Best boots/footwear for a regional driver?

Hay at least when i threaten to put my boot up someones ### most people pause to consider

 

Wolverine Durashocks are my boot of choice. Almost no break-in needed, slip/oil resistant soles, and very comfortable to walk in. Available in various styles and features (waterproof, insulated, composite, steel toe) and the composites are almost indiscernible from the plain toe in size/weight. Reasonable in price, ~$150-175

I haul cars, not flatbed, so I do lots of walking and climbing, 30+ miles most weeks. I get 6 to 8 months out of them, and the sole and upper are generally both showing the wear and tear. It works out well, when it's time to switch to/from insulated, the boots are ready to be replaced, although I do sometimes get 2 winters out of the insulated depending on where I'm working and how often I need to wear them to stay warm.

 

Ahh, now that's a good and appropriate word that I didn't have in my vocabulary to explain why I was worried about driving in Steel Toe...."feedback." That's perfect and what I had read, but couldn't describe correctly.

Agreed. But here is the next question for that line of thinking...if I get to a job site that is "mandatory" Steel Toe, will anyone actually care or enforce that the boots are composite and not actually Steel Toe? I am kind of a boyscout on honesty and don't want to get into a spot where they won't allow me with composite and/or find someone that would make a stink about it. I would think that it's not an issue, but I honestly don't know. I plan on getting all endorsements as well as a TWIC card so my options on freight are unlimited. I don't know what places like maritime or DOD stuff requires and how much someone would drill down into finding out if I have Steel Toe versus composite.

My feet really do run really cold in the winter, so I don't want to get Steele Toe if I don't have to. At the same token, the brand of shoe I prefer (Keen) only makes one pair of composite and if it's not comfortable after I try them on, it might just end up being Steel Toe anyway.

 

I don't go as many different places as a lot of these guys but I have never been checked to see if my boots are actually steel toe. I usually wear Wesco and they look a lot like steel toe even when they're not.

 

As a fb driver, most nazi-esque places on verifying safety gear would be alcoa (aluminum plant) or certain steel mills.

And they usually want more than you have anyway (1 alcoa plant wanted me to wear their dumb steel over the boot "protectors" because my safety toe wasnt enough, they wanted shanks too. Thats pretty much it)

As for being honest, im 100% truthful when asked a question, the trick is two-fold,
1, dont get asked a question, do the asking yourself, they will assume if you ask what safety gear is neccessary and you say "i have it" that that means youll wear it, but thats not what you SAID
2, when answering, never volunteer more than was directly asked

 

I like the Cintas work boots/shoes. It's like a heavy-duty tennis shoe with a thick durable work sole, but they are comfortable like a athletic shoe. You can get them in steel-toe, composite-toe, or soft-toe. I'm not wearing flip-flops or sandals like some prisoner, tourist, or barbarian.

 

So which one am i?
If i had to guess its probably some weird admixture of the 3

 

I love my Timberland Pro, comfortable like sport shoes and not so heavy.

 

I am on my second pair of Timberland's over a seven year period. Light and comfortable and last forever

 

Thorogood makes pretty solid work boots. They are comfortable, sturdy built, and not as expensive as Red Wing.