Comments By Paul J.

Funny story:

A couple weeks back I was crossing into Canada. They did an inspection of my truck. While I was sitting in the office waiting, 2 border agents came in, pulled me into a small windowless room and proceeded to pat me down and search my jacket. They asked where my firearm was and I said it was at home in my safe.

Turns out I had inadvertently packed my holster in my luggage and they found it. I can only imagine what they must have been thinking: "Empty holster... Middle eastern guy with a full beard and thick, heavy jacket inside the building..."

So at first they didn't believe me, but after a much more thorough search and questioning, they finally let me go.

Moral of the story? Even having an empty holster in a truck is a bad idea, let alone an actual firearm!

Many moons ago when I was in the Air Force, I was doing construction inspection liaison on some US Army COE buildings, all the guard in this secure area were Air Force.

They had a trucker come up to the gate with a load, searched his cab and sleeper and in the sleeper, they found a 5 gallon bicket with a sawed off double barrel shotgun in it. They looked up and there was a woman in the bunk and she just said "Don't look at me, it ain't mine." The woman wasn't on the list to enter.

I'd think he's probably still stamping license plates in a federal prison somewhere.

I'm a woman and I know that things happen, and a guy could wind up on a sex registry in some states for urinating on the side of the road (which i bet some people on this board have done)...

I was in my pickup truck bring my GoldWing back from a job in San Jose to Vancouver, wa, had to pee so bad I could taste it.. Pulled over on an off ramp, walked around the front of the truck to the passenger side, had the wife open the door and stood in front of the door and let her loose..

While I was 'shakin it' I looked up and there stands one of Cali's Finest sayin "I can't believe this.. You couldn't make it to the next exit or stop at one of the rest areas 2 or 3 exits back?" I told him I was a disabled vet, etc. etc, 53 y/o, have to pee all the time..

He said if anyone had seen me doing it, he could arrest me for public nudity but, instead he was just going to write me up for disposing of an toxic substance on a highway or something.. Anyway, it cost $259.00 once he quit writing..

A retired cop told me he couldn't have done the sex offender unless I was in the process of, shall we say, "enjoying the feeling", maybe "sporting a woody" and pointing it in the general direction of the accuser..

Anywho, I know what you're sayin about being on the lower tier.. As I said I'm now 55 y/o man and I actually almost filed a sexual harassment charge at a place I was working. This woman about 3 times my size kept getting all touchy feely with me.. Walked up behind me when I was on the phone and ran her nails down my back.. Still gives me the heebie jeebies.. I think I'm suffering from PTSAD.. She had told my bosses daughter that she wanted to make her into an Oreo cookie with her and her husband.. I don't EVEN want to know what Urban Dictionary says about that one..

I've got a 92 YJ (the ******* Wrangler with the rectangular headlights(. I bought it when I was living in Alaska. Rarely ever had to put it in 4wd.

Wife has a 2005 Rubicon Wrangler that she insisted on keeping in 4wd whenever there was a trace of snow.

It's all in how you drive it. Drive it like it's only a 2wd, take it easy on it and it'll motor right along. My YJ has the 2.5 motor and 33" tired, tube bumpers front and rear, nerf bars on the side, heavy duty leaf springs. It also has an 8,000lb warn wench on the front and one of those long winches on the back bumper. That and all my ham radios, scanners, cb's and antennas and that's pretty much it.

The hoghway that goes East out of California into vegas that has a LONG truckers lane on it, I was in the truckers lane going from 4th to 3rd gear and getting blow off the road by the big trucks. It's got a 5 speed manual, 5th gear is only for making it feel like a roller coaster ride going down hill.

Check on a fuel tank mod. I took mine from a 15 gallon tank to just over 20 gallons. And with the **** poor mileage that thing gets, the extra 5 gallons really helps. Basically, you guy the hose where it goes down into the tank by about 6 inches. The extra length is to keep the gas from pouring out on steep inclines. With that 2.5, there aren't many steep inclines you can make it up.

I tow mine behind my RV when my company decides I need to work out of Vegas, Phoenix, or California for an extended time.

I think if the right deal were to come along, I'd sell or trade it off.. Without my radios of course..

If you go dropping a bigger motor in it, you'll need bigger axles and the works. That's when it gets expensive.

How bout just picking up some celery, carrots and other vegetables and eating them while you drive. That way your body can do the work of the digestion which will get the ingredients into you without having another fancy gimmick taking up room in your cab.

Then when you stop for a break, you can get out and walk around, maybe do some exercises instead of sitting in your cab making a 'drink' from something you could have eaten.

Are there any truckstops out there with fitness centers? Even if there aren't, you should be able to find some kind of fitness center be it the YMCA or a 24 hour membership type of place. You've got 34 hours to use in a reset and if you're not at home, use the time to get a couple of workouts in, maybe swimming, ride a bike if you carry one on your truck..

Main thing is, turn off the TV, get out of the cab, and get moving.

Thanks for the info and the DOT Physical link.

As far as the CPAP goes, I use it whenever I'm sleeping. Have been since the day I got it. The only time I don't use it is when I'm sittin in my recliner and take an hour nap plus or minus..

The BP number might be close but, I should be able to get my doc to up my BP med so the numbers are where they should be.

The diabetes is Type II, no needles there, just time release capsules I take in the mornings.

I was a bit more worried than the actual physical itself. If they require situps or anything like that, I'll need to definitely start working on that.

I'll take a look at the DOT link and see what they have to say there.

Thanks!

GG

So, I've been dreaming about driving a truck for as long as I can remember. After spending 30 years in an office drawing plans for engineers half my age, and being unemployed now, I'm strongly looking at driving.

Questions:

DOT Physical: What's involved? I'm 54, Disabled Vet, High BP under control, use a C-Pap, Type II Diabetic under control.

Does anyone know what kind of numbers they're looking for on BP, diabetes, etc?

Is there any physical test involved? Pushups, Situps, that kind of thing?

My missus straight up thinks I'll never pass the DOT physical but, she's never looked into what required to pass it.

I'm in Washington State but, I think all the states are or should be the same in the DOT requirements.

Any help is greatly appreciated. I've looked at WADOT and it tells you what docs do the physical but, not what they're looking for.

GG

For example, here's an '84 cabover with sleeper I just found on CL.. http://yakima.craigslist.org/cto/4535952695.html

OK, I'm still looking at going through one of the CDL Training schools for someone like Swift or CR England but, I've always wondered...

Once I get a couple of years under my belt, what vintage of older trucks out there would be legal to operate on the highways?

I'm talking as an owner/operator, maybe Intermodal as I live near the Portland Port.

I'm always surfing on Craigslist and today I found a White Freightliner that's a '78 model, cabover day cab. The other day I saw a '68 Kenworth conventional with a sleeper that's been a farm truck it's whole life so I'm thinking the miles might not be in the millions..

What kind of resistance would I get if I pulled up to haul a load with a '68 Kenworth provided everything was in decent shape (ok, it's got manual steering but still... ) Would anyone trust that truck to haul their freight?

I've had sleep apnea for over ten years now. Been using a machine the whole time. I have three machines (Hmm, maybe even 4). My insurance paid for the first one, the others, I've picked up at thrift shops and yard sales!! People get the machines, can't sleep with a mask on their face blowing air all the time and get rid of them.. Cheap and I mean REALLY cheap.. I've bought two of mine that are in like new condition for $5.00.. Yep, five dollars.. Hmm, maybe I should start selling them at truck stops.. haha.

I've been doing engineering work for over 30 years and I'm really considering going to the Swift school and the whole nine yards and becoming an OTR trucker for the next 10 years or so.. I'd much rather look at the open road than a cubicle the next ten years..

So, if I have my CPAP machine with me and possibly the most recent sleep study results (I think I've taken two of them) from the place that did them, I should be G2G with the DOT doc hopefully.

MBH doesn't think I'll be able to pass the DOT physical with Type 2 Diabetes (Controlled through meds), High blood pressure (Controlled through meds), hmm, what else.. She says I'm a grumpy old ******* but, I don't think they ask anything about that..