Drowsy Driving, Zero Options

I spent some time on this forum I think in the early time to help those who may benefit in some way. The dam burst when story telling started.

In the realm of trucking we are individuals. Great and Small. Unfortunately I have seen a passing of a great generation of truckers and saw the beginning of what will be our eventual replacement by robots. There isnt anything more to see.

Where I am in my age in life, I plan to make several trips to particular places to do particular activities. I never take vacations. Thats the big thing. Run millions of miles and for what? Well... These United States is a awesome land and I am happy to have run it, particularly our mountain ranges. That was what I did best.

I'll get back on the road one more time and wrap that stuff up. And be paid for it. and I think that will be the end of that.

Not just yet.

 

this just in, regarding parking on the road/shoulder
(give me time, i am trying to post a pic of the area, story will follow)

Google Maps

ok pic posted, now read this..and say to me that no matter what, the car driver will not win any lawsuit for the truck parked on the road/shoulder.....

there is a speedway and truckers have been known and I HAVE SEEN THEM parked on the shoulder for a cup of coffee at the 24 hour speed way....

Man arrested after crashing into tractor-trailer, police say

 

You’ve got way too much time on your hands......juxtapositions? Beat the band?

While I enjoy this forum, it is most informative, when the weeds get deep for this simple mind, that’s when I just kind of drift away.

No offense....

 

1xheavy.... I can actually see your rig disappear over the crest one last time as you head for “better” hills. Too bad old Red Sovine isn’t around, if he didn’t have a song like that he sure could make one.

I’ve wanted to truck since I was a kid. I used to sit with my buddy Wayne on a footbridge that spanned Hwy. 41 in Wisconsin and watch the trucks go by. My Dad was trying to make ends meet so he went out and got his CDL... he ran beer in a late 70’s “binder” ... La Crosse to Milwaukee and back, every day. I got a CB and listened to the Busy Body and the Oklahoma Trojan, memorized the 10 codes.

Oh then old Jerry came around, and I had to have that W900 KW. Hooked me into everything from pulling out Pittsburgh, rolling down that eastern seaboard, to Movin on. I knew KW, Pete, White/Freightliner, Mack (cuz that truck could put them ALL to shame), Diamond Reo, International... spot them as if I owned them.

Then you graduate high school and in my case, the Army got me. Instead of a truck, I got a rifle. And I got to use it.... and brother others used theirs against me. You think you deal with BS in trucking, try combat in the Army. I know now why Frank Winters in “Band of Brothers” decided after the first day in Normandy that if he lived through the war he’d live out the rest of his days on a farm.

When I got out, I decided to work at KW. I trimmed engines, set engines on chassis’s, did exhaust, fuel tanks, trimmed cabs and sleepers.

After all of that.... I still wanted to drive.

Now I’m 54. I’ve been taking care of kids, and I’m comfortable. Nice house, new cars... much of my life paid for, my wife makes bank. I hear it all the time... you got it good... you should retire now.

I still hear those trucks passing me on that foot bridge..... every nightmare I read here, every crying complaint. Things need doing... and they need doing right. I’m well aware of the crap that has to be waded through.

The stories, tell them. It’s educational. But some folks here... they just want to give it a shot.... and whatever flavor of BS you tell them they ain’t buying.

It is great to hear the good and the bad...I appreciate it all. Just remember that I don’t know you from Adam... and whether you have one year or sixty... it isn’t going to matter. People are still going to want to drive.

 

buddy wanted to point out how all of us are wrong, it seems no matter what. The run I posted is one of the ones I do every so often. I deliver to a sheetrock supplier in Austin that is known to be a cluster F every morning with trucks trying to get unloaded.

I really wanted to hear what he would do when dealing with a lack of parking in the Austin area.

 

I got me tin faward gears and a georgia overdrive..

 

Buddy wanted to let y’all know you’re wrong because you ain’t gettin it.

If you folks out there trying to prove he’s wrong.... you must be under 30.

If you’re over 30 you ain’t got a lick of sense trying to bust old buddy.

Let it go... life’s short, the road is long. Get some shut eye... DO something.

 

try not to retire until at least 62...retiring before that, you will severely cut into your SS benefits.

now, i ain't saying retire years later than 68, like i have done, but you earned that SS you have been putting into.

 

Someone enlightened me that “Jimmy” (That’s GMC to all you younger ones out there) made trucks back then too.

Oh I remember... Pig Pen hauled hogs in a Jimmy.

 

It’s why I’m moving to Iowa. Family is there... kids for my kids. Wife’s family, a house full for the holidays.

With where we’re at right now, if it were just me, SS and my KW pension wouldn’t cover rent. I’m about 45 minutes outside Seattle. Mortgages are 3500$ a month. My wife works over 60-70 hours sometimes a week. You try and move further out, maybe get some property, then you’re either in poor schools or paying a million or so for the place.

It’s a rat race.

We decided to make a move. I wanted to work.... so I’m going to do something I’ve wanted to do (drive) and in a couple years she can quit and do what she wants to do. Money has nothing to do with it. (If I wanted I could be an owner/operator before I ever got my CDL-because I could buy a truck today)

It’s the lifestyle. We’re tired of pouring money into a pit to look better than the neighbors. We’re on a country club lifestyle and prefer our beer in a Dixie cup.

I’m hoping to retire at 70. I met a couple in a W9.... in Missoula. They were 74. Said they wanted to make money in retirement and see the country... so they bought a truck. To each his own, but good for them.

Slower pace, slower lifestyle. Less rat race.