Decision time.

If you are training at the Lancaster yard they are really good. If you don't understand something, ask for help. The trainers really want you to succeed. Good luck!

 

What makes you want to start driving a truck at age 68?

 

At 68 the human body for all intent and purposes is worn out. The basic things ALL drivers must be able to do is get in and out of the truck, raise and lower the landing gear and slide tandems. These actions are easy for some 20 something, not so easy for a senior. I am 62 my comment is not some knock-on seniors. I am just pointing out some facts. I am having shoulder surgery on the 12th at the VA hospital near me. I have rotator cuff tears in both my shoulders. I am getting my left side done on the 12th and my right side later in the fall. I have had shoulder problems for years. I say go for it at 68, just be careful how you yank on those shoulders. These rotator cuffs can tear very easily and yours has 68 years of use as it is.

 

Everbody ages different. I know alot of guys who are all broke down in their 60's and I know some who are in their 70's who can outwork a younger man. Im 64, and have my aches and pains, but sliding tandems, climbing into trailers, and unloading some pallets is no problem for me. Im retired now, lift weights and walk a treadmill for an hour a day 6 days a week.

 

Boy, don't I know that. I remember once taking a tractor to a local tire business that replaced all 8 tires on the drives. The guy that did it was a black man close to 75 years old and was alone. These were the old tube tires with locking ring wheels. That man had that job done in a little over an hour, sooner if not for an old air pump that hampered him. Takes a while to air up a locking ring type wheel in those cages.

 

I know a man in his 70 s that does mobile truck , trailer repair, mostly tires.

 

How you age depends on how you took care of your self over the years. If you eat to much, smoke, don't exercise and don't take your high blood pressure meds, dont use your cpap machine, well then you might end up like these drivers you hear about who go to sleep in the bunk and then never wake up. They only find them when they decompose and the odor starts leaking out. I've heard the average age of a trucker is 60 years old.

 

Never to late to change your ways. In the meantime better make sure your family is provided for if you die on the road. Have some money set aside for your cremation and then your ashes will be fedex to your wife's house. If ya want to be buried then save up alot more, so that they can ship the body to the nearest funeral home in your hometown.