Rough start, appreciate advice

you can always try cement hauling. you could be the jobsite specialist - normally there is equipment you have to nudge out of the way, the places are mudpits, the trucks and trailers take a real beating. it's fun. or log hauling. they live offroad.

anyhow, i believe you should still be able to find work. may take a little longer, and you will have to put in more apps.

 

Dont be discouraged, I think some of these guys are being a little harsh and some sound outright cynical.

Heres what a 65 year old veteran trucker did to one of my trucks the first year.

Hit someones brand new trailer with his trailer at a truck stop. Claim was filed. Backed into a loading dolly. Ran an engine hot for 30 mins and burned it up.

Ya, I loved it when HE said well looks like you had some bad luck.

FIRED.

Now that guy will have some problems getting a job. All you have are some growing pains, these hands that are finger wagging at you are either too stupid, old or insecure to remember their rookie year.

 

that's what I was thinking, did not know the terminology and would suggest "chain of events evidencing expected result" or other simpler as these are not "triggers"

I see these sometimes though in the industry I am familiar with they can usually be spotted in a few hours, I avoid keeping them somehow as future cost will be too large even if major / significant failure does not occur. OP has a lack of grasp of what the machine actually is and does, needs to consider burger-flippin or do "aptitude testing" at local college which will provide OP with some area of activity that does not risk 55,000 # @ 55 mph

{ OP: That is not an overly large post as if such detail is needed, that is why we are here & the information is the only way to provide response. }

 

old????? stupid ??????? says the rookie.

 

Yessir, I still scare myself and hope I always keep vigilant. I'm not Gods gift to trucking. I drive a flat and still have trouble backing and I am that guy you see that gets out 2- 3 times and pulls up even more. Thus, I certainly consider myself a rookie. A rookie at life, rookie at driving, a rookie at business, a rookie at women. Some days you just feel like a rookie, or as a buddy told me once; some days your the dog and some days your the fire hydrant.

The OP seems honest about his mistakes and acknowledges his misjudgments, he had some truck rash and some of you guys are telling him to flip burgers.

Yes, old and stupid applies in my case as I hired a 65 year old veteran and he trashed my equipment like he needed a drool cup. Years of experience does not guarantee anything, it does however put the odds in your favor when hiring anyone for any job.

And BTW, I thought everyone knew that rookies know everything.

Did not mean to go off on a tangent, Ill roll my chair back after I get up and make sure my lazy dog is not parked behind me. Would not be the first time I rolled over her tail.

 

I am not to old or to stupid to remember my rookie year.

I do remember NOT hitting or running over anything !

In fact I remember that for the last 32 years I have not hit or ran over anything at all !!!

It is not luck it is not because everyone else looked out for me or because it was different " back in the day " !

The difference is I know that I am responsible for doing my job . That means NOT running over persons pets or things !!!!

Getting out and looking is no different today than it was " back in the olden days when we trained on dinosaurs .

I feel that being a rookie is no excuse for running over things or backing over stuff. It is YOUR job not to run over or hit stuff . It is called truck driving not sitting your butt and seeing the pretty things along the way job.

But I guess I can say what is that your want hear .... It is not your fault that you runn over things....it's not your fault that you back over things that you could have avoided by just hitting your brakes .... It's not your fault that the world doesn't move out of your way so that you won't hit them .

I am just an old grouchy no good mean S.O.B. I know that and accept it but you didn't have a rough start in my opion you had a short career of damaging equipment and objects .

Just a reminder and a heads up for wannbe's truck driving is not just about getting from point A to point B ! It is about doing it without doing damage to ANYTHING or ANYONE ! We used to call it doing your job and doing it safely .

Ok I have droned on for long enough so I will step off the soap box and go back to my corner .

 

Hahah Marmon I always enjoy your posts, your a straight shooter, It's refreshing to read what you write.


My advice to the OP is to find a job driving straight truck like a cement mixer or dump truck and get a couple of years experience in. Driving a straight truck will get you into alot of tight spots and give you plenty of experience shifting and dealing with the weight of a loaded truck in all of the twists and binds of off road driving. It would be good experience and might help you out alot.

You live in Texas...go work on a frac crew or something if you cant find a straight truck gig.

I know alot of people are going to tell you that driving a straight truck or local doesn't count as experience, but I'll tell you that seat time in any truck is better than sitting at home whistling Dixie and wishing you hadn't made the mistakes you did.

 

Your instructor is wise, VERY WISE.

Learn the lesson from the OP of this thread. He doesn't know it yet, but his trucking career is about one minor boo boo from being over, and rightfully so.

Ruining a steer tire he thinks wasn't that big of a deal. Well, let me tell ya. Those cost $500 each these days, and that money comes from another guys checking account. Hitting a parked vehicle cost a couple more grand. And this one cost that much, and the other one cost some more, blah blah blah. Put yourself in the truck owners shoes. How would you feel if you had to pay that $2500 bill out of your own pocket, and then have to listen to the guy responsible for tearing your truck explain how it wasnt "really that bad"

Learn the lesson...

 

FIRED! Would you hire him back? Would you have hired him with just these 3 things on his record?

I remember my rookie year, I was as nervous as a Hooker in Church!

 

Creased? How about Creamed. Creased is when you hang your pants to dry.