Profile For Paul K.

• Location:
  Phoenix, AZ

• Driving Status:
  Preparing For School

• Social Link:
  

• Joined Us:
  5 years, 3 months ago

Hi y'all! I'm glad I found Trucking Truth! It has answered a lot of my questions about a career in trucking, and is currently steering me in the direction I need to go for training.

About me, I'll start of with my wonderful family. I've been married for 13 years to my awesome wife, Melissa. She has supported my through thick and thin, and she continues to do so with my new career venture into trucking. I have two step-sons, Ezra and Nigel, and I have a daughter from a previous marriage, Alexia. These three are doing well, and out on their own in the big bad world. Melissa and I had two children of our own, Bianca and Sebastian. Sebastian wants to be a trucker too someday, and is already chomping at the bit for the day he can ride along with dad...that will be exciting!

As far as my work history goes, I was a roofer over the summers while I was in high school. My dad was a sheet metal foreman for Donald B. Smith Roofing in Hanover, PA. He got me hired so I would stay out of trouble. I can't say I enjoyed it, but it was an experience that molded my hard work ethic till this day. After I got out of high school, I bounced around for a few years, as most do while trying to find their way. I tried college, but I wasn't much for school. I got good grades, but I didn't like being cooped up in classrooms most of the day. I had maybe two or three jobs after I left school, and then one day I decided to join the military. I enlisted in the Air Force, and would spend the next ten years of my life as an Aircraft Armament Specialist. This job consisted of maintaining weapons systems, and loading bombs/missiles onto fighter jets. I worked on the F-15C and F-15E models, as well as the F-16. I liked the F-15 more because it was bigger and easier to work on. The F-16 was small, so it wasn't easy for a bigger guy like myself to be navigating around while performing maintenance and performing functional checks in the cockpit. After my military career was over, I ended working in the aerospace career field. Some time was spent as a mechanic, but more time was spent as an inspector. I enjoyed being a mechanic more, but being an inspector paid more. Currently, I am a Tool Designer for an FAA Repair Station. Being a tool designer is challenging and pays very well, but I sit behind a desk all day, every day. I thought I wouldn't mind this aspect of the job, but it's becoming very intolerable. I'm now resenting sitting behind a desk all day, working on a computer, and dealing with the enormous egos that populate the aerospace world. I started to day dream about being outdoors, seeing something different everyday, and for the most part working on my own, which has led me to wanting to become a trucker.

So now, I'm researching various CDL training schools and/or companies that provide their own CDL training with a guaranteed job to follow. Looking forward to getting into my new career, and hitting the open road. It will be hard for the first years or so, being away from my family quite a bit. But as I mentioned before, my wife is very supportive. My son Sebastian on the other hand, he keeps asking me what am I waiting for...haha!

Thank you for your time, and hoping to get to know some of you via Trucking Truth!