Once you get six months to a year of experience where should you go for the big buck$?

Understand the reasoning but it still sucks.

 

Not really, your life may just depend upon you being clean shaven. I would shave, that is if they were paying enough.

 

Don't pull tankers. I'm like you and I refuse to shave as well. I wouldn't want to breathe any of those chemicals in. You could always pull gas, diesel or water. As far as I know they don't require respirators. I even stopped looking at Bruce Oakley for dump buckets because they have a no beard policy. There's is simply because the owner just doesn't like them. That's the worst IMO since it has nothing to do with safety at all.

 

I just keep thinking how much I’d look like Paul Blart with only a mustache.

 

I have heard that one of the reasons Hitler had his mustache cut back so far was that he almost died because his then bushy mustache did not allow the seal of his gas mask to fully close around his face. This is a real concern and if my memory is right why some firefighters can't have facial hair.

 

I'd go totally clean if I couldn't have a beard. It's all or nothing for me.

 

I know a couple of guys that died in a H2S exposure. Beards were the cultural norm in their country and getting guys to shave was a real pain. When those meat heads got themselves killed it didn't bother anyone that much, inshallah and all that. People had to suit up and go after them even there was no way in hell they were going to be alive. Guys were down and a rescue had to at least be attempted. You may not care if you die on the job but someone is going to have to go looking for you.

 

I don't have any problem being clean shaven for a respirator qualification. I've worked nuclear and chemical as an non-CDL with contamination, ammonia, formaldehyde, and other nasty chemicals. If a respirator or Scott air pack can get me out of a bad situation, I'm all in!

 

Yep, I did a lot of things in my life, this is my fifth business, my fourth round in trucking and I learned from watching the factory rats who worked to death just could not enjoy anything honestly. I have a cousin who started working at Chrysler in the '81 right out of high school, she will be retiring in five more years, she has a crap load of money, three husbands in the process but she isn't happy at all.

I have a policy to get people out of trucks for vacations. Burning out means less money for all of us, so it is simple, you are my driver, have a mandatory time out of the truck - take a vacation. On dedicated routes, I have floating drivers who fill in while the other driver is off, but outside of that, they park the truck and go somewhere away from it.

I have a team who is in Hawaii right now, they produce a lot of money, this is their second vacation in 6 months, second one. The last one was to China. when they get back in the truck next week they will be refreshed, they will run 3 months solid without a break (their choice) and that truck won't see anything under $3 a mile.

Shouldn't I take care of the most important part of my business?

 

Absolutely, right! After all you can't take any of it with you and you're only here once (according to most people) so why not make it count?