Comments By ID Mtn Gal

So what is "older"? I got my CDL at 63 ten years ago. Many of the drivers here got their CDLs in their late 50s to mid 60s and are still driving.

The problem you are experiencing is not your age but the economy which has tanked and companies are cutting back on drivers because there are far too many of them out there. You've been off the road too long and will need to go with any company that can give you a refresher and put you in any truck that's available. There's been over a thousand companies that have closed their doors...both big and small companies. My company was one of those. Delivered a load on May 5th in Minneapolis, drove up to the yard 50 miles away and parked for the night. Thought I would be getting a load the next day when I had to talk with the owner. I was one of 60 drivers that was laid off on May 6th. 3 weeks later the doors were closed and then last month I heard that the owner sold the company.

Use our link and apply everywhere. Then talk with the different companies that respond to the application. You can't afford to be choosy right now.

Apply For Truck Driving Jobs

Good luck.

Congratulations!

Laura

While it may be a total investment of $300-$400, getting a decent CB radio (regular) and going to a good CB shop on the road and getting an antenna installed and tuned by a professional.

It won't work for Trotter:

Any ideas on how a company driver in a slip seat situation can utilize a CB if there is not one in the truck and one cannot be installed?

Laura

Do not ever leave out work history because it will be found on a background check and it makes you look like a liar or you have something to hide.

Since you left Western Express on good terms, I would go back there and see if they will take you back and then put in a year or more with them. In this economy, you can't afford to be choosy and you need to get the preventable and non preventable further away from your current time.

One of our older drivers, Old School, started at Western Express after he got many, many turn downs from other training companies. He stayed with them for a few years and did very well. He got a better offer at another company and has been with that company the rest of his career time. There's nothing wrong with Western Express and you should try to get back on with them.

Laura

What is the disability?

Robert,

He made a separate post about his disability and mentioned it being orthopedic.

Laura

Howdy!

My situation was unique in that my gallbladder attack mimicked a heart attack and at my age, I sure could have one. It also occurred on Christmas Day 2020 (a Fri during covid). I was visiting family when it occurred. While the emergency room was treating me for a heart attack, I had my sister-in-law call and leave a message with my company because I was due to unload the next morning about 250 mi away.

The next day the hospital realized it was a gallbladder attack and scheduled me for surgery on Sunday. Because I had become very dehydrated, the recovery from the surgery took a bit longer so I did not get out of the hospital until Tuesday the 29th. The doctor gave me a return to duty letter saying I could go back to work that Saturday. In the meantime I had talked with the office and I told them I felt good and probably could get a load and leave out on Saturday.

Fortunately, my safety lady had gallbladder surgery before and said absolutely not and they waited until the following Tuesday, January 5th to get me a load. I was driving a reefer and they got me a load of one ton totes with liquid in them. Oh my gosh! That load moved like a tanker and every time I felt it moving I clenched muscles and boy oh howdy did that ever hurt!

I would suspect you could return to duty within 7 to 10 days. It is major surgery with three to four incisions. I had four. Then you need to take it easy while you're out on the road for a couple more weeks as those areas heal.

Laura

A stop sign is a stop sign regardless of where it is. While in a weigh station, I might make it a 10-15 second stop, the person watching will know that it was a stop. No point in supporting them.

Laura

WOW ! Did I read that correctly ID Mtn Gal?? you like you some goat meat? Shocker, most Americans don't, they don't know what yumminess they're missing LOL

LOL yes you did Stevo.

When I was on active duty in the Air Force, I got stationed on Sardinia. Since I didn't speak Italian, the guys asked me if I liked onion rings. Yes I told them, so they ordered for me. What I got wasn't onion rings! Calamari is something I really love now but had I known it was squid, like most people, I would have said "eewww I don't like it". From that I learned that I really needed to try something once, maybe twice if cooked differently and decide if I really liked something or not. Actually, I have eaten horse, llama, a lot of goats and sheep as well as beef and pork. I like all kinds of meat.

Right now, I am seriously thinking of being actually retired from driving, getting a milking doe (nanny) and a meat doe so I can sell raw milk again and have goat kids to put in the freezer every year. The husband and I raised goats for 22 years and they are a lot of work to take care of properly, but if I keep the numbers small, I should be able to do it without too much trouble as I get older 😉

Laura

LOL!!! being from Carmel, CA and only having lived in Tokyo, SanFrancisco, NYC and Los Angeles, I've never heard of noodling catfish. After looking it up, I can easily say, well, I never! I'll stick with the fish counter at Ralph's.

When married to my last husband, we used to have to watch fishing shows of all kinds. That is when I saw noodling on TV. You really need to watch it to see what they do to get catfish. I love eating catfish but I'm not going to noodle for it! I don't like getting that muddy and I like looking into the water and seeing what's out there!

Laura

Bk thank you! May I ask what brands of frying pan would you buy for on the road and how do you make sure that the frying pan doesn't tip over while driving? What utensils? Also what would you purchase that would be semi affordable to keep food cool in?

I have a Presto electric skillet that I had 1.5 years before coming off the road. I never cooked anything while I was actually driving. I would wait till I was parked and then cook up a quick meal. I also have a house so before I would head out from home time I would cook up some meat, freeze it and then thaw it out while on the road and warm it up. I had a small cooler type freezer that I put up on the upper bunk and kept all my raw and cooked meats in that. It was an off name brand and started having problems so I bought a new one that is still packed in the box but it had better ratings on eBay and Amazon. I don't buy from Amazon, I bought that one off of eBay as well as my Presto skillet. I had a small microwave that sat in the cubby hole on my Freightliners and the last truck that was a Peterbilt. I got a coffee maker sometime ago from Family Dollar that made one 16 oz cup of coffee and since I parked in rest areas, on ramps and weigh stations, that was real handy to have.

Walmart sold cheap silverware 3 to a bundle that I bought so I had three forks and three spoons and one serrated sharp knife. I also had a spatula/egg flipper because I eat a lot of farm fresh eggs when my girlfriend has them. To this day, I gag if I have to eat fast food. Plus I'm needing to lose weight to hopefully bring down my blood pressure and so I am doing carnivore/ketovore as a way of eating. Ketovore is adding vegetables that are very low in carbs. I don't really like vegetables so I'm mostly carnivore....meat, all kinds but mainly ruminant meat (beef, goat, lamb), poultry, eggs, nonbreaded fish and cottage cheese. Dairy is allowed, but because of the processing, many people don't tolerate cheeses very well and they tend to be a bit higher in carbs. So I do eat cheese because I love it, but I restrict it to once or twice a month and eating only about 3-4 oz at a time. I do like the KISS philosophy, so that's all I kept on the truck. Having an air fryer or an instapot was more than I would really want.

Laura