What am I forgetting?

I came back after an 11 year break. I got a job driving for an owner operator couple. Their insurance gave me the green light amd I drove for them for over a year before their truck broke down. Now I work for a 85 truck fleet that requires 3 years experience but my year with the owner operator and my 3 years from way back when counted. I'm very happy where I'm at. Fwiw, both the owner operator and my current employer use Sentry insurance. They seem to be more flexible about qualifying drivers with past due experience, lol.

 

Have 51 weeks to go before i make the choice, ya,it's reaching a milestone in ones life that has a meaning......

 

That works as well, although I'm too young to retire. Still have about 20 years left in me.

OTR isn't where you want to be as an old veteran returning to the game. You would have to take a refresher course and drive for bottom feeders for a couple years and live off ramen noodles. Hope you don't have a family to take care of. Old experience doesn't mean squat to bottom feeders.

I have worked for the same company for almost 13 years now. I started off driving a yard horse for 8 of those years, and then went to line haul. I recently got off line haul for a more favored feeder run. Now I never leave my home city. I have 12 stops a shift, and the same stops every day. You get to know your customers pretty well. I'll just let the greenhorns and outlaws have OTR. I don't want any part of that pile of shenanigans. I work 8 hours a day, 5 days a week and thats it. Home every night and home 2 days a week. When the shift is done, I park the truck and leave it behind. Not being stuck with it and the cargo on your time off is another benefit. Not having to put up with truck stops, rest areas, and scale houses is another benefit.

 

If I've been gone a while it probably wouldn't be so bad. But I've been adjusting,changing ,keeping up, complying, whatever you want to call it, for about 20 years, and I've had enough. Let me give you an example, in my wallet is a "mandatory" TWIC card that I have $450.00 in(not counting 3 days lost revenue),and the only person that has asked to see it so far(I've had it 4yrs it expires in june,that will be another $450.00) was a driver I worked with(he was just curious).I have to stay another 18 months for financial reasons, but the EOBR's are going to kill the cash flow in my little piece of the trucking world. I didn't tell the OP what to do, or even what I think they should do, I simply gave them my opinion,and explained my experience as I saw it, to help them make a informed decision.In my opinion(and just my opinion) the decision the OP is trying to make will be at the very least "life changing" and at the very worst finacially devastating. In my opinion(again just my opinion) the best advise on this thread so far is to finish your time where your at, retire and do this as "hobby".

 

who said you HAD to get a TWIC card? and why was it $450?

How much does a TWIC card cost?

The fee for a TWIC card is $129.75, and the credential is valid for five years. Those who hold a valid MMD; MML issued after January 13, 2006; HME; or a FAST card may pay a reduced fee of $105.25. Those applicants choosing to pay the reduced fee must present an MML, MMD, HME, or FAST card at the time of enrollment. If the reduced fee is paid, the TWIC card expiration date will be 5 years from the date of the supporting MML, MMD, HME, or FAST card.
​

 

The people that pay me said we had to have it. Supposedly it was required by homeland security to load and unload Haz-Mat near large bodies of water,or within the city limits that has its own water supply.
125.00 online registration fee
185.00 fingerprint/background check
129.95 at the time of pick up
=439.95 (sorry I rounded up I didn't know someone was going to check my math)
And yes I still have my receipts and no I won't post them online anywhere including your e-mail(can you tell I've had this conversation before?).But if your ever near Middletown,Oh. when I'm at the house I will gladly show them to you.

 

$130 is a long ways from $450.

 

To the original poster, I really wish I could give you a great answer. But, my crystal ball is broken and this economy is completely nuts. If this economy/political hassle is not settled by March 1st and we get sequestration [sorry if it isn't spelled correctly], I have no idea how the rest of this year is going to play out. Another recession is not out of the question. If we do go into another recession, less spending means even less freight to move than 2012. Not exactly a great time to become a driver.
.
. If these clowns in Washington....EVER..get their act together, this economy could really take off into a terrific recovery. Sorry to yell but these politicians all make me want to scream with their clueless incompetence. I want to send them a book on how president Calvin Coolidge fixxed the bad economy that lead to the roaring 1920's economy. What is the use. Somehow I doubt our current [expletive deleted] politicians could read that book and get the big picture. Especially that community activist in-chief.
.
.My appologies for the rant. I just truly believe that we deserve better leaders than these. As was said in the military, how can we soar like eagles when we are lead but such #### turkeys?

 

I'll let you know about the rest of the fees as I have an appointment for Mar 1 at 10:30 AM for my application.
http://www.twicinformation.com/twicinfo/

 

I go friday to get mine was told need a check for 129.75 and that covers everything. thats in pittsburgh pa. are you sure that you didnt renew or get you hazmat. thats what it sounds like. hasmat is like another 175.00 and that requires you to go to the police and get fingerprinted. and i did mine online as well and it cost nothing just the check when i go in for my 15 minute inveterview ordeal. it really sounds like you either got or renewed your hazmat at the same time which i could see everything costing around 400 bucks