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Post by Admin on Jan 6, 2016 16:14:39 GMT
100's of trucking jobs, less than 5% interest me.
I see all these CL's adds and just think 'yuk'..
OTR, Regional, 'Home weekly', 'All the miles you want' ect.
Been there done that, and is why it seems my final trail is here.
Look around...what do you see?...nothing, the back drop says it all, a desolate industrial area.
And trucking will leave you feeling that way on the inside, and not only that but leaving your life desolate as well if not careful of driving career path.
Odd azz hours where you can't socialize, weeks away, nights alone...it all adds up.
And if will effect you.
Sure, there are a lot of other factors...married, single, small feet's, type of driving, pay, Owner operator or company, personality type, original ambitions and so forth.
Many variables will effect final outcome.
But in the end, looking back now, I would never do this again.
If I hadn't spent years wasting time driving around like a fool, just out there, this blog wouldn't even exist.
I'd have friends, a family, a normal career with a pension, community involvement, would probably even still be in church.
Trucking, at least for me, has basically proven to be a short cut to no where.
But I can't blame trucking itself for all of that.
It's a job, like any other, I just also made poor decisions along the way, and trucking was always there to conveintly run back to, easy money, no education required, that's hard for many to exist when younger, or even now.
But in the end it leaves you unqualified to do anything else, accept start over again at an older age, as if getting out of high school again, only today you can't make it on a high school type job income.
Nor can I sit here and blame it all on logistics, I mean things have to be moved, freight has to roll.
But I can say trucking doesn't do enough to promote from within, to offer drivers a career path beyond driving as labor, and that's the industries greatest fail in my opinion.
Naturally as you age you want different responsibility.
But instead industry recruits people with no experience, trains them, then they become your dispatcher, never driven, don't even know what a truck looks like, and suddenly feel like they're you're superior.
Anyways got to get on with the day.
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Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2016 17:57:31 GMT
9-5 is the only way I can do this anymoreI held out and think I got what I want, but only cause I'm qualified and presented myself well. I'm not like other drivers who show up looking like janitors. I show up looking sharp, talk sharp, never appear desperate, and have all qualifications. As such I may have found my 9-5, off on weekends, truck job, which will allow me to have a life. Turned down previous offer which was some life killing schedule of 3 a.m. to like 2:30 p.m....I turned that down. That's what I call a life killing schedule where you can't do anything ever, and have to sleep when others are getting off and getting down on the town. Sorry, just can't do that no more. Can't spend 12 hours alone anymore, driving alone, no one noticing you, no one to interact with, just alone, then pull up to lonely 'station', alone, interact with a few post romanceual, sloppy dressed workers, do your thing, and then go to next place. Just can't do that, such an environment would quickly depress me. Not trying to be dead, while alive. I just can't work these funky truck schedules anymore, where you just can't have a life...since coming off the road I've actually begin living again, a bit. I do things now, can plan things...I've even been kayaking. Just not about to give all that up and climb back into isolation cage of trucking where the only people you see all look post romanceual, old, and no fun. I don't mind driving, but this time around will not let it rob me of having a social life on the side, where after work I can go out to sports bar, club, or ball game or kayak or whatever. And when weekends roll around can actually have a life without worrying about getting called up or out early, or forced to spend nights all alone at Rest area around post romanceual dead looking drivers who have zero interest in your well being. Who in their right mind would want to return to this?...not I. It's dead out there now, it's not like years ago when people practically partied at rest areas, groupies ect. Now it's absolutely dead out there, if old, washed up corpse, perfect, cause all you do is pull up and sleep. But if young, still have some life, it's horrible, absolutely nothing to do, like being trapped, a rolling prison, cage. I'll take my 9-5 job. Where at end of day I can change clothes and live a bit.
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Post by Admin on Jan 12, 2016 18:21:50 GMT
Footnote
I will always now, and forever, salute the old retired 'hippie cowboy' or 'Renegade' or 'Outlaw' truckers of the past.
Nothing I write now, or in the future applies to them...
When they were out on the road, trucking indeed was fun and fabulous.
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Post by Admin on Jan 17, 2016 20:54:38 GMT
9-5 is all I can dedicate to this industry anymoreI got my 9-5 schedule...and that's all I can dedicate to this industry anymore. I may not get rich working this schedule, but at least can have quality off time. And in the end, time is all you really have, all that matters, is time. And when life starts becoming short, it won't matter that I was docked at a Publix bay at 2:30 am in the morning where no one or there mother noticed the sacrifice I did to get there...none of that will matter when life is short. What will matter is the life you created, carved out for yourself while off work, either with family, or other side endeavors. It's Sunday, I'm off and I'm home, I mean right now not much more I could ask for in form of schedule..
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Post by Admin on Jan 28, 2016 23:08:24 GMT
9-5 Trucking9-5 trucking. Won't make you rich, but will afford you opportunity during off time to pursue a side life. That's all I can really ask for right now. I like working for a place where you get to see your dispatcher daily, all the office personal daily, the mechanics, daily, the owner of company, daily. For years I worked for trucking companies that were so large that you never saw the same driver twice. You could work there for years and never see the same driver twice. You never saw the owner of company either, except through painting on wall, and there were so many mid management terminals ect, no one ever got a feel of 'you', your uniqueness and what you could offer to company other than blind labor. In large companies you're separated from the decision makers by layers and layers of management, and titles and divisions ect. So you get hired as a unknown and leave as a unknown. So impersonal, but back then I did not care, in fact that's what attracted me to the industry. But most of us change, evolve and grow, and I know if have since back then. When you get older you tend to want to be recognized more what you you've done, accomplish and do, not some invisible dot on grid that's ordered around. What drivers have done throughout their careers, out there on those lonely roads is not recorded, or ever remembered, just lost moments in time. It's kind of sad, cause every driver could literally write a book on what they see out there. I got my 9-5 now, and happy with that, happy seeing same faces daily..(well most).. Another driver friend tried enticing me back out hauling cars ect...nope, don't need the hassle. 9-5, weekends off is all I need or want right now in as far as trucking job goes.
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Post by Admin on Feb 8, 2016 23:49:37 GMT
Thinking about re configuring this blog forum
Now that I'm company again, and home daily, basically 9-5, I really have no need for a trucking blog anymore.
There is no great vas truck culture anymore, there's just people who drive trucks for a pay check, while listening to music or chatting on cell phone, and the bulk of them now are foreigners who relate more to their own cultures than U.S.A. trucking culture.
I've gotten what I want for now, as such all the anxiety I had early is gone, and I'm content.
It's kind of pointless for me to go on and on about trucking anymore.
But I do have other things I'd like to write about that have nothing at all to do with trucking.
So I may close this thread, this chapter, and move on.
Even changed name of blog forum to better reflect direction of new path.
So yes, I may close this thread, and relegate it to 'the basement', and move on.
As company driver who just climbs into truck, then climbs out at end of day, there's nothing to chat about anymore, all the stress is gone, I'm local, average distance of trip is about 12-14 miles, work around port personal ect.
I have no CB radio installed, take back city roads to where I'm going, again there is no 'culture' to speak of anymore.
So this will probably be last post in what I titled 'The trucking graveyard'.
I've given many years and passion to this industry, and for years thought the returns would be better than they turned out to be.
Now I'm leaning more towards Union type jobs or city job, stable with benefits.
I have no more to give to trucking, I just leave behind memories, and sure those memories will continue to spill out from time to time, or when talking to other drivers 'real time', but on here...not much value to them anymore, or to me.
Can't keep dwelling on what could have been or should of been.
Farewell for now.
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