Location:
Keeseville, NY
Driving Status:
Experienced Driver
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Brett Aquila On The Web
Hey Everyone! I'm the owner and founder of TruckingTruth and a 15 year trucking veteran.
Posted: 5 hours, 13 minutes ago
View Topic:
Owner OPs leaving their truck running all night?
Yes, it's true that people kill people and not firearms, but we aren't seeing people go into schools or shopping malls to kill a bunch of people by mass stabbing
You can't even make this up. 13 hours before he posted that, this happened:
Suspect charged in Illinois stabbing spree that left four killed and seven injured
Seriously, you don't even have to write jokes about lefties. The jokes write themselves.
Lefties hate gun ownership because they're weak people. They're terrified of having to protect themselves, and they resent those of us who have the courage they lack and accept the responsibilities they fear. They *hope to God* that taking away everyone's guns would ensure they won't have to protect themselves, but seriously, how simple-minded do you have to be to think that making guns illegal will prevent criminals from having guns?
The war on guns would be as effective as the war on drugs. Just like with drugs, criminals will have guns, and anyone can buy one if they want to, which many people would.
For the record, at home, I have both a shotgun and a 95-pound German Shepherd, which are rights that I cherish. I live up in the mountains, so if anyone came up here looking for trouble, I'm on my own for quite a while before any cops showed up. With the economic and immigration situations we're facing now, my arsenal is about to get considerably more robust.
Posted: 1 day, 6 hours ago
View Topic:
I single-handedly ruined my life trying to transition into trucking
Hey Dre,
As you can tell, you've come to the right community. Most of us are older, in our 40s - 60s, but we were all young once and made our share of mistakes. We have all screwed up plenty of times in our lives, so we know exactly how you feel.
That whole week i was making bad decisions just because of how angry i was with myself
Been there! Actually, I'm there now! Procrastinating has been my big problem. I've put off several things in recent years that would have been an easy fix, but now they've grown into much bigger problems. I'm p*ssed at myself for doing that, and I'm 52, not 22, so what is my excuse? I don't have one.
But alas, we're all human. We must forgive ourselves without making excuses for poor decisions or accepting such a low level of performance from ourselves in the future. You're mad at yourself for screwing up, but that doesn't help unless you use it as fuel to demand more of yourself, starting right now. So do that. Forgive yourself, put it behind you, and go out there and attack life with renewed vigor. The valuable lessons you've learned will pay off in a big way down the road.
I spiral into a bad depression that i’m honestly nowhere near over yet
This is the most important concern at the moment. The three most important things you can do when you're depressed are to find good people who will support you, get some hard exercise regularly, and take action against your problems immediately.
We're happy to support you. That's why we're here. We've supported each other through the years, and we're happy to welcome you to the group. We have an amazing community here. You're in great hands.
The exercise will relieve a lot of stress and get your mind off of negative things for a much-needed rest. It will immediately give you a greater sense of inner peace and strength, as well as better health.
Taking immediate action toward solving your biggest problems will not only fix those problems, but will also give you the confidence to handle future problems. Hopelessness causes depression. Taking action remedies that.
I’m honestly thinking about totally dropping this CDL stuff but have no clue what other career path i could take
Omg no! You're in the perfect position. Don't throw that away. You have your career underway now. It makes no difference if the runway was bumpy because now you're in the air and you're flying! Keep going!
Look in the mirror just long enough to learn the lessons you'll need for the future and then forget about it and move on. Nothing that happened in the past matters. You have your future firmly under control now.
Old School will respond to this before too long. As others have mentioned, he got his career started at Western Express. He stayed there for quite a while and then found an opportunity he couldn't refuse, which propelled him into a long and impressive career, earning top wages at a great company. Western Express is where he learned what it takes to become a true professional at the highest level, and those lessons have led to many exceptional years on the road.
You're in the perfect position to build your career. It makes no difference where you work. All that matters is how well you do your job. If you'll do an amazing job, you'll work your way up the ladder and have all the opportunities in the world.
The truth is many, many people have made a much bigger mess of things than you have. Your situation isn't nearly as bad as it may seem to you right now. Someday this will all make for an inspiring story you can tell others to help them when they need it. But first you have to see this through.
Stick with trucking. Stick with Western Express and challenge yourself to become one of their top performers. Stay there for a minimum of one year so you can build a solid foundation for your career and learn the ropes. There are endless possibilities if you'll put all your effort into becoming the best driver you can.
Don't let negative thoughts get the best of you. Keep looking forward. Keep attacking your problems. Keep giving it your best. I'm dead serious when I say I'm happy to talk with you if this forum isn't cutting it, and I'm certain our long-time members would do the same. If talking in the forum works for you, that's great. If you really need someone to talk to, please don't hesitate to ask. We'd be happy to help.
Posted: 1 day, 8 hours ago
View Topic:
Massive Layoffs At UPS A Big Win For The Union!
We can continue to be tribal and hail our team, not much will change, or we can have some vision and force the change.
I agree completely. We need ideas and a vision, and then we need to create the change we want to see.
We can't have people who give up and say it's hopeless or write it off as someone else's responsibility.
I find it interesting that I'm neither a worker nor a parent, yet I'm more willing to stand up and fight for a better future for workers than some workers who are parents!
There are no simple solutions to our society's troubles, but nothing great is ever easy. We live in an extremely wealthy and flourishing society. There's no reason we can't have a strong middle class, and we shouldn't let short-sighted, selfish little men take advantage of us.
Posted: 1 day, 8 hours ago
View Topic:
Massive Layoffs At UPS A Big Win For The Union!
I didn't expect you to have any solutions to offer, and that's because you're not looking for any. You've decided that having low expectations hurts less when you wind up with very little in the end, which you will, and allowing others to take advantage of you is ok as long as you don't mind, which they do.
I can say this: your attitude is much appreciated by some. In fact, the higher-ups could never pull off this caper if there weren't enough workers like yourself.
Seriously, Anheuser Busch put a boy dressed as a girl on their product. It cost the company tens of billions of dollars and destroyed their brand for years, but the CEO keeps his $40 million per year job. That's what they call leadership in this country???
This only happens if enough of us roll over and play dead while management picks our pockets clean and laughs all the way to the bank as we go home with nothing. But the union at Anheuser-Busch was determined to get their fair share as well, and they did. If that guy can screw up and keep his $40 million job, then the company has enough money to give the workers a raise. Turns out both were true.
If everyone wanted a fair society and they were willing to stand up and do something about it, this problem wouldn't exist. But because they've convinced people like Banks that nothing can or should be done about it, a small number of people get to raid the company's coffers while everyone else watches their life's work amount to nearly nothing.
But I do know unions no longer offer any real value to employees and they certainly don't do anything to close the gap between CEOs and employees
Are you certain of that, Banks? Is that a fact in your mind? Because it's 100% false in the real world, which should greatly concern you. You've not only convinced yourself of a lie, but you've made it your mission to support that lie. I've made it my mission to help people understand things a little better, so let's see if I can help.
Here is the direct connection between the amount of money that goes to the upper 10% versus the percentage of people who belong to unions. As union participation has dropped (in red) over the years, more and more money goes to the upper 10% (in blue):
I started this conversation because unions racked up one win after another across the board in recent years, which is a proven fact, but those are inconvenient facts for you, aren't they? If unions are truly effective, it's hard to justify actively speaking out against them while more and more of the money you and your comrades rightly earned is being siphoned to the upper 10%, isn't it?
I saw a video yesterday that asked, "Why do so many smart people often get things wrong?" It talked about wokeism and how many intelligent people are going along with obviously ridiculous ideas.
What misleads people most of the time is that they not only accept certain ideas as facts without giving them proper consideration, but they turn those beliefs into their personal identity. Now, the search for truth is no longer their mission. Supporting and defending those beliefs is now their mission.
Our society is in this mess because too many people thought we could ignore the problem. So what if there's some unfairness in the world? Why stress out about it? Just ignore it and hope it doesn't become a bigger problem.
I've got news for any men who think this way. It is not ok to allow another man to take advantage of you. It is not ok to allow another man to treat you unfairly. It's not ok for another man to steal the fruits of your labor and force your kids to grow up with very little. Men are meant to be fighters. We're providers and protectors. Stand up and be men and fight! (you too, ladies!)
I have no problem with the way things are. Maybe it's because it's all I know, but I made good financial decisions early and I'm comfortable. I don't sit around moping because Raj Subramaniam makes millions and I make 34/hr. To me, that's a miserable existence and pocket watching was always frowned upon when I was growing up.
Banks, I totally get where you're coming from when you say, "Hey, my life is good. I'm fine with it. I'll just go along, get along, and not rock the boat." I also agree that you must choose your battles wisely.
But you have a wife and kids, right?
Look at that chart I just posted and several others I posted earlier in this conversation. Those charts are getting worse every year for workers. Your children will grow up to be the next generation of workers. If those charts continue in the same direction, your children won't own a house, a car, or most of the things we own today. As we speak, home ownership is out of reach now for 75% of Americans, and it continues to get worse. Something must be done, or they will reduce our standard of living to the poverty level.
You may have convinced yourself that it's ok to accept mistreatment as long as you do it with grace and dignity. You may believe that it's ok to allow others to walk all over you as long as you don't mind. But when they get older, your kids are going to ask some tough questions if they're forced to inherit a world that has less than what we have today. When they get older and look at the hopelessness of their financial situation and realize how good it used to be, they're going to want to know what happened. Why did we lose the incredible standard of living we used to have?
How are you going to justify doing nothing about it when banding together to fix the problem was the best shot we had? They're going to want to know why you didn't stand with others to right the wrongs and fix the injustices.
Banks, I am not questioning your integrity as a person or your abilities or devotion as a husband and a father. I can tell you care deeply about your family, and you take your responsibility seriously.
What I'm questioning is your acceptance of the situation as hopeless, your determination that unions can not improve it, and your willingness to do nothing about it.
Your kids have to live in the world you create. Paying your bills today is not the most important thing. Building the world your kids will inherit is what matters most. You don't have to be the man on the podium leading the masses to victory, but don't be that guy who refuses to see the situation for what it is and deal with it while it's still manageable. Don't be that guy who runs around telling everyone to give up on fighting for fairness, to accept less than you deserve, and to be thankful for what little you get from your rulers.
The situation is dire. It is not okay to say you won't fight for fairness because "Pocket-watching was frowned upon when I was growing up."
It was ok to think that way when you were a kid, but you're an intelligent man who can see the reality we face and deal with it any way you choose. Your kids will inherit the result of your efforts. I know you want the best for them, so think carefully about how you want to handle the challenges we face in our society.
We're the men of today. It's on us now. What will we do about it?
Posted: 2 days ago
View Topic:
Massive Layoffs At UPS A Big Win For The Union!
Banks, I appreciate your insights. I do. But you are what they call black-pilled. Your answer to everything is, "It's hopeless. Nothing we can do. They win, we lose."
It's easy to see how someone could be persuaded to take that view of things. After all, most of the largest sources of money in the world use every ounce of technology and knowledge available to wage psyop campaigns that shape our thinking. They want us divided, weak, and hopeless, and I've seen it affect people I know well. It's even affected me at times, no question about it.
At some point I'd like to see you offer an idea instead of just shooting down hope. I get it, there's a history of corruption in unions. There's also a stellar history of fantastic improvements in every aspect of work for many generations of workers, the ones who literally built this country. Better wages, benefits, working conditions, hours, and more.
You don't like unions. Ok, then what do you propose we do?
Posted: 2 days, 7 hours ago
View Topic:
How many things do you have to ignore to make such a disastrous mistake? It's jut hard to conceive.
Let's see how this plays out. If you watch a sped-up version of it, the ship was heading in the right direction until the lights went out on the ship. Then it suddenly turns hard to the right, the lights flash on and off again, and it hits the bridge. It appears from the video that someone turned that ship, or when the power went out, it somehow made a sharp turn.
Either they lost control of the ship when the power went out, or it was done deliberately.
Posted: 2 days, 9 hours ago
View Topic:
Owner OPs leaving their truck running all night?
I disagree with your stance on the woke agenda.
Which part do you disagree with? I agree with all of it:
Mostly though, the agenda of the progressive woke left is to eradicate anything masculine and mechanical. They hate the internal combustion engine, muscle cars, motorcycles, especially two strokes. The faster and stronger it is, the more fun it is, the more dangerous it is, the more they try to ban it in an effort to control everyone else.
They do it under the church of global climate change and the temple of noise reduction. Resistance is vital.
Posted: 2 days, 9 hours ago
View Topic:
Unbelievable! My God that is crazy.
Posted: 4 days, 7 hours ago
View Topic:
Owner OPs leaving their truck running all night?
They're spending money by keeping those trucks running, no question about it.
However, my mom always pointed out that you want to be wise with your money, but skimping too much isn't a good idea. After all, what are you working for if you can't even be comfortable in your own home? If you work hard, you deserve some comfort and fun in your life.
If you deprive yourself of fun and comfort, you will soon lose the motivation to work as hard as you should. The rewards inspire us to work harder for more rewards!
Everything is a trade-off. You can save money by shutting the truck off at night, but sometimes it might be worth keeping it on.
Man, I just realized I use AI so often in my day-to-day work that I'm starting to answer questions the same way!
Posted: 2 hours, 8 minutes ago
View Topic:
Owner OPs leaving their truck running all night?
I think that's the best response I've ever heard. It's brilliant. It makes them prove their theory is even possible without forcing law-abiding citizens to first give up their right to defend themselves.