You Know You Want To Be A Trucker When.....

You are thousands of feet in the air, and you are trying to make out the trucks on the highways.....lol. Did that this morning on a flight from NJ to KY 30 mins before landing. Counted quite a few......

.....when you spend every single evening for 7 straight weeks standing on the overpass above the Interstate , listening to Bob Seger and his wealth of traveling tunes, watching the trucks go by, wondering where they're going and what it's going to be like when you get your shot.

That was how I passed the time after truck driving school let out each day. It was a 7 week course, 350 total hours, plus about another 80 hours standing on that bridge. It was too far to commute so I was staying in a hotel. It was either watch TV or watch the trucks go by. I couldn't pull myself away from that bridge.

- circa 1993

I passed under that same bridge about a hundred times over the years and it was always surreal. I've had many careers and a fun, exciting, challenging life that's been one long blessing. That being said, there isn't anything I've ever done that was more exciting than the prospect of living on the road and cruising this Great Land in an 80,000 pound rig. And even with all of that daydreaming, life on the road certainly didn't disappoint. Trucking is truly a grand adventure if you're the type that's up for that sort of thing.

You know you want to be a truck driver when you remember back to your childhood, sitting in the back seat, telling your parents how to get from one place to another, wondering - "What kind of job will I use THIS for?" lol

You know you want to be a truck driver, when, as a teen, you'd be caught at the local truckstop checking out all the rigs and picking your favorites.

You know you want to be a truck driver when your heart beats just a little faster when you imagine YOU are the driver of that big rig that passes by.

You know you want to be a truck driver when all your life, gas has been your greatest expense, because driving is the only thing that makes you really feel good when everything else is going wrong.

You know you want to be a truck driver when finally, at age 49, somebody says - "You should drive a truck" and for the first time you think - "YES. I REALLY THINK I SHOULD." LET'S DO IT.

And then you REALLY know you want to be a truckdriver when you fill out the application and get a call back saying they are considering your application. :)

In my case-

You know you want to be a trucker when you tell your family about your idea and your parents flat out tell you that you cannot do the job because you're too young and the job is too difficult - you won't be able to handle it. Then on Thanksgiving day your dad jokes around with others about how stupid the idea is.

Then you quit your job and do it anyways at the age of 21.

Then you come back a year and a half later and stick it in their face when you show them that you're now a certified instructor/trainer who already passed his first student. Then begin to tell them to never doubt you again.

That's my true story. I knew I wanted to be a trucker even though I got laughed at about it.

Way ta GO, Daniel!

I wanna' pull up to my house in a tractor trailer for my kids to see, stop on the side of the street, set the brakes, "Turrrrrrrrr!" and hop out for all my neighbors to see. Then the next house I want to pull up to is my Dad's ...."Turrrrrrrrrr!"

-mountain girl

.....when you spend every single evening for 7 straight weeks standing on the overpass above the Interstate , listening to Bob Seger and his wealth of traveling tunes, watching the trucks go by, wondering where they're going and what it's going to be like when you get your shot.

That was how I passed the time after truck driving school let out each day. It was a 7 week course, 350 total hours, plus about another 80 hours standing on that bridge. It was too far to commute so I was staying in a hotel. It was either watch TV or watch the trucks go by. I couldn't pull myself away from that bridge.

- circa 1993

I passed under that same bridge about a hundred times over the years and it was always surreal. I've had many careers and a fun, exciting, challenging life that's been one long blessing. That being said, there isn't anything I've ever done that was more exciting than the prospect of living on the road and cruising this Great Land in an 80,000 pound rig. And even with all of that daydreaming, life on the road certainly didn't disappoint. Trucking is truly a grand adventure if you're the type that's up for that sort of thing.

You know you want to be a truck driver when you remember back to your childhood, sitting in the back seat, telling your parents how to get from one place to another, wondering - "What kind of job will I use THIS for?" lol

You know you want to be a truck driver, when, as a teen, you'd be caught at the local truckstop checking out all the rigs and picking your favorites.

You know you want to be a truck driver when your heart beats just a little faster when you imagine YOU are the driver of that big rig that passes by.

You know you want to be a truck driver when all your life, gas has been your greatest expense, because driving is the only thing that makes you really feel good when everything else is going wrong.

You know you want to be a truck driver when finally, at age 49, somebody says - "You should drive a truck" and for the first time you think - "YES. I REALLY THINK I SHOULD." LET'S DO IT.

And then you REALLY know you want to be a truckdriver when you fill out the application and get a call back saying they are considering your application. :)

Ur 8 days out of the slam, tired of standing in the bread line, ain't got no kin close by, and an actor by the name of ronald reagan just became president. a rolling stone gathers no moss, time to hit the road!

You know when you want to become a trucker when you tell parents and friends including your uncle who has been driving for 15 years about it and they laugh in your face than they go on to tell you how you will fail in life if you become a trucker and you should stay in college. But deep down you know college sucks and you think "screw you i will become a truck driver."

You know you want to be a truck driver when you take an early retirement from the military to go to a truck driving school to live life in a truck. You know you want to be a truck driver when you decide to stop listening to all that negativity from your so-called "friends" who oppose your wanting to be a truck driver, trying to talk you out of it. I look at it like this: I saw many, many people in the military who just couldn't conform or adapt. That goes for any industry or occupation. I've known nurses who used up their life savings and went into debt to be a part of the medical profession, only to realize that they just couldn't hack it.

When you back your pickup truck pretending its a big rig

You know you want to be a truck driver when the thought of taking a pay cut is outweighed by the thought of getting to drive cross-country for a living.

You know you want to be a truck driver when you buy a motor carriers' road atlas and spend a couple hours planning imaginary loads from point to point.

You know you want to be a truck driver when you see a flatbed driving down the road with loose tarps and think, "I would never take the chance of having Old School see me pull a load wrapped like that."