Comments By Seppo

One item of particular interest (or concern, depending on the individual) is that any prescribed medication for Depression is not allowed. This was found on the link I quoted above. I know it's not official, but I have read numerous threads that say the same thing. Which is strange, considering the amount of people who take Welbutrin/Bupropion for seasonal depression and cigarette cessation.

Wrong on the Bupropion, you can take it.

MRC, if you see this, or if there's anyone else with information, can you elaborate? Does anyone know from experience, or from research? Does it differ by company or is it allowed across the board?

Considering beginning a career in early July. Was on Bupropion from September up until January, went off, and just went back on a few days ago. Will I need to wait 90 days, as I've read on some websites, or should I be good to go? I'm sure I'll need a note from my doctor.

If you're considering a career in trucking or you haven't begun just yet, what are the major factors in making your decision?

First, thank you Brett and the others who maintain this website. I'm giving serious consideration to a career and it's been an invaluable source of information as I research my options and try to decide whether or not I want to take the leap.

I've always wished for a career that would just let me drive. I find some of the times I'm happiest are long days when I'm out behind the wheel with nothing but music and my thoughts and open road ahead of me. I get a huge feeling of accomplishment at the end of a long day when I find myself in a completely different part of the country. It seems the biggest concern most folks on this website who are considering the lifestyle have is getting home for home time. I have no wife/fiancee/girlfriend and no children. My parents and a few friends are in my city of residence, but aside from that the rest of my family and good friends are scattered across the country. I'm certain I'll have to get back every once in a while to attend to business and whatnot, but beyond that I don't imagine myself racing home every two weeks for home time. As a matter of fact, the allure of the job would be to live a bit of a nomadic existence - go hard for three, four, five weeks at a time, then rent a hotel or find a campground and throw up a tent wherever I end up, maybe rent a car and explore. Figure I won't have to keep a residence if I can live like this, which will save money on home/rent payments.

I've been wondering if this would work in my favor if I decide to make a go of trucking. I've had some questions regarding drops yards versus transportation terminals. Are you expected to live near a terminal location? Do you have to end your runs at a terminal location before you take time off? Or can I kind of just end up wherever when I decide to take my days off? Is this more beneficial for my dispatcher and company, if they don't have to worry about getting me to a specific home location? I know certain companies will only hire from certain states - is this a legal thing? Or is that based mainly on the difficulty of getting people home? Because as far as I'm concerned, I can make my home base absolutely anywhere.

Also as Jeremy mentioned above and I believe Brett touched on in his book, I like the idea of being able to take a month or more off if I so choose. I think Brett said with a bigger company it's as easy as going in, turning in your truck, and them saying "OK, let us know when you want to come back." Not looking to just be lazy and take huge stretches of time off, but I like the prospect of working hard for a while and being able to take a month every year or so to catch up with loved ones and maintain my sanity. Figure with minimal monthly bills and no family to support I can save up enough while I'm working that money won't be a huge concern. Wondering if this type of setup works in the eyes of some of the vets here? I have to imagine if you do this with a major company you're not technically an employee while you're gone, so you wouldn't receive insurance and other benefits while you're not on the road. Is it better to work for smaller companies if you want to run your career in such a manner?

Another random question I don't think I've seen addressed in these forums is Canada. In looking at the reviews of all the available companies, one of the factors always listed is whether or not a company runs up there. Is there a major concern with going into Canada? Or is it just the issue of having a valid passport and naturally being further away from home when home time comes around? I like the idea of going north of the border, more places to explore...should I have any concerns with it?

Minus the arguing, this has certainly been an interesting thread. As someone considering a career, this website has been an invaluable source of information, and it's been very eye-opening to see the different schools of thought on this specific issue. As I've never so much as been in the cab of a truck, I won't offer my opinion on the matter one way or another, but I did have a thought which I don't think has been mentioned yet to add to the mix.

One question I see asked occasionally on this forum is what to do when nature calls but there's no time to pull over at a rest stop. Seems like the "official un-official" response to this is something along the lines of "Gatorade bottles are common in this industry". The safety of such a maneuver while behind the wheel is a whole different argument, and again, as someone with no frame of reference I have nothing to add.

That being said, without going into the logistics of relieving oneself in such a manner, it's probably safe to say that there's a bit of...exposure...involved. Ideally an in-cab camera would only be trained at the driver's face, but then, that's only ideally. And we're getting into a bit of a preposterous, unlikely scenario here, but say someone behind a desk happens to see a driver doing this, either pulling the feed up live or watching it recorded at a later time. And say it's "Take Your Child to Work" day, and that person's youngster is sitting there and happens to see the video as well. What are the repercussions of that? Again, this is an absolutely ludicrous situation which is all highly, highly unlikely. Yet at the same time...stranger things have happened.

Certainly not trying to ruffle any feathers or act like I have any idea what I'm talking about, just wanted to play Devil's advocate in regard to a possible scenario that hadn't yet been touched upon.

What is that?

Is taking Bupropion an issue for truck drivers, or is there only concern because it's not his medication specifically?

I'm currently taking Wellbutrin (Bupropion) per a doctor's prescription, considering a career in trucking, will this be a problem?