Trucking can be like a bad marriage...

Hi...
Things are...well...their sureal...it's hard to describe...it's like being in a plane that's nose diving...and your so low to the ground that bailing out does no good...

My choice...go back out on the road...not have a life...spend 2-3 weeks away from where I live...be around strangers...sustain my moral around people who see no value in me....or fight it out and stay where I live...establish and create relationships where people get to know you, and create new opportunities for yourself....

Again, easier said than done...If I were normal..I'd go begging back for my old job...but it seems the more I struggle...the more stubborn I get...

I wish I were normal...I wish I didn't have ambition, I wish I were status quo...I wish I could just settle for a place to sleep and a paycheck...I wish I could define that as 'success'....but I can't...to me it's not...

To me it's letting or allowing the 'system' decide your fate...allowing the system to define you in the onle life you will ever live (not counting the after life for those who make it to heaven).

I'm a stubborn mf....I sometimes wish I weren't...I sometimes wish I could just roll over and well you know....

I may appear soft on the outside...but on the inside I'm very tough...

I have the chance to perform, stand on the same stage as '------------'...(------------)....amazing....

I have a chance to mix it up with some of the greats in entertainment...(by the way, he's performing this week here)...

Why would I trade all that for lonely nights at rest areas where no one talks to you? Where no one values you? Just out there...a lone...

How far am I willing to go for this dream?
Am I willing to be homeless?
These are questions I ask myself daily....time will tell...but once you hit bottom, you can only begin to rebuild...

I'm in this position because i spent so many years out there...neglecting personal growth...to the point where I can barely compete with high school students for a job...

Many drivers do that to themselves unwitingly...
If your gonna drive...at least enroll in on line college courses...do yourself that favor...so that when you do divorce from trucking...your not helpless...
You can make trucking work for you...and many have and still do...
1. Stick with one company...no matter how bad...just stay with them...do not job hop...it will come back to haunt you..
2. While out there...have a hobbie...learn to play guitar or trumpet or knit...or whatever
3. Take college courses on line...management courses...as our economy switches to a service orientated economy...having management creditials will help you land a good job after trucking...
4. Never abandon a truck...
5. If your going to lease...do it while your new...while your love of the road is still strong...
6. If you have the chance to buy a truck while your new...do it...own it...and try to get your own trailer, you'll have much more say in the direction of your career...

Just a few tips to you, that I wish I had followed...I never intended on staying with trucking this long, after getting out the Navy...I really wanted to be a pilot or teacher...but do to the trappings of trucking..all that is down the tubes, for now...

7. Never under estimate the power of education or certifications...
8. And if you love it, stick with it, save your money for rainy days...

Anyways...trucking is still a very good way to make a living...I could return tomorrow and make decent money....it's only when you out grow the marriage that issues begin...

 

Yes sir ree...trucking can be like a bad marriage...

Ever wonder why trucking companies make it harder and harder for you to get a job with them...

Now the latest thing is the 'No more than so many jobs in 3 years'....

What?
Just another hurldle to over come...they're really making it hard for qualified drivers to find a job...they want 'loyalty'...but why should drivers put or give more loyaltity to a company than their own families??

But oh well, that's what they want...
All these new hiring criteria are really helping to contribute to the unemployment problems...what a shame...

Good healthy drivers who want to work, but can't due to technicalities that have nothing to do with safefy...

Someone may of left a bad mark on your daq...and they don't even work with the company anymore....they had a bad hair day and screwed up your record...

To me, you need to be loyal to yourself first...then to the company...

I read the CR England thread last night...and it was sad how that company does people...CR England should be outlawed...

They do things to their drivers that you would expect from 3rd world slum labour lords living in the mountains of Columbia....

Oh well...

 

Wow...every company I was considering...i check it out on rip off report.com....and on here at 'report a bad trucking company'....wow...

What is going on?
What has happened....by now most know I'm burned out on trucking....but it's not do to treatment by the companies I worked for...it's the 'lifestyle' of just being out there....

As far as the companies I've worked for...I never had a problem with any of them...got paid well with most...

But the stuff I read about on here just blows my mind away...I've driven since 1998 on and off...and never experienced such rotton treatment...

Now I really am afraid to go back out there...after reading stuff like this..

1. companies charging you mileage to get home (srf)
2. companies abusing the dac report just to screw you..(that should be out lawed)
3. Trainers who are so new...the students have to train them!!...what?
4. People being given trucks where the motor isnt mounted
5. I've read all the leasing nightmares
6. Drivers driving 2400 miles and only getting 140.00 due to deductions..

I could go on and on and on...callouse cold hearted dispatchers...ect ect...

Now I can honestly say i never had these kinda problems...yes, a little attitude here and there...but never out right abuse, like I read on here...

8. companies charging drivers for idle time....

Wow...as bad as things are for me now...maybe I should continue forward...to put myself back out there would be fool hearty...

I still like trucks...it's all the ill treatment I don't care for....after reading other drivers posts...I'm really suprised these companies are still able to recruit...

Cause I know there's companies I was considering to work for until I read terrible reviews by other drivers...so their reviews do work...

Expecially England...CR England...I use to always want to work for them....but now...after reading about the forced teaming....2-3 in a truck and so on...the trying to get home nightmares...no...I just couldn't do it...unless homeless and hungry and had nothing else to live for...

It sucks that the industry I use to love has turned into this...

It's hard to let go...it really is...and I still fully havent...just have to see what happens...
I stay in Florida now...most over the road companies don't hire out of Florida...I know Werner use to have a terminal in Lakeland Fl...
I use to work for them way back in 2001 or 2002...That's back when they were very fun to work for and very very flexible...you could take off time anywhere...you as the driver were in control back in those days...

I read the nightmare horror stories now and can't believe it's the same company...

Oh well...can only see what tomorrow brings...

 

Hi, well I finally got a job again...wow....wow...I still can't believe it...
I endured and made it...a good paying job...a steady job....wow...I feel so so relieved...I almost gave up...I mean after reading all these sad depressing stories on here of how these companies do people...I just didn't know what to do or where to turn...
I will not take this job for granted...that's for sure...I will be so loyal...(that's the echo of a desperate soul)...yes...when you've been unemployed since may...living off your own savings...you do become desperate....

I was almost about to just pack up and head out to Vegas and live on the streets...
People see my photos...and assume all kinds of silly things...they have know idea the wealth of knowledge I have...there's a lot of people I could of helped out on here...to get the jobs they wanted...

But I don't like phoney people...if people can't except me for me..than oh well...
That's why I post my photos...cause it drives away the condemning phony types...I like to know upfront who the real people are...

And some on here are indeed real...inspite of my photos...they still chat with me..and realize that's just a small theatrical part of my persona...

I can be just as serious and business as anyone else...during the appropriate time...

What's wrong with smiling? what's wrong with wanting to look and feel 'cute' or 'beautiful'?....how is that wrong or evil?

Am I suppose to walk around feeling ugly and frown?...like I use to...and where did it get me?

Ok, I'm getting off topic here....anyways...in a wierd odd way I sorta feel like this place is part of my home...the staff quietly tolerates me...like any communtiy your going to have different people and personalities...

I guess I represent San Francisco on here...although...believe it or not...I can be pretty conservitave when it comes to certain issues...

Anyways...I got a job...that's all I wanted to say...I finally got a job...hip hip hurray...
So I enter into another marriage...and I will keep you informed and updated...

 

(This one is titled 'White Night') ***I guess I should re title this thread to 'Trucking can be like a good or bad marriage'

Some people get it right only after their 3rd or 4th marriage...some get it right with their first marriage or relationship...

It's the same with trucking I guess...sooner or later you will figure out what works for you and what doesn't...

Many first get into trucking out of 'lust' for a big truck and what they think is 'freedom'...
But once you get over that 'lust' period...(and you will) other factors start coming into play...you will start developing other interest...want to be certain places ect ect.
Start a family and want to see them ect ect...then the freedom that open road and being away for weeks at a time...will start seeming more like prison and a crutch.

You will go through growing pains as you, your life, and your needs change...and it's important to find a company that will allow these changes.
If not...you will end up divorcing...

If your going to get with a company...try to get with one that has flexibility...many different departments and operations...local, regional, all 48....ask the company if you can go from driver to dispatcher...do they have training opertunities...can you transfer to the shop or safety...ask all this ahead of time...

Companies that just have 'out for 21 days home for 2.5....those are the companies that have the highest turn over rates...their the least flexible of companies and think very little of their drivers...

Companies that like their drivers and have low turn over rates are companies that understand that drivers are 'human' and have needs of their own...and these good companies try to work with their drivers by offering a variety of scheduales and opportunities...

 

Well I sorta got re married...let's face it...you need a partner in this world until you can finacially stand on your own two feet...
I'm home daily...or nightly...off on the weekends...and my last check was over $600.00...
And I'm getting a bigger more comfortable truck soon...so I guess I can't complain...my new partner is definatly trying to court me...but I don't mind for now...my main objective has been met...and that is to not spend my every waking minute on the Jersey turnpike...or in Jessup Maryland or Hagerstown, MA...

I can work...than come home...and go to the beach, or catch a movie or maybe even a date...if I start doing that again...

Or I can just lay down and watch tv without hearing the rumbling of engines...

As far as engines go...you get so much better rest without constantly hearing loud engines all around you...

If you read any of my previous post on here...you will see I had no idea what the outcome would be...I was prepared for anything...things got very desperate...

And then by chance or good charma...wala...bing bang...

Even though I'm somewhat unconventional...I think God still looks after me...I guess...I don't know...

I think God looks after everyone, period...it's just some don't see it...

It's time for bed...the only sound I hear right now is the sound of the fan generating a nice cool breeze...

later

 

I'm tired and wore out...I come home...'if you want to call it that...' to myself...and two hungry cats...one is pregnant...

When I'm working...and zipping past cars trucks and buildings...none of it is of interest to me anymore...it's all like noise....

I think at this stage of my life I'd be happy just living in the woods or a meadow with 20 people in Tee Pees...
Really this is all I need anymore to be happy...
Boy they really had it figured out...
I'm not in pursute of money and riches anymore...I'm in perciute of peace and calmness...
I'm sorounded by industry...and it means absolutly nothing to me...it's just noise...

It all seems meaningless to me...that which our whole society is based on...money...

From now, till the day i die...I think I could find more meaning in life living in a teepee next to a lake...it would be easier for me to hear God again...

It is what it is though...I entered into a marriage again...not really cause I wanted to...but because I had to...
Every time you get hired by a company...your basically entering into a 'marriage' of sorts...

You take vows...you both provide for each other....you sign contracts...ect ect...

Although I must admit...my provider is doing all they can to make my life comfortable...so i really can't complain...but none the less i'd rather be free...

To me, employment of anykind is not being free...
Free is not having to answer to no one any time, anywhere...(excluding family)...

I wake up and give all my energy to my spouse...and have oh so little left for myself when their done with me...sometimes i come home in a tired stupor...

People really do underestimate how much energy driving all day long takes up...
When you drive it's 100% concentration...their never a slack moment...theirs people and lives all around you...cars and traffic...it's like your baby sitting them all day long...anticipating their moves....

(you must understand I have a somewhat abstract style of writing at times...)

Anyways...my spouse used me good today...and others...so now I'm about to lay down, rest, and recover...and do it all again tomorrow...

One more thing...today I was at Wal-mart...and there was a lady and a young man infront of me being checked out...the lady (grandmother) only had cash...and was short...

They started putting this and that back...people were begining to stare...the line was growing...so I stepped in and asked the cashier what the lady owed...
Before she could answer...I told the lady I would pay the difference...and I did...
They were in dis belief that I would do that...(actually I do it all the time)...
I don't like to see people humiliated like that...I know what humiliation is...and I try to protect others from it...in this case it was a grandmother and her grandson...who was actually bigger than me...

Her grandson took a hold of my hand...and practilly would not let go...

I was tired, wore out...but I still gave what I could to help another induvisual out.
That's me...

Anyhow...I'm so wore out...have been up already for 17 1/2 hours...time for rest...later...