Comments By DonInOz

Guardrail's thread about veganism got me to thinking. I'm not a vegan but I avoid meat when away from home ffor other reasons. Not wanting to hijack the other thread, I thought I'd start a new one to ask this question...

I enjoy heat-and-eat Indian entrees by a company called Tasy Bites; some are vegan but some have dairy content. At home I microwave them, but one could just as easily heat the pouch in one of those 'lunch bucket' heaters that a lot of posters here say they use in their trucks. They are inexpensive and nutritious. But they are primarily Indian (the country) cuisine so limited taste-wise.

There are several companies which make long shelf life foods for heat-and-eat, which are intended for backpackers or survivalists, or just for having an emergency food supply on hand for weather emergencies or natural disasters. There is some availability or vegetarian/dairy, vegan, and even kosher entrees. My question is...has anybody tried using these in their trucks and, if so, what was your experience?

Thanks in advance for the feedback. Safe travels and Happy Holidays...

Don

The ride is sloooooooooow and the seats not the most comfortable for napping along the way. And yes, not to sound like a snob, but the terminals tend not to be in the nicest parts of town and do attract some shady characters. I rode Greyhound direct Miami-LA many years ago when I was 18 - it was something like 80 hour' trip - and it was bad enough. One would have thought I'd learned my lesson! But many years later, when I left the USN, I decided to use the bus to get from San Angelo to Miami...not as long but still a day and two nights, AND I was then in my mid-thirties. Oy! If I were about to start CDL school in a distant city and was given the choice between the bus or the cash value of the ticket to arrange my own transport...I'd strongly consider digging into my own pocket and take the latter option, and fly there, as miserable s flying can be nowadays!

Now....I may sound like a commercial for Watkins Shepard, but I want to share with the rest of you my experience with a great company, and we are looking for people right now. We have more freight than we have drivers and we have some empty trucks waiting for drivers.

Will it be perfect for everyone? Nope ... but then, you just can't please some people no matter what you do. But it's sure been great for me.

Tracy

Hey, Tracy...thanks for the enthusiastic info on your company. It sounds like Watkins Shepard might be a good possible match for me if I decide to go ahead and learn to drive those big things. My home is in Colorado Springs but I'm thinking about relocating to Denver when I finally come back from the Land of Oz, maybe next year.

Don

Frieghtliner's website says that they sell the Argosy as a 'glider' in the USA, and as a complete tractor in right-hand drive for Australia, NZ and South Africa.

Ernie, thanks for the reply, clarification and additional info. So a company wil not limit its hiring to zip codes close to where it has a base of operations. But do I mis-understand that, if my homebase is close to one of the carrier's major bases of operations, it will improve opportunities within tht carrier? For more diversity of loads, possible experience in different divisions, etc? Am I simply over-thinking this? Thanx in advance and all the best...

...thought I'd join and introduce myself. Retired USAF, currently living in Australia, long story. Thinking about returning to the USA next year. Driving truck is something that I've always wanted to try. I'm in my late fifties and not feeling tired enough to retire. My stateside home is in Colorqdo Springs, but the house is retned and since my daughter goes to CU and is interestd in continuing on to graduate school I thought I might rent or buy a place in Denver's northern suburbs to share with her. I guess that would make the likely companies for me to look at Navajo, Schneider, Hunt...I'm sure the must be others with operations out of the Denver area. Anyway, that's in the futture! In the meantime thanks all of you, moderators and members for all the great and honest information here! Especially you, Brett; I read every word of your online book and it was very helpful in giving a neophyte a good sense of the job and industry.

Don