince or not depends on who owns it and if he or she actually gives a ####.

11. Are there other qualifications needed for this job? (Strength, good eyesight, specific skills or abilities)

Ability to shake off bad things that happen to yourself or others around you. People wrecked on Sandstone (I-64) in winter and sometimes either burn or bleed out in the debris with EMT still some time away. If you are careful you learn not to stop if possible because you cannot be taking that trauma home to your family mentally.

12. Do you typically work with co-workers, customers or alone?

Alone. Anyone and everyone is a necessary annoyance. Some are legends of thier time.

13. Are there any continuing educational requirements for this occupation?

To hold a wheel? To have a computer do everything for you? To understand just how crappy the moderen rigs have become? You would be looking for other meaningful work later in life.

14. Do you believe this occupation is going to exist 5 years from now?

Yes. America runs on trucks. Fuel, Food and necessity. Stop those and we will not be a Nation with a peaceful society anymore within about two weeks.

15. Any additional insight on what I should be doing to prepare for this position?

You have a journey that will take a life time to learn it all. Might as well settle in and take it day at a time.

16. What advice would you offer someone new in this occupation?

God help you. Get going, yer late already.

 

You will find being a trucker in many families in our society, about oh... 85% of people will cause you to feel unwelcome by family. Who are you to go trucking? is there something wrong that you wont get a real education or a real JOB? Etc. Artificial demands imposed by family is a source of incessant conflict. As if somehow I am free as a bird escaping the confines of the office cubicle on a 9-5 being told what to do.

People are not truckers. But those who are.... The entire Nation owes it's dinner table, home and very way of life to all of them who do it. Unseen, unrecognized, unacknowledged and ununderstood.

(As a deaf trucker it's especially worse for me... I am not supposed to escape the envelope folding workshop or some regimented controlled least restricted environment to actually go truck. Im supposed to be handicapped and do nothing but sit looking at the bedroom window.

No thanks. I don't do what I am told I can't. I'll die a trucker.