Do Sleepers Have Microwave Ovens In Them?

Todd wrote on the health thread:

Weight loss: rehabilitation. About 75 pounds to come off is the wait.

My doctors say my chronic fatigue and arthritis pain is aggravated by obesity.

I am living on disability pay now.

So you have chronic fatigue which is worsened by your obesity....that means even losing weight you will still have it. How do you think you will handle this?

How will you explain your lack of work history? This is the fourth time i have asked you in several days and you never responded.

If you cant get past the DOT or application process this is all for naught.

My doctor claims my chronic fatigue might be averted by achieving a healthy body weight.

My lack of work history can be explained simply by my disabling conditions now. Disabled NOW doesn't mean disabled for life.

I have not worked since the onset of the chronic fatigue.

I have no felonies on my record: just two non-violent misdemeanors 20 years ago.

Will any history of chronic fatigue, arthritis or obesity automatically disqualify me from the DOT exam?

My doctor says my heart and lungs are fit as a fiddle.

My lack of work history can be explained simply by my disabling conditions now. Disabled NOW doesn't mean disabled for life.

Just because you can explain it does not mean a company must accept you. One poster stated in the past "I was on disability, they wont hire me and are discriminating against me". He couldnt get hired. And it wasnt discrimination.

Plus now you brought up medications that makes you drowsy..which wont be accepted by companies. you have a better chance of working a job at home first than trying to go straight from disability to trucking.

Will a history of chronic fatigue hurt you....probably they will want a long period between resolution and trucking. having 3 weeks without chronic fatigue wont cut it. a year or two might be required

thats a guess and im not a doctor but does it make sense to have a guy with chronic fatigue to be a in control of an 80,000 pound vehicle?

My point is you may have to be med and symptom free and with verifiable employment for a couple years before anyone will hire you.

Todd, we aren't trying to beat you up. I would agree with Brett's assessment saying you do ask questions of which our answers can help other newbies. It's your responses to what we say that are disturbingly bizarre. You show no conceptual understanding of this lifestyle.

We are people of action. Truck drivers are decisive, they are focused, they thrive on getting things accomplished. If we have three and a half days to get from Denver, CO over to Portland, Oregon, and then down to Los Angeles, CA in the dead of winter, the last thing on our mind is how much time we are going to have to comb our hair and shave. We are going to bust our tail just to "git 'er done." We are not going to be wishing we could unionize ourselves and demand less stringent job requirements.

We love getting things accomplished, and if that requires sacrifices such as driving all night for three nights in the snow, we gladly take that bull by the horns and conquer it. We don't give excuses. We don't back down. "I can't," or "this is too hard" is not part of our conversation. We are doers. We leave the dreamers far behind us with each new sunrise. We don't back down, we don't give up, we are our own driving force, full of motivation and willingness.

We are never satisfied until we've gotten the present task before us accomplished. At that point we are already eager for the next challenge. If we've worked seventy hours we're wishing we could just get in another 15 to cap off a really nice week. We push all the limits, we are eager to get more done this week than we did the last. We are goal oriented.

You talk a lot about your time in boot camp, and your military service. Ask yourself, "Could I do all that again at this point in my life?" If your response to that is doubtful, then there's no way you'll survive the trucking career.

Todd, have you noticed how much time you've spent on worrying about brushing your teeth and shaving?

Has it ever crossed your mind that you're going to have high demands placed on you to serve your customers? You have such a rude awakening coming, yet the most critical things needed seem to never enter your thoughts or concerns.

No, I don't know what the demands to serve my customers will be yet. Honest. But as a matter of pride, I would still like to be neat, clean and shaven in the presence of my customers. Every prior occupation I've ever had demanded that of me. As a car mechanic, my employer even required me to be clean-shaven at work. I actually enjoy being clean-shaven and it makes me feel fresh to have a hairless face and neck and a buzz haircut.

My lack of work history can be explained simply by my disabling conditions now. Disabled NOW doesn't mean disabled for life.

Just because you can explain it does not mean a company must accept you. One poster stated in the past "I was on disability, they wont hire me and are discriminating against me". He couldnt get hired. And it wasnt discrimination.

Plus now you brought up medications that makes you drowsy..which wont be accepted by companies. you have a better chance of working a job at home first than trying to go straight from disability to trucking.

Will a history of chronic fatigue hurt you....probably they will want a long period between resolution and trucking. having 3 weeks without chronic fatigue wont cut it. a year or two might be required

thats a guess and im not a doctor but does it make sense to have a guy with chronic fatigue to be a in control of an 80,000 pound vehicle?

My point is you may have to be med and symptom free and with verifiable employment for a couple years before anyone will hire you.

Maybe Brett could answer that for me better.

My lack of work history can be explained simply by my disabling conditions now. Disabled NOW doesn't mean disabled for life.

Just because you can explain it does not mean a company must accept you. One poster stated in the past "I was on disability, they wont hire me and are discriminating against me". He couldnt get hired. And it wasnt discrimination.

Plus now you brought up medications that makes you drowsy..which wont be accepted by companies. you have a better chance of working a job at home first than trying to go straight from disability to trucking.

Will a history of chronic fatigue hurt you....probably they will want a long period between resolution and trucking. having 3 weeks without chronic fatigue wont cut it. a year or two might be required

thats a guess and im not a doctor but does it make sense to have a guy with chronic fatigue to be a in control of an 80,000 pound vehicle?

My point is you may have to be med and symptom free and with verifiable employment for a couple years before anyone will hire you.

I'm 54 years old right now. I will not live forever.

I don't want to wait too long before starting to make some decent money.

I'll be dead and it will be too late. I'm in hurry to get right out of poverty.

So, I might have to take some crappy local job as a janitor for a year or two to go from disability to trucking?

My lack of work history can be explained simply by my disabling conditions now. Disabled NOW doesn't mean disabled for life.

Just because you can explain it does not mean a company must accept you. One poster stated in the past "I was on disability, they wont hire me and are discriminating against me". He couldnt get hired. And it wasnt discrimination.

Plus now you brought up medications that makes you drowsy..which wont be accepted by companies. you have a better chance of working a job at home first than trying to go straight from disability to trucking.

Will a history of chronic fatigue hurt you....probably they will want a long period between resolution and trucking. having 3 weeks without chronic fatigue wont cut it. a year or two might be required

thats a guess and im not a doctor but does it make sense to have a guy with chronic fatigue to be a in control of an 80,000 pound vehicle?

My point is you may have to be med and symptom free and with verifiable employment for a couple years before anyone will hire you.

He could have been passed over for another reason than having been on disability.

I have sent a regional trucking company headquartered in Montana, Jim Palmer, a question about its hiring policy regarding verifiable employment and having been on disability for the past several years with verifiable disability income and documentation.

"1-1-2019

Dear Sirs:

Will your company automatically turn down (refuse to hire) an applicant for OTR driver (or any company driving position) if he/she:

1. has no verifiable employment for the past several years

BUT

2. has verifiable disability income (specifically VA Pension or Compensation or SSDI) for the past several years

3. the applicant's doctor has released the applicant to return to work full time

4. the applicant is able to PASS the DOT physical and has no medical disqualifications to drive

5. (optional) the applicant is a military veteran with an honorable discharge

6. the applicant has a clean DMV record: no tickets, no accidents, no DUI/DWI

7. the applicant has no felonies or violent/drug-related misdemeanors

8. (optional) is working as a partner with a state vocational rehabilitation agency

Sincerely, (my true legal name) Boise, ID

PS - My philosophy is that "having being disabled or ill" is not a crime or a lack of merit in itself for those who are willing to work hard and again become productive members of our society provided they can prove they are willing, ready and able to perform their duties in a safe, efficient, timely and lawful manner. Americans seeking to be productive again should not be punished (deprived of opportunity) solely on the basis of any prior illnesses or physical disabilities (not self-inflicted). I've asked these questions because I've heard some rumors (on some trucking website) that some "big name" national trucking companies, I think mostly corporations, allegedly will simply refuse to hire solely on the basis of lack of verifiable work history even in cases of having recovered from documented and verifiable disability while still having the medical clean bill of health to pass the DOT physical and drug-screening "with flying colors". I hope Jim Palmer is more enlightened than that."

I would like to get a reply from them in writing.

We are never satisfied until we've gotten the present task before us accomplished. At that point we are already eager for the next challenge. If we've worked seventy hours we're wishing we could just get in another 15 to cap off a really nice week. We push all the limits, we are eager to get more done this week than we did the last. We are goal oriented.

That is precisely the way a top tier driver lives approaches both his job and his life in general. If you had to sum it up in one word - ambition. It's something that very few people have on the level that's needed to do this job consistently at a high level for many years. Yet at the same time there's so much more that's needed - nerve, patience, fierce independence, creative problem solving, self-motivation, good communication skills, and being comfortable in a highly dynamic environment.

An extraordinary job for extraordinary people. Many step up and try, few manage to handle it well.

My point is you may have to be med and symptom free and with verifiable employment for a couple years before anyone will hire you.

Not only might you find that to be the case, but I would ask you to consider whether or not you should require that of yourself. You said you've lived on disability, both yours and before that your uncle's, for about 13 years or more. Your health is also poor right now. Yet you're considering jumping into one of the fastest paced and most demanding lifestyles imaginable.

It's well known that people don't change at the drop of a hat unless you force them to like they can in the military. The military doesn't give you a choice, otherwise there would be about 150 people total in the military right now. When you give yourself the choice to walk away, 99.99% of the people who try to flip a switch and go from your current state of existence to living the life of a top tier driver will fail in very short order, a matter of days or weeks.

I think you need to start by rehabbing yourself first. Prepare yourself for this great challenge. Get yourself right. Get in really good shape, get off the meds, and land an ordinary job and keep it for at least 6 - 12 months. That will prove to the world, and to yourself, that you're capable of making major changes and living a highly productive life.

You're worried about whether or not these companies will hire you. In other words, will they believe in you? The far bigger question is whether or not you believe in yourself. On the surface we would all quickly say, "Yes, of course I believe in myself." Deep down inside most of us do not.

Those who truly believe in themselves are people of action. They get out there and attack life, take on big challenges, and accomplish their goals because they know they can. They don't let anything stop them.

Those who do not believe in themselves are almost never willing to try. Why? Because most of us are reasonable people. Why would you try something you don't believe you can do?

If you truly believe you're willing and able to accept the tremendous challenge of being a truck driver then prove it to yourself and the world by taking on a series of smaller challenges first. Get your life right and prepare yourself. Get in shape, land a job and keep it, form strong daily habits that will prepare you mentally for succeeding when the challenges become more difficult.

In fact, regardless of the career you choose you should do those things right now to prepare. It doesn't matter if it's truck driving or not. At this point you're not prepared to succeed at any challenging career. You don't have the physical health, mental fortitude, or healthy daily habits you'll need to endure at a high level in any challenging career or lifestyle.

I'm doing that exact thing myself but in a different arena. In May I started my mountain climbing career. I hired a professional fitness coach for training and I've been hiring climbing guides to teach me the technical aspects of climbing. I've been training 6 or 7 days a week, climbing once a week, and taking on bigger and bigger challenges toward my goal of climbing some of the biggest mountains in the world.

No one I've hired knew me, so everyone took a wait and see approach. My coach assigned my workouts, my climbing guides took me climbing. As I showed my commitment they assigned me bigger challenges. Now I've gotten to the point that I've proven how fiercely determined and capable I am, and everyone believes in me. They've got me on a schedule for taking on bigger and bigger objectives. Every time I accomplish certain things they step me up to the next level.

I have both short term and long term goals. The key is that you have to accomplish a series of smaller short term goals if you ever want to accomplish the big long term goals. And that's exactly what I'm telling you right now. If you want to accomplish the immense long term goal of being a top tier driver then you should start by accomplishing a series of smaller short term goals like getting in great shape, holding down an ordinary job, and developing strong daily habits for eating, exercising, getting plenty of rest, and maintaining a strong, positive, confident attitude.

Those smaller short term goals will help you move toward all of your bigger long term goals. It's a path you should start down immediately, regardless of what the long term goals are.

Todd I sincerely hope you invest the time to read, understand and accept the assessment and advice Brett has provided. Thus far most everything of substance we have written in reply to you, is basically brushed aside, debated or flat out ignored. If your words are sincere, and you are truly serious, please focus your efforts on what he has outlined, make a serial plan and stick to it. You cannot get to step 2-10 without first taking care of your step 1 business.

Resist the temptation to be distracted with questioning and attempts to fight the system, getting frothed up about mundane and trivial things. It will only delay your progress.

I’ve read most everything you have posted and believe Brett’s suggestions are the only viable path gaining entry into the trucking business. You are far from being pre-qualified to enter a Paid CDL Training Program with any company.

Follow Brett’s suggestion to the “T” and perhaps a year from now, this career opportunity will be much closer to reality.

Todd, we aren't trying to beat you up. I would agree with Brett's assessment saying you do ask questions of which our answers can help other newbies. It's your responses to what we say that are disturbingly bizarre. You show no conceptual understanding of this lifestyle.

We are people of action. Truck drivers are decisive, they are focused, they thrive on getting things accomplished. If we have three and a half days to get from Denver, CO over to Portland, Oregon, and then down to Los Angeles, CA in the dead of winter, the last thing on our mind is how much time we are going to have to comb our hair and shave. We are going to bust our tail just to "git 'er done." We are not going to be wishing we could unionize ourselves and demand less stringent job requirements.

We love getting things accomplished, and if that requires sacrifices such as driving all night for three nights in the snow, we gladly take that bull by the horns and conquer it. We don't give excuses. We don't back down. "I can't," or "this is too hard" is not part of our conversation. We are doers. We leave the dreamers far behind us with each new sunrise. We don't back down, we don't give up, we are our own driving force, full of motivation and willingness.

We are never satisfied until we've gotten the present task before us accomplished. At that point we are already eager for the next challenge. If we've worked seventy hours we're wishing we could just get in another 15 to cap off a really nice week. We push all the limits, we are eager to get more done this week than we did the last. We are goal oriented.

You talk a lot about your time in boot camp, and your military service. Ask yourself, "Could I do all that again at this point in my life?" If your response to that is doubtful, then there's no way you'll survive the trucking career.

Old School, thank you for this! I agree and believe this is so true.

Thanks for the great reminder of what AND WHO we are.

Drive on!