What was your job before trucking? And After?

All time spent not driving a truck before, during and after I was a truck driver was spent doing my best to waste as much oxygen as possible.

 

dish washer, fry cook, Navy Nuke (MM), bowling alley mechanic, asbestos remover, chicken farmer, truck driver, student, cashier, brick layer, high school teacher, professional poker player, coffee farmer (Venezuela), post doc Duke, returning to trucking. "specialization is for insects"- Robert Heinlein

 

yes, lot lizards are ugly and over paid for what they provide, at least I provided companionship

 

I guess I've been in trucking all of my life (on and off. Mostly on). My Step Dad drove tanker T/T's for Hess Oil and Sinclair out of Washington, DC back in the early 60's. He would take me with him in those old Macks with the split shift. You had to run your arm through the steering wheel to grab one stick shift while simultaneously shifting with the other. All this while trying to keep the #### truck on the road, lol.
I dropped out of High School in 1972, joined the Navy (Deck Ape), did my 4 years and went into construction as a laborer. Started driving a small dump truck on site. I was so good at it that it became my down fall of being able to learn carpentry while on the job. My boss would pull me from carpentry work and have me hauling dirt. Said that nobody else could drive that truck.
While still employed in Construction, a friend of mine was working for a small moving company. They were doing big office moves on the weekends and needed help. He recruited all the neighborhood friends to work their p/t, so I went for it, along with about 20 of the guys I grew up with and we became weekend movers. This went on for about 4 months and this little company started getting bigger, fast and needed full time workers. I figured this could be my opportunity to get my foot in the door to get my Class A license. Turns out that my other 20 friends had the same idea, so we made up the bulk of employees at this company.
Well, our company grew by leaps and bounds. Me and a lot of my friends got our class A license and started doing a lot of city driving, which led to short haul driving and onto OTR driving. We/I hauled drop decks around the lower 48 hauling earth shelters and satellite dishes for MCI Telecommunications. Did a whole hell of a lot of hauling and rigging of heavy machinery and a few HHG's.
I got out of the truck for a few years. Got married, moved to Rhode Island biggrin_25513, dispatched for Holmes Trans. for a year before they folded. Was director of training for NETTS (truck driving school) for almost 3 years (drove me effing crazy), separated from my wife, came back home, got a divorce and went back to my previous employer as a T/T driver and have been there ever since.
It's been one hell of a ride but I have no regrets. It takes a certain type of individual to live this kind of life, which accounts for the high rate of turn over in this industry. It's more than just driving as the people that decide to live this life style have or will find out. And yes, being an OTR driver is a life style.

 

Started off running heavy equitment for my fathers construction company bought my first truck at 23 years old got my authority and still going strong and don't see me doing anything else in the near future.

 

Very interesting backgrounds. I've always battled feelings of guilt for having switched careers a number of times. But as I get older and society (in general) becomes more "me me me"-centered, I'm glad I'm not working directly with the public anymore.

And I'm glad I'm not the only one!

 

7 years army, then 24 years with the Oklahoma DOT. Most all of it in various types of electronices. Got tired of that and dealing with the same people, with the same problems, so started climbing all our radio towers, relamping, painting (vertical painting sucks BTW), hanging antennas and transmission lines and all of this still with ODOT. Also did tower work for 4 other agencies with a 2 way system.
State started changing, job wasn't fun anymore, knees starting to go bad, and just couldn't face the thought of spending another cold day just "hanging" around. Got my CDL and here I am and will be till I'm forced out or can't grip a steering wheel. I love being out here and being by myself. Well me and the QC of course.

 

I used to work in a motel, then I tried out the factory side of the fence. Then I went into trucking, then back into the motel. I loved the motel business the best, but I can't live off I made there.
After the motel I started working for a concrete business. Dispatched, did Quality, and drove a truck there. I've been laid off for an entire week now from there, it's driving me nuts. I'm suppose to get called back in two months, but can't wait that long.
I may go with the competition, and do QC/QA, or I may dispatch for a local trucking company, or may go with Grey Hound as a driver. I put in applications everywhere except Grey Hound so far. The competion very well may hire me.
I love the concrete business, so I'm going to try to stay in it, even if I stray. I don't want to stray from my employer, but I simply can't afford to be laid off, and being laid off is driving me nuts. One week so far, and it feels like an eternity.
If I don't get a job anywhere else, then in two months I will be back with the same company. I love working there, love my coworkers, but if I ain't a working then I need to be a looking.

 

I was a computer programmer,systems analyst for 27 years. My last IT job was a 8 hour roundtrip commute. Then while I was looking for an alternative I worked for Jack In The Box.

 

Teen/20s
Shipping/Receiving: Semi Tractor Brakes Manufacture
Yard Tractor/Truck & Trailer Delivery: Custom Truck Shop

Why not drive all the cool stuff I play with all day?
Think I will go Over The Road. I Must be a crazy.

20s-30s
PST Vans: OTR
Arrow Trucking: OTR
Silver Eagle: OTR
Dixie Greenhouse: Southeast Regional OTR
P & S Demolition: Low-Boy Delivery of Heavy Equipment, GA
Night School

My Truck is My Freedom & My Prison. Do I keep getting pay
to view (Mountain Snow,UT/Flatland,KS/Sunrise,AZ/Vally's,MT/
Lighthouses,ME/Urban sprawl,NY or follow a dream?

30s-40s
Computer Field Service Tech
Computer Tech/Store Manager

Started out $, Signed on with Service Co doing PC repair for Sears,Best Buy,Office Depot & Max). Not: Drv#123 take load from a to b. After years of PC service I go from "Thank You Sir" to after 3 pay-cuts "You should be lucky to work for us, A team of overseas techs & Geek Teens will work for the dirt we pay you PC Tech #123. Your wife was laid off, You need us to pay the bills" Crap: sound like trucking today?

40s-????
Saving to retrain Drv #123 Dust-Off CDL
& get Wife (Ex Graphic Designer) CDL
I'm Still Crazy! Be Safe!