Comments By Fire-Man

Okay so let me start this by saying last year when I entered this profession I had a huge weight problem. When I recieved my permit my license said 5'9" 279 pounds what a slap in the face. Sleep Apnea machine was a given when I was hired. With hard work and healthy habits I am happy to report ( drum roll please) 219 pounds down 60 pounds since I started. Yes weight loss is possible driving for a living. I still need to lose 45 pounds but I am driven now more than ever.

Congratulations Brian!

Share your secrets man!

Ken,

Your current situation is only temporary...tomorrow will change all your assumptions!

Let's start this with the fact that I was a 16 year old high school drop out. Back then the Army took mercy on us drop outs and accepted me, with my mothers signature, at 17. About two years in (my next tomorrow) on a whim, I took, passed, and received my GED. Little did I know this little act would profoundly change the direction of my career by opening up many new opportunities. Among them was the opportunity to pursue and complete an Associates degree which improved my promotion potential. The next tomorrow, 22 years later, I retired, changed careers and went back to college in my new career field. My next tomorrow was way quicker than ever expected. After a short 8 years I found myself de hind the wheel of a big rig due to family health issues which took my wife out of the workforce for the foreseeable future. Now I happily drive a truck until my next tomorrow. The moral of the story is you never know what tomorrow will bring but you are better prepared to meet it with certain credentials - a GED or HS diploma being one of them.

There is no way in h$ll I would eat at that TA. Last time there, two weeks ago, the food looked to be four day old re-heats. A first generation MRE would have been preferable - Cheese oil and hockey pucks (dried pork patties).

Hey Mike. Welcome to Trucking Truth. If you do decide to become a Class A driver you will be happy you found us. Many great people who are very motivated to help others. Brett has put together a great training plan and the community in general is great. But back to your question...unless you are physically or mentally disqualified, or have a bad driving record, then you should have no problem finding a good company to realize your dream with. Many men and women, for that matter have started driving OTR after retiring from their primary career myself included. In fact I honestly believe that trucking is one of those industries that doesn't discriminate based on age. They let DOT and the physical do it for them.

Errol V. said, "Once you are rolling, and as the traffic allows, do your best to not stop at all, keep your wheels rolling."

^^^^^^^^ momentum is your best friend and biggest enemy, after other drivers, in snow or icy conditions. The key is to control your momentum.

On the subject of Sleep Apnea and CPAP's, what if I bring my own machine? I've been using one for about 10 years now, got the mask and everything.

If I walk in telling them I have this, will they still require me to do the whole study? Trying to sleep with more wires in your head than R2D2 ain't easy even if you don't have sleep apnea..

Paul,

It will depend on the company you are attempting to hire on to? It would be best to ask your recruiter this one. As each company plays by their own rules. That being said, you stand a better chance of not having to retake the sleep study if you have a recordable device and have a copy of the previous 30-90 days usage showing a minimum of 4 hrs of usage each night. I do this prior to my physical every year and have been thanked by the Dr. for doing so each time.

Randy

What? You haven't seen the RV/Motorhome museum and Hall of Fame in Elkhart, IN? Yep.

^^^^^^^^ you stole mine. 😭

Coffee

Hello all. I plan to attempt to become a successful truck driver in a few years as my next career. Having been in law enforcement for 25 years I feel that I can handle the stress of the lifestyle, although I know it is a whole different kind of stress. I have wanted to do this for several years now but I felt I had to stick it out in my current job to get the early retirement.

So now that I am getting closer to realizing my dream, I have a couple questions.

As a devout Catholic, it is important to me to attend Mass every week. Or at least every other week, I know it is probably not realistic to expect this every week.

Are there any companies out there that would work with me to at least be able to take a couple hours out of my saturday evening or sunday morning if I am near a town in order to attend Mass?

Also, with my pension, I will only need to make about $20,000.00/year to replace my current income so I won't have the stress of having to get maximum miles all the time.

One more question if you don't mind. Are there any Christian truck driver groups, or organizations, that you know of. I plan to treat this new career as a truck driver as a ministry as well.

Thanks, I appreciate you all.

Have you considered streaming a Mass? I know "Word on Fire" (Fr. Robert Barron) has sermons on his web-site or EWTN as well. If you find yourself on the road you can still catch a streamed Mass and then do Communion when you are on home time or are lucky enough to find a church you can get to on the road.

Hi everyone,

I've been tossing the trucking career back and forth for what seems like eternity. But based on my current income(commissioned sales and VERY SLOW), I'm getting to the point that I need to s**t or get off the pot.

I can search info on line all day long. For ten minutes I'm reading positive information, for the other ten I'm reading negative information. Obviously take what I read with a grain of salt but its tough for someone on the outside looking in to decipher whats real or not. One of my concerns is obviously the pay. I see YouTube videos of people saying they love the job and the pay, and I see YouTube videos of people saying the pay sucks and they hate the job. Now I know some are geared towards recruiting, etc. But I try to find a mix of information, from a variety of sources to help me get a real feel and make as educated decision as I can.

Can someone help me out here? I honestly am 75% there but I dont just jump into anything I do. I've made it to 53 fairly successfully doing things that way. Hopefully I get some replies.

Thanks,

Jimbo

Jumbo,

More than most other careers trucking is a life-style and as such some are born to it, others are well suited to it, others have to work at it, and still others should just stay home. That being said, most, but not all of those who are readily complaining fall in the latter group. If you thrive on responsibility, like change, enjoy time to yourself, and can accept that you are responsible for results but do not control most of the variables then you have a fairly good chance at success. As for making a choice do your research and ask questions. But as you will quickly find-out - only you can answer certain questions. As in which school, which company, and what trailer to pull.

And remember, nothing ventured- nothing gained!