Profile For Pete

Man, this is one hell of a tough situation. I don't know what you should do, to be honest. I mean, to say you blacked out because of stress and exhaustion is not at all comforting.

For starters, trucking is all about stress and exhaustion. You're putting in tons of hours and you're in a lot of stressful situations. It's also about knowing when you're sharp and capable of driving safely, or knowing when you need to park it because you're unsafe. So there's a lot of judgment calls to make, a lot of stress, and it's very exhausting.

Your situation is impossible to call either way. Will it happen again next week? Will it never happen again the rest of your life? There's no way to know. I think it's safe to say we've all been exhausted and stressed out at times but we didn't just suddenly black out without warning. Obviously if it happens behind the wheel of an 80,000 pound rig you could take out a lot of people in a matter of seconds. It would almost certainly be a complete catastrophe.

Maybe you should consider putting this idea on hold for a little while just to be sure. I mean, this isn't all about you. It's about protecting the innocent families you'll be sharing the highway with. I don't know if it's fair to risk people's lives when you really don't know for sure what's going on or whether or not you're safe behind the wheel.

Risking your own life is one thing. But this is much bigger than just you. I think you should reconsider getting behind the wheel of a rig right now.

That's what's eating me up. Is that the risk of it happening again. And in a cmv on top of it. I mean the first thought I had wasnt about me I was worried about if I hurt anyone. I 1000 percent understand your point. I mean I've been exhausted and stressed before while in combat and all the other crap with the military with zero issues but we had time to rest. The 2 months leading up to this event there was no down time and Its my fault I didnt give my self time to sit back and decompress at all. This was the only time this sorta thing has happened. I know I have to put this plan on hold for now which is giving me that lost feeling since for about over a year I've had it all planned out and now I'm at the finish line it's gone in an instant. If I didnt have a family depending on me it wouldn't sting so bad. Sorry for rambling

I'll honestly take your advice....put driving on hold fix this mess.

That’s a lot of tickets and wrecks. If you want to drive, you need to adjust your bad habits.

CDL through a private school?

That's alot of wrecks? 2002 was my last one 17 years ago. I am and have been a decent driver. I have pretty good habits I almost never speed or drive like an idiot like most people. And since I got my CDL I've been even more vigilant. This event was out of the blue I don't feel the tickets were deserved.

I got my CDL through a 12 week program that works with transition soldiers. It wasnt a cracker Jack school like ones I've heard of.

Get a lawyer - FIGHT EVERY TICKET.

Unless the cop witnessed it - he cannot testify to it.

You're going to have a difficult time with this recent of an "at fault" accident, getting a hire. Your prior service and clean record is a plus in your favor, but not a guarantee.

Rick

Thanks. Looks like the plan is to fight it. A close friend said the same thing about the cop witness. Ugh this is such a pain in my ass.

Keep Going buddy, you're at the finish line now. I've been following this blog since probably day 8 I think. Its been a great factor for me choosing TMC. I Got my CDL last week through a program with the Army. and got called by TMC and Approved to attend orientation. and your blogs have been a HUGE view through the looking glass into TMC and what to expect. I look forward to joining you guys here in the next couple months. Lean forward and Drive on to the finish buddy