Profile For Dave T.

I wouldn’t ditch the CDL. I was out of work for a year and a half due to a medical issue and ended up losing my job over it. I couldn’t pass the DOT physical due to the recovery from that operation but once I could, I got it done and got my class A back after it was downgraded. If you can handle the drywall delivery (I did that for a very short while… not my idea of a good time), you should look into other local delivery jobs. Maybe start with Pepsi or coke or even alcohol. I delivered beer for many years. It was a lot of hard work but it led to one of the best jobs I ever had and that was delivering milk. Find a local school and get the refresher course knocked out and find a company that will hire with just a few months of experience. Around here, there are companies hauling fuel like I am that are hiring drivers right out of school to haul fuel. Get some endorsements under your belt too and that will help out as well.

Just last week, I was sitting in a miles long back due to a truck accident. About 5 miles before the actual accident scene, they had signs up letting everyone know that the left lane was closed ahead due to an emergency scene. I was already in the right lane when I started seeing these signs so I just stayed there. Surprisingly most everyone else on the road did the same thing until they ultimately detoured us off the highway (US 220 in VA) and through town. When I got to the exit where we had to get off, there were a few people in cars who had run up that lane that was coming to the end and were trying to merge in at the last minute. This caused those of us who were steadily moving along in the right lane to have to stop to allow these morons in.

I can’t tell you how many times a day I have people cut me off because they’re in such a big hurry and feel that they need to get around me at the last minute to make an exit or an on ramp to save a few seconds. I haul fuel so I have to be extra careful around these morons because they have absolutely no respect for the giant bomb that they’re cutting off. I keep saying that they need to add a day in a truck as part of the drivers education school curriculum to give people an idea of just how big and heavy these things are.

My advice is to give the truck the room they need to safely operate because it’s not only our lives in our hands out there, it’s yours too. If you cut us off and act like a tool, there’s a higher chance of an accident. We have cameras too ya know. I watch my mirrors like a hawk to keep an eye out for the terrible drivers and can almost always predict their next move by the way they’re driving. Don’t run up those lanes that are ending to cut us off at the last minute. Leave a little earlier and don’t be in such a hurry. When you see those signs that say the lane is ending, go ahead and move to the through lane, be prepared and plan/look ahead.

Another thing, I know the whole touch a truck thing is in just about every town these days… go check one out and find a driver with a tractor there and get yourself behind the wheel. Maybe then you’ll have a better understanding of what we do and what we have to work with on a daily basis. Keep in mind, without trucks, you wouldn’t have jack 💩.

Last year, I was sitting at a stop light and just happened to look in my passenger side mirror as I was in the left lane and saw someone flick a cigarette at my load heads while I had 8,000 gallons of ethanol on my trailer. Don’t be that guy and do stupid 💩 around trucks.

Good luck with the recovery! Follow the doctors instructions and don’t rush your recovery process. I had to have reconstructive surgery on my left leg back in 2020… the 8-12 week recovery turned into 18 months due to a non union and delayed healing of my femur. I lost my job and almost everything else over that and I’m still dealing with issues that arose from it almost 4 years later. Be sure to check with your company about FMLA before you have these procedures done to insure you will still have a job when you’re ready to go back to work. My 12 weeks ran out, then my 3 weeks of vacation I had and they let me go. Nothing sucks more than being in the middle of a major recovery and suddenly losing your health insurance. Luckily I was able to get on LTD which also unfortunately came with social security disability, which in itself was a nightmare. I worked my butt off to get off of it and back to work and not be a burden to the state.

Fuel, lots and lots of fuel.

FMLA isn’t all it’s cracked up to be but if you can get back to work in that 6-12 week time frame, you’ll still have a job. I had my knee worked on (more extensive than a knee replacement) three years ago and I’m still dealing with the consequences. Before the surgery, I couldn’t hardly walk so the fact that I can now is worth the price I’ve paid. I was with the company I was working for for 6 years when I had to go out for surgery. Day one after my 12 weeks was up, I got the phone call that my position had been terminated. That’s also the time I ran out of STD. Long story short, it cost me my job, my savings and almost everything else. Do everything you can to be back to work before that 12 week mark, you don’t want to have to deal with the long term disability stuff. As for a place to stay, the nursing and rehab centers are a good option but do your homework before you choose one as a lot of them have staffing issues and poor patient care.

A shovel. If you’re going to be driving anywhere where there could be any kind of snow, take a sturdy shovel. I learned the hard way during a lake effect blizzard on Lake Erie once. Just once. A small, cigarette lighter powered fan can make a huge difference in the summer temps. On days where we have to sit out here to get loaded in the dead of summer without being able to run the trucks, I’d die without my fan.

Ditto here in SW Virginia, hiring drivers and getting busier. Expecting things to become very busy in about a month I'm told.

Still on the lookout for ya. I’ve seen that wagon with the mismatched mud flaps around that you have pictured on here. I’m sure I’ve passed you at some point.

We’ve been steady too. Since the weather was pretty mild this winter (so far) the heating oil has been pretty slow and the gas/diesel deliveries have been higher than usual for this time of year. Hoping it stays warm and everyone spends their tax returns on gasoline for road trips.

5.) Wagon Wheel-Old Crow Medicine Show

It’s great to see this one listed. I’m actually going to see them live here in town tomorrow night.

I’ve been thinking about this subject over the last few weeks. If anyone uses Spotify, there is a group feature where people can join and add their own songs to make a group playlist. I think that would be pretty sweet for the members here to have a shared playlist to be able to listen to what others are listening to and possibly discover some new music. Truckin’ tunes would be a good name.

One of my all time favorites is driving my life away but the one that Rhett Akins did for the movie black dog and not the Eddie Rabbit version.

It’s all I listen to in my pickup. I hate listening to the same commercials all the time and the iheart radio stations are the worst because that’s all it is. I’ve started using the app on my phone here in the Mack since I can connect it through the Bluetooth. There are a lot more stations and podcasts on the app that you can’t get on the standard radios. I listens to one that’s called red white and booze which is country and classic rock bar songs. It’s probably my favorite right now.

I had to back in one of those docks with a 53’ dry van one time. It was super bright outside and dark and hard to see inside but I was able to do it without taking the barn doors off. I think I was getting steel cable but that was a long time ago and only ever did it once. I’ll stick to my tanker.