Spine Injury from car crash. Would I be making a mistake getting into trucking?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by ObviousTryHard, Sep 11, 2024.

  1. ObviousTryHard

    ObviousTryHard Bobtail Member

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    I've done all of that at my job except the tire chains (no snow where I'm from) and obviously the rough roads. Honestly, my biggest worry is how bumpy semis can be.
     
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  3. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    There are pretty easy ways to do most of those activities without stressing your back. I did them while having back pain.

    5th wheel puller while using other hand to brace upper body against trailer. All of the pulling is done with arm muscles.

    Sticky trailer doors, use a mini sledgehammer or heavy hammer.

    Climbing up/down tractor steps, keep your spine straight just use arm & leg strength & grab bars.

    Open/close hood, stand beside either steer tire & push on hood at the wheel arch.

    Cranking landing gear down is easy, it's usually one hand operation & you use other hand to brace against the trailer. Cranking up a too high trailer you can use body weight and a chain or rope ladder for one foot. It takes about $5 or less of rope or $10 of chain. Or a block of 4 x 4 lumber behind drive tires. You roll up onto the lu.ber, which is like an elevator for the 5th wheel. Then crank landing gear legs up a couple of turns to shorten them with no trailer weight.

    There are work around for almost everything but sitting all day while driving.
     
  4. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    Most drivers never use tire chains unless they drive out West a lot. 80% of population & freight is east of I-35. Most drivers going west of Texas do so on I-40 or below it. Plenty of drivers barely if ever chain ever.
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2024
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  5. flood

    flood Road Train Member

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    Depending on the company..
    You may have to duckwalk (a string from one side of the hall to the other) you have to squat walk under it off 8ft.

    Take a milk crate with 40lb in it and carry it holding it 3 ft. From the floor 20-40 feet.

    Even no touch fright as a company driver you my get tailgate loads where you may be required to find unload things like Cabinets to the back if the trailer. Places like dollar general you may hay to hand u load a full trailer by hand.
    Can you back tolerate picking up 30-40 boxes from above your head and turning and putting them on a conveyor, or picking 1 out off the floor.. doing this for 1-2 hours at a time...?

    What about climbing in the trailer and using a push broom to clean it out.

    Climbing in to install/remove straps

    As a company driver you can't say no.. and yes I had to do all of this my 1st year. After you may get a dedicated run that is bothong but drop/hook but there is no guarantee of that going in...

    Can you spend 3-4 weeks at a time living in a room the size of your bathroom

    Think long and hard about it
     
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  6. wulfman75

    wulfman75 Road Train Member

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    I've been out here 12 years with 2 herniated discs. It sucks but it's doable. It's a hard lifestyle even if you are healthy though so you gotta decide if it's what you want to do. I get the steroid shots in the back twice a year as well. I don't throw chains or taligate loads. I make sure when trying to find a job that it's 100 percent no touch and I do have my stuff on my med card. Now I have expereince so it may be different for me. Pull reefer, they use lumpers. Lot of good info in here as well to save your back.
     
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  7. ObviousTryHard

    ObviousTryHard Bobtail Member

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    Sep 11, 2024
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    Yeah, my biggest worry is going into this job as a rookie with these problems. Like I said, I work at a diesel mechanic shop, so I've met plenty of drivers with back problems and who've had spine surgery, but they're veterans, so they have no trouble finding work. I'm afraid I'll get a CDL and nobody will wanna hire me because I'm a liability or something.
     
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  8. tscottme

    tscottme Road Train Member

    The answer depends on finding the right job. Newbies ask questions about "the average job" like knowing what is average means something. It doesn't mean much because you work for one company
    That company has their rules, their procedures, their customers, their pay, their schedules, etc. I've worked at a few companies that would pay the driver if he unloaded freight, but in 28 years I think I HELPED unload 1 or 2 loads. That was mostly counting items. At the customers that asked drivers to unload they had lumpers, or rental labor, to unload for a fee. My employers would pay that fee.

    Only apply at companies with no-touch freight. Pick the right employer & you solve your problem. DO NOT JUST TAKE ANY JOB & HOPE TO AVOID UNLOADING. When you pick an employer you pick EVERYTHING about the job. You won't change a company.
     
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  9. Zoltan1a

    Zoltan1a Road Train Member

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    It sucks sitting for 11 plus hours a day it’s definitely hard on the back even when you get out and walk. It’s easy to pull something when you are fighting with junk on the truck and trailer and sometimes you just don’t have a darn choice
     
  10. Ridgeline

    Ridgeline Road Train Member

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    all of this tells me don't do it. You are 30, you want to be disabled by 40?

    I had to give up driving a truck because of my accident, it has been life limiting but I get by. I do ride and sometimes drive a truck (don't tell anyone) but these are short trips of less than 2 hours.

    There is nothing that reduces the pain, once it starts to increase, it is over for me for a few hours.

    No seat cushion, no special seat, nothing helps.

    The most comfortable seat for me is my neighbor's Tesla, which I use occasionally because he has four of them now, then my beater truck (dodge) with my Prius coming in last, but not in a truck.
     
  11. Ex-Trucker Alex

    Ex-Trucker Alex Road Train Member

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    Reminds me of a story my dad told me; During "the war", 2 soldiers were manning a checkpoint near the front with the Germans. A Jeep drove up with 2 soldier in the front seat of the Jeep, and an officer riding in the back. They stop at the checkpoint, hand the first guy their papers, and the second soldier draws his gun, and yells at them to raise their hands and drop their weapons. Turned out they were German spies with fake papers and uniforms.
    "How did you know?", the first soldier asked the second.
    "No American officer would EVER sit in the back seat of a Jeep"!
     
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