Comments By Paul J.

WOW.. $1,000 to bring my little buddy along with me??

I may have you do some more searching on that one. I'd love to have him with me, we rescued him from a pound and I wouldn't give him up for $1,000 but, to pay that amount to have him ride with me is pretty steep.

Thanks for the info Rainy D.

I work for Prime and we have a western 11 regional. We also have a shorter contract for veterans, only 9 months, in exchange for the CDL training.

they take nothing from your pay, you just pay $155 upfront for paperwork and processing. stay the 9 months and you pay nothing for school.

You probably go to training in Salt Lake City, but that is just orientation for a week, then you head out on the road with your permit and make deliveries. After you get the CDL, you team drive for 30k truck miles before going solo.

taking the dog of less than 30 pounds will cost $1000.... broken down as one payment of $300 then $50 per week until paid off.

hope this helps

Thanks for the info Brett, sounds a lot more convincing than what my wife said.. She's a HR type and they handle short busses for picking up seniors in the Portland, OR area and taking them to doctors, appointments, etc.

I've always had the idea of being a truck driver in my mind. When I was in the Air Force for 20 years, I was in Civil Engineering Squadrons and on one of my first jobs, I went along to do surveying of the site and act as on-site engineer.. I was done with my work one afternoon and saw an all terrain front end loader with a 5 yard clamshell bucket. Man was I impressed. The operator asked me if I'd ever operated one, I told him no and he said "Climb on up and strap yourself in.." He climbed up next to me, pointed at the controls and gave me a short explanation of how the bucket worked via those controls.

He climbed down and I said "What can I do?" He pointed at a tree stump and he said Roll your bucket down and open the clam shell as far as it'll go... Which I did.. Then he told me to lower it over the stump, then close the bucket around it. The bucked barely closed 6" but, I had the stump.. "Now what?" He just said "Raise your bucket." and then this massive.. and I mean MASSIVE stump just came right out of the ground..

He had me at "Climb on up." and everything else was just a bonus.

In my military career I took as much training as I could get and pretty much have several thousand hours of "stick time" using backhoes, Front end loaders, 20 yard dump trucks.. Even got trained on an Asphalt Paving Machine.. I did manage to get tractor trailer training at one time and had to move a VERY expensive satellite control trailer around our site and put it in position. The truck was way under rated for the weight of that trailer but, I was able to make it work.

I want to drive because I love seeing this country. I've driven the ALCAN 7 times and watching it change each time you went up or down it was very impressive. It's a nice highway these days. If I had a job running North and South on that road all the way to Anchorage, that would be fine with me.

Anyway, sorry for rambling on, I'll unkey the mike now and finish with a "Thanks" for making it seem like I can get into this career now. Be safe.

SO, my name is Grumpy and I'm a lurker.....

I've been doing engineering work for over 35 years now but, always wanted to drive a truck. I'm at the age where companies do the math on my resume and think "OMG (They're millenials, that's what they say), this guy is old enough to *Insert stupid comparison here*..

I did 20 years in the Air Force working in the Civil Engineering field and have got countless hours on just about every piece of equipment you'll find on an Air Force base.. Even got qualified on an Asphalt Paving Machine early in my career.

Now I present this idea to my wife who's an HR manager for a non-profit firm in Portland, OR and she doesn't think with my medical issues that I would pass the DOT Physical. This is where my question originates from.

Here's what I have: Sleep Apnea (Yes, I DO use the CPAP all the time) High Blood Pressure (Controlled by meds) Hypoactive Thyroid (Hard as heck to lose weight with that going on) Early signs of Pserosis of the liver (Never was a big drinker, it's just hereditary so they say) I don't do any illegal drugs I smoke a cigar just about every day

Does any of those problems disqualify me in a DOT Physical?

I could bring in my CPAP results, medical records, the works if that helps.

I know Swift has a Vet scholarship program but, closer to home is West Coast Equipment Training about 45 drive North of here. The VA gal at the job center said she has a few ways to get it all paid for by the VA.

I also heard that Swift now has a Dog policy. I've got 4 dogs and I talk to them more than I do my wife. I know which one I'd take along, he's a small guy. I'd love to take my female lab along but, she's 96lbs and I'd have to lift her all the way up into the truck all day long and help her out.

If I go through this and end up with a 2 or 3 day route, I'd definitely like to take my little buddy along with me. I wouldn't mind running a regional route maybe like Seattle to down in Cali somewhere as long as I can just drop and hook. Don't like Cali, never have, never will. It's bad enough living in Vancouver, WA, right across the river from Portland. Traffic there is a total nightmare.

So, what do you guys and gals think? Would I make it through the physical??

I thought about driving school busses but, being old, ya gotta pee a little more often and that's not an easy thing to do with a bunch of kids on the bus.

Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

My wife bought a couple of the Amazon Fire Sticks and sent them to my son and he did a jail break on them which pretty much gives you a ton more ways to find shows you want to watch. It doesn't take much to do the Jailbreak and you can probably find one for sale on Craigslist already broken..

If you have internet, they'll work by just plugging into a USB port on your TV..

Then again, I've got a ton of books on my tablet I'd prefer to read. I need to find a candle that smells like old books to make it feel like I'm really reading a book.

Is anyone using Pandora for music when you're driving?? I picked up a "jail broken" version of that and I've been using it for over 10 years now. On a drive from Vancouver, WA to Las Vegas a few years back, the only place I lost reception was near Weed, Cali.. It was running on my IPhone and basically, I lost service in that section of the hills as well. I usually just type in the name of an artist I want to hear and it'll play music from that artist interspersed with music that is similar from other artists as well. I've found a lot of artists out there I never would have known about.

Why did I get the jailbroken version you may ask?? Because if you don't, you'll get commercials every 3 or 4 songs.. and if you registered your legal version in California, that's where your commercials will be based out of, no matter where you're driving that day.. Mine hasn't had a commercial in 10 years now.

I've seen a lot of boo hooing about getting tested and whether or not you have to wear it, etc. etc..

I wear mine every night to get a good nights sleep. If a new recruit went to training, are they going to require him to take the sleep apnea test even if he already has medical records saying he has it and needs to use a CPAP? Then if he shows them the one he uses, does it have to have a printout meter on it so they can insure that he's using it?

I used to fall asleep working on drawings for an architect, then a few minutes later I'd wake up and there'd be about 15 lines of z's on my screen.. That's when I knew I needed to have the test done.

Why not just realize you have it, get the machine, and use it.

What's the big problem with wearing a mask and getting a good nights sleep?

I've been wearing one for about 18 years now and sleep through the night.

Will they not let you drive if you're on one? Or do they look at your machines log to see if you're using it every time you sleep?

I take maps without mine but, when I hit the sack for an all night sleep , I use mine 100% or the time.

Entirely too much stuff lol. Too many clothes, a portable freezer, an aroma cooker, 5 minute chef, pyrex bowls, cooking utensils, paper plates and bowls, a hodgepodge of paperwork, laptop, tablet, chargers, shoes, tv, satellite receiver, oh the list goes on and on...

Sounds like you need a larger sleeper. One of those van lines sleepers with the kitchen and everything is it. Man those sure look nice.

I'm thinking about things like 12v coffee pots, 12v crock pots, inverters for your laptops, that kind of thing.

Is there something you've come across that's a must have? Or perhaps something you bought at the Flying J was useless and didn't last until the next stop?

I'm working on setting up the back of my pickup truck and looking for ideas on how to use it for travelling and though "Who best to ask than someone who lives out of their trucks?"

I'm pretty sure this isn't part of TruckingTruth.com but, I didn't know where else to start.

I'm in the Pacific Northwest and it's fire season here. I know there are agencies that hire contractors to spray water on fires and I was wondering how old a truck you can do this type of work with.

Looking at picking up a fire truck from an auction, hooking a camper to the rear bumper, and going where the fires are.

Does anyone know anything about this type of work?

I know it's not full time but, if it pays good enough, one might think you could make decent money doing it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

I'm like Miss Vamp. I will have lots of little things to help me feel comfortable. Of course comfort is subjective, but I've already purchased a mattress topper, a ninja cooker (which cooks 3 ways in one machine), high thread count twin XL sheets, down pillows, a portable JBL speaker for hotel rooms and my bunk, a receipt scanner so I won't have extra paper.

For me, it's all about saving space and being super organized. I don't plan on going home very often, maybe once every couple of months to check in with the roommate and eyeball my material possessions. I've loaded my kindle with 100s of books. I've also loaded a device with 1000s of songs. I'll most likely be buying a gaming laptop so I don't have to haul a PC AND my consoles around. I'll have yankee candles because even when not lit they can fill a small space with scent.

Still trying to figure out the entire bicycle thing. I hear conflicting things about having it strapped to the back due to salt, dirt, and the elements. Not entirely sold on the folding bike idea, but you can get one on eBay for 160 bucks, which isn't too shabby in my opinion.

As for protection, I'm not sure what I'll have. I've read in FL that pepper spray over 2 oz requires a conceal carry license. I had originally been thinking bear mace (which is like 8 oz), now I'm unsure.

I picked up a really small folding bicycle at a yard sale for $10.00!! I'm a big guy and with the size of that bike and a red clown nose and I just need to learn to paint the clown stuff on my face. I forget who makes this one. I've got a Royce I bought when I was working in Ireland as well and it has 7 speeds. The little clown bike only has one speed.

Hmm, a Unicycle would fit in your cab as well if you can ride one.