Been driving one year, and enjoy it, mostly...

After 9 layoffs over a three year span and numerous odd jobs, I finally decided to change vocations and become a truck driver, which is something I was interested in when I was a kid. My biological father and little brother were truck drivers and both of them enjoyed it. Neither are in trucking anymore, one had a very bad accident leaving him paralyzed and the other died while on the road. Both were verysafety conscious, but as theyonce said, no matter how long you have been driving, you can always get hurt, as it only takes once. So, I am definitely for driving both legally and safely. My step-Dad was always fond of saying it was better to be overly cautious than a fatal statistic, and I would have to say that I agree with this sentiment.
I've driven dry vans and reefer vans and been both a company driver and a lease operator. My experience so far with the lease option hasn't been all that great, but it was due to problems I experienced with the carrier doing the lease. You cannot make any money if you are not running and not being able to get a dispatch for three weeks didn't help matters.

In any case, I am taking this as a learning experience and will go back to being a company driver while my wife gets her CDL so that we can team drive. Then once we have the money saved up to by a used truck, I will go back into the owner-operator arena.

Although times have been tough, when you get lemons, you should just make some lemonade and continue going forward. Currently looking for pet friendly companies to apply for.

Hope 2013 is great for everyone here and be safe out there on the road.

Kind regards,

R.W. Thumper H.H.Pruitt, PhD

 

We are split between Con-Way and Interstate Transport. Both are pet friendly, and both have programs for new drivers, as my wife is still studying to get her CDL-A license. I only have a little over a year of experience, and it appears that more options will open after I have passed the two year mark. So far I am enjoying the work. I like working with people, especially face to face, and I also enjoy driving. This vocation, unlike many of my previous ones, fills both of those needs. My wife and I are hoping that after we become a team, we can save up enough money to start the next stage of our plans, which involves opening up a truck stop, but not like any that are up and running at the moment. We are interested in vertical farming and we want to bring in more options for travelers into the travel center that is currently not available. We are still doing a lot of research in this area, but as I learn more I will post it here so that we can get feedback from all of you. If there are things that you, as a driver/traveler, would like to see in these travel centers, please let me know. I think that this is a niche out there that we can fill, and having drivin for awhile now, I see a lot of the needs out there, as I am always looking for things that is hard to get at normal truck stops.

Thumper