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I've been a busy bee today, taking notes and doing a little studying (considering the career). I'm wondering from y'all on the road -- what do you LOVE about the job? What keeps you coming back after your resets and home time? Is it just saving for retirement? Habit? Naa, there's gotta be that ______. What is that for you?

I dont generally say no. Even when I don't have the hours or I'm heading for home. What I will do is contact my DM and see what the plan is. A lot of times they will have me pick up the load and then get it repowered.

Usually when I get sent a screwed up load my DM hasn't seen it yet. When she does she will decline it.

I get that, like be willing to assume the best ("home is west and you're sending me east????") but also check in and state your needs ("I put in for home-time a week ago")

@Errol V, lol, 3 of your 4 situations are being a lazy bum. I love that you still made it four and not two, to really get at the point. I appreciate there is the "home time put in" exception for not so much saying "no.", as much as it is having a direct conversation.

Thanks! That got me pointed in the right direction.

Turns out the speeding ticket was 5 years ago in January, so I should be good on that for the companies I've been looking that. My only concern is I did neglect to pay that ticket on time which suspended my license until July 2017, aka not-quite 3 years ago. . . I'll see if I can get a recruiter on the phone, but I wonder if that'll hose me until July. It wasn't suspended for points (poor driving) but for being irresponsible financially.

Spoonerist said...

mix of local and regional.

How'd you pull that off? I think I read you're with one of the big carriers too, right? Dang man, I like your attitude about local => better backing ; ). Right now, you are my trucking spirit animal, whatever that means, lol.

Big T said...

You can't make money saying no

I guess my question is when is an appropriate time to say no? I can only imagine in my desk job saying yes to everything would burn me out quick. . . same in trucking, or? (I'm considering the career)

Howdy folks, The long-short of it is I'm trying to get all my ducks in a row... lay it all out on my parent's big ol' table that's used only at Thanksgiving and Xmas. . . and then decide one way or the other (for now) about trucking. Since my first road trip to the Grand Canyon at age 7, there's been a fascination in me with life on the road. I've been to college, I've had desk jobs, I've had people jobs, I've had grunt jobs. I've tried to apply Mr Aquila's (Brett's) advice about "stick to it for a year" to my current non-trucking job, and alas, I feel like I keep trying to cram myself into this "everybody box" when maybe something outside that box is more in order.

How do I pull my "civilian" driving record, as in, how can I see what a trucking company would see when they're looking to make a hiring decision? I've had some speeding tickets in the past... I thiiiiink they were over 3 years ago but my remember-er can be faulty when it wants to be. Wilson Logistics, for example, looks 3 years back it seems (from their website).

I've got time. I'm employed, etc. I got this far a year and change ago but I opted for this new gig I've got going now. Well, a year later and I'm still yearning for that "weird" life on the road. . . idk. . . I'm just doing my due diligence before I take the plunge. Y'all are the best, and please, lay into me if you see something I'm missing, I want to be tested. Y'all as a community seem to be in high gear about personal responsibility, so please, let me know how to prepare!!!

Thanks for the rant. For now, reading your messages (esp the diaries) keep me hopeful that maybe my situation will improve, whether its through a career change into the trucking industry or something else. Hard to explain, but thanks. -BWH

Thanks for the updates! Wilson is one of the companies I'd consider my first year with if/when I make the plunge into trucking, so thanks for all the info!

Last night I re-read my thread. Holy Moly! I can’t believe it’s only been 2 months. The amount of chaos and learning I’ve done since November is staggering. Things that were stressful during my OTR trip are just routine now.

As someone who is considering the industry, how did you muscle through that first OTR trip? I suppose all jobs have a ~3-6 month curve of hard-learning/learning-the-hard-way... so if you're feeling routine after 2 months that sounds promising! But yeah, was it just kinda a "breathe" and keep positive? Any tips?

My trainer kept apologizing to me because of the lack of room and available storage. I threw my duffle bag and back up on the top bunk spread out a blanket and realize that little cramp space was going to be my mini studio apartment. About two weeks in I was getting down the top bunk and my elbow hit this latch and this storage door popped open. Because the top mattress generally covered the handle /latch it looked like one solid unit. We ended up using it to store gifts I got for the family and ballcaps

That's awesome.

Lol! Ahhhh, its so funny to get all the responses that resonate. When I talk with non-truckers or non-trucking-enthusiasts, its like "You're gonna clean your plates in the shower!" in a bad way. Whereas here, its like, "You're gonna clean your plates in the shower!" in a . . . funky-in-a-good-way sense.

I'm 33, shoutout to andhe78. . .

If/when I choose to enter this industry as a worker (still a dreamer too, but. . . worker), I definitely will not have the resume of a "stereotypical" trucker. Aaaaand, at least here, I have yet to online-meet one, single, stereotypical, trucker. And the vlogs of people entering then quitting, you know, they aren't the stereotypes either. The freedom of trucking is almost, and essentially, the freedom to be a trucker. To sign up for all the BS of the lifestyle because you there is something pulling you.

"Living in a cab is an adventure," not some sort of shameful horrible thing that only shameful horrible people find fun/comfortable!

I'm an audio-book guy for a story. I'm good at reading manuals and that non-fiction kinda "learn the info" with my eyes, but a story is better in the ear. To my tremendous excitement, Rainy D.'s stories are also published in audio!!! There's a "sample" available too, to make sure you jive with the narrators voice.

I'm thinking on the "young adult leaving their hometown, stepping on boat. . . " story or the "evil, murdering spirit returns" one.

I used to have an Audible account in like 2010, and apparently I've been gone long enough to get the free trial again, and it looks like both of those books are eligible for the "first book is free" coupon. I didn't look too deeply into this, ymmv.

That's so cool, though. . . I'll post back once I have some relevant comments to one of your publications!