Is this crazy or what?

Go to a truck stop in high heels with your thumb out and some oranges under your shirt!

Would probably be easier if you maybe knew someone who was a driver. May be a bit of a challenge finding someone to take a stranger out in their truck with them. Course you would have to pay your own insurance if you did.

I took my brother with us on a run to CA from FL. Was pretty much a blurr to him! He thought like you did, that he would get to stop and fly fish or tour the Grand Canyon or something! We did stop in Palm Springs for an hour for dinner and a few slots but that was the extent of it. It took quite a toll on him! Even though we were only gone for a few days, he never slept because he couldn't get used to the bouncing down the road with the reefer running! He liked it somewhat but I don't think he would do it again.

 

Yep, getting sick on the road sucks and is probably the worst part about trucking! You will have days when you can take some time off and such. Only thing is you can't really drive the truck anywhere. You would most likely have to ride a bike or take a cab, rent a car etc... You won't have a lot of these days but they happen. Most drivers are so tired from running so hard and not sleeping good that when they do have a little bit of time they spend it sleeping or lying around in the truck watching tv or playing video games. I would from time to time go on a hike with the dog or put out the bbq and cookout. Kind of depends where you are at the time and if you have time. Most companies want you out for 4-6 weeks and then you have 2-3 days off. If you want you can request this time off anywhere in the country. Like I said though you are limited as far as driving the truck for recreation. You are also responsible for the truck so you don't want to just leave it unattended for long periods of time.

 

I have a bad feeling about this.

 

try craigslist, either men seeking men, or transportation

 

Maybe this may help you with your decision..

I was laid-off in the construction business as a Heavy Equipment operator this last July. Tried to find other work, however one requirement I was now running into, most are now requiring equipment ops to have a CDL. To shorten the story, I started thinking about just getting a CDL, and try OTR trucking for a while to gain experience. The last construction job I had, I drove a TT, pulling a 28' end-dump.

I was fortunate having a brother that is an OTR driver for a very small company. I went with him, even though he did not have a double-bunk sleeper. I never had tried sleeping in a moving truck, and found out this is not as easy as you may think. Any time that we spent for our 10, he had the sleeper, I had the front seat. After about 48 hrs without sleep, I finally was able to get about 6 hrs sleep in the bunk while he was driving.

I have to say that was about the most miserable week, yes I said week, that I've had in a long, long time. I learned the hurry up get there demands made by his boss, and yet we would have to wait for the business to open, because we arrived early. He's a flatbedder, so no bumping docks. Then not being able to load due to the weather. Cranes are shutdown when the lightning is flying. We had to wait a whole day to try to get loaded again. Then sitting in a truck, not allowed to get out, while it is 105 degs, only to get told that you will be unloaded for another day, while you sit in the middle of a cow pasture on a huge hill. One of those new wind-farms.

Vacation, fly-fishing, sight-seeing??? Really? Yep got to see Galveston, from the interstate, Port-Arthur, from the cab (again due to security, not allowed to get out of the truck). Oh and the Port at Galveston, was better to keep me in the truck. Heavy Equipment, dozers, loaders, blades, as far as I could see. I thought I had croaked and went to heaven. I would still be there running from one to the other, wanting to try them out...

To sum it up, I need a job, and the trucking industry seems to have an abundance of openings. Heck, I even was asking about proper training with computers through the Job Service, as I love working with them. Nope, no such luck, but they will pay or help pay for truck driving school. I've been heard time and time again, while working construction, I don't want to drive trucks, I just want to operate equipment!! Oh well, being forced into something to get a job that pays close to what I was making. Actually through the school, I'm finding that it may not be that bad. Still haven't got a real time experience, yet.

In a couple of weeks, shortly after Thanksgiving, I will though. I've completed a CDL school, and will be taking the state CDL test Tuesday. While I will not be driving a van, refer, or flatbed, I'll be pulling End-dumps OTR. Something that I can live with right now.

I do know that it's not a vacation, not a sight-seeing tour, and waaay more than a local job where you go to work in the same place every day. Thanks to my little brother, who's been doing this for around 15 yrs now, and hearing a lot of what he's been experiencing on a daily basis, with several different companies, I know it is very, very demanding, stressful, and yet challenging. It's going to be a lifestyle, that you must first convince yourself, get in the right frame of mind, and be ready for something that you can not possibly understand from the outside.

You'll have your dispatchers, the DOT, the cops, other motorists, other truck drivers constantly messing with you. You'll be under a microscope, every little thing you do will be scrutinized to n-th degree. Family will not or will not want to, understand why you can't make it to the barb-b-que. To further drive this home, how about having to fight with your company, to make it back home because your wife, is doing badly. Then only to have her die a short time later. Your company yelling at you because you should be on the road. How about having a grandson born, against all odds, surviving for a year, after doctors repeatedly claiming that he will not be born alive, and if he is, he will only live for a month at most. Only to have this miracle taken from you 2-weeks after his first birthday, by a truck-driver, driving with his head up his-###, passing another stopped truck, on the right shoulder, slamming into the car. You as the grandfather make it home in time to learn that he was killed!! This is what my little brother has had to endure while driving OTR.

Hey, it's a hoot, a real adventure, get to see a lot of the country, and not get to see what's within a short drive from your house.

 

I love these delusional wannabes.

 

Heck, when I was running flatbed I went fishing SEVERAL times in La and Florida.

 

If I want to go fishing while on the job, I just look for a boat ramp!