Hey everyone from Georgia!

Hello everyone, I'm Mike.

As an "about me" I want to share an email I sent to John - TexasAmateur OilTrucker on youtube. I hope to break out of where I am and what I am and change my life and the lives of my wife and two boys. Here goes:

John, I want to thank you for such inspiring videos. Can I tell you a little about me?


I'll be 40 this year, clean driving record (minus tickets in the past), best physical shape of my life and ready to make another jump in my life.


Right now, I'm seeing my life as a series of blind jumps. I didn't have the opportunity to do anything after high school except follow my parents into textile work in a cotton mill for very little pay. My 18 year old mind came up with another opportunity, the Army. That was blind jump #1. I can come up with all sorts of future job related experiences that I had in the Army, but I did generally what everyone else did in the Army.


Just before I left the military, I got married. This was NOT one of my blind jumps. I've been happily married to the same lady for 18 years.


When my Army time was up, I took what I could get. I worked for about 3 security guard companies for maybe 2 months and hated it. Low pay, sucky duties and odd uniforms.


The next blind jump was going into Corrections. Prisons will hire ex-military almost no questions asked. I wound up working in jails and prisons ranging from the local drunk tank to Maximum Security/Death Row. The training was good, the pay and benefits were...shrug...decent...I don't regret spending some of my younger years on that adventure, but it wasn't for the long term.


Next blind jump, tech support. I began working for Dell, fixing peoples computers over the phone. Possibly, you've talked to me at some point The Dell tech support position turned into another job working on E911 equipment (still phone tech support), that job turned into working for my local school system as, basically, the school computer guy. And that's where I am now.


Financially, and advancement-wise I have nowhere to go. I make approx. 60,000/yr doing what I do now. I could learn more, train myself to do higher up, more technical stuff - and frankly I have been promised the next "admin" position when it opens, if it opens. The problem is, there is no pay raise mentioned. I have the opportunity for more work, more hours, more stress, and no additional pay.


Of my group of 15 or so coworkers, I am the -ONE- who takes problems, figures them out, fixes them, documents my fixes, tries to help others work smarter, and so on. My coworkers, bless their hearts, are very typical Government Employees whose goal is to Earn A Paycheck. Folks that I've confided in tell me that if I'm a goal oriented, efficient person - one who wants to do things fast, turn a profit (even if the profit is in time, not money) I will never be happy working for a public school system or the government in general, as everyone else's goals are opposite of mine.


So, John, the plan that I'm crafting now has to do with Texas, oil, and trucking. I could go on and on about "Why I'd make a good truck driver based on my personality and past experiences" but as this is another blind jump of mine, I really don't know.


I know that my hope is to obtain my CDL here in Georgia, and apply for everything I can down that way. So I come to you looking for some advice.


1) Recently, I've read that Schneider Trucking contracts in Texas to provide trucks to oil companies. Supposedly, they hire right out of CDL school for this. Do you know or have an opinion on this?


2) I have two distant relatives in the Houston area that (maybe) would let me temporarily use their place as a home base until I have more figured out. How feasible would you think it is to have a place there and, I guess, strike out around Texas driving a big truck?


3) I have a resume' but it is very IT industry related. I need to redo it to highlight the many safety classes and training I've had throughout my life (fire.first aid, CPR, SCBA, chemical protection stuff) but most of it is in the distant past. Of course, First Aid and CPR certifications should be renewed, but how important, really, would my experience be if it was as far back as the 90s?


Again, let me tell you that I've watched all of your videos probably 5 times each, they make me want to pick up my car keys and leave where I am. but that's a little scary in reality. if you've been a teacher in a public school system you should know the doldrums that I feel like I'm in. Thanks for any help or correspondence you can give!