So...we hear a lot of negative

I got out of debt, bought a house "new" car every 10 or so years, sleep in my own bed nightly, and saving money for retirement.

It beats going down a mineshaft with a flashlight.

 

I just love it. I get ground down from time to time. But I don't wanna do anything else. I need a change of scenery or I'd go bonkers.

 

I gained 3 inches.

 

Length or girth?
Either way, I'm impressed.

 

I can't think of a thing after 12 years back doing this.

Oh ... wait ... nope that wasn't trucking ...

 

I have days when I hate my job but after driving for about 15 years I got off the road to work for the county I live in ..union job with full Benny's and hated every minute of it .
That lasted 3 years until my wife at the time suggested I might not be in a bad mood all the time if I went back to driving .
I went in the next day and quit .

 

It all depends on your personality really. If you can see the linings in the clouds and such. One thing I will say is you do accumulate a lot of stories in this profession. After some of the bad days and getting sore from securing loads you just have to kind of look back and laugh at it.

Like recently I went to pick up this load I posted about in the flatbed forum. Well I had a hour and a half left to burn on my clock however I turned out of the job site in the wrong direction. So here I am riding down the highway along the river in Minnesota and see these pull over scenic spots with gravel that's all iced over. Spotted one driver already camped out however I couldn't slow down in time. Kept going and seen a pattern of a few more. I figured i'd better pull off for the night because I was in tim buck too with not many parking options.

Well I got pulled over on the skating rink and since I had hot tires made a path in the ice so that way I could get out in the am. The morning came and started my clock and couldn't get out. there was still a thin layer left. Talked to one of our dispatchers because he was a former trucker and asked if there was anything more I could do and he couldn't think of anything since I didn't have salt or kitty litter. I had already used the rubber mat strips we use to protect paint and other stuff on the loads. Well after I talked to dispatch I went to mess with it some more. Seen that one of the mats shot out from underneath and the light bulb went off. I stacked 2 of them on both sides and rocked it enough for them to catch and get myself out.

It was one of those proud rewarding moments. Called dispatch back and let them know to cancel the Calvary and I had won that battle.

For me I love the challenges. Coming out of factory work for a lot of years doing the same day in day out routines. Its nice to have a little more freedom. It reminds me of this clip.

 

Truck driving has paid for a home, new pickup every so often, several Harleys, a divorce, and a couple of rental properties. It's allowed me to save a couple of bucks for retirement and the kids' college. I couldn't imagine how my life would have turned out if I hadn't entered this profession, it's done well for me. But...you gotta put in the time and suck up some runs you don't like. Dedication goes a long way.

That being said, I'm on my way out. 26 years and counting, I want to be doing something else in the next 7 to 10 years. It will be time to enjoy my life at that point, not that I haven't had a good one so far. But a man can only put up with odd hours for so long, just my opinion.