Profile For Tom W.

You might not be making a whole lot right away, but $1,200 is near what a lot of truckers gross each week after a year or so.

Refusing a load, I was working for a company and was hired for no touch freight after 1 year and 7 month working for them they gave me a load on the holiday that say that I have to unload myself about 1000 tires and they say if I find lumpers there and pay them I’m not going to get reimburse for it. Instead of causing all the assle at the customer i refused the load and got fired. After being fired some companies will not hire you regardless the reason. My advice is don’t refuse the load just quit on the spot.

Hurts to hear you say that just because tires are what I have been doing for five years straight now.

1000 tires can work up a sweat in the summer time but it is nothing to lose your job over. Just shoot them out the trailer one at a time. They probably would have payed you extra for unloading it yourself.

A thousand tire load at one spot for my particular job comes to exactly $150 for 90-150 minutes of work. Then there is regular mileage pay on top of that. That is why they are my favorite.

Looks good to me. What am I missing here?

If you want this bad enough then it is possible. You got to have a Whole Lot of love for this job to stick it out though. Some of my real bad days I wish I had stayed in the service myself over starting this career. Even after several years I just recently had a day where I wanted to get out of my truck and just leave it there on the highway blocking all traffic and walk away.

That is great that you want to get off of the dependence of government. If you really want this then do what you can right now. I do not know about all the meds that the VA perscribed, I honestly stay as far away from any type of pills as I can. But you got to get yourself fit, the main thing is find out how to fix your sleep apnea. It is impossible to have a career long term in trucking without resolving that. Doing all this should be proof enough to yourself that you are ready for getting back on the road.

Good luck to you.

Trucking does not sound like the right career for you.

You got to be able to remain focused when things get bad in this career. There will be plenty more times when you will want to quit working because you will realize "Hey, why am I putting up with all this stress when I could be making nearly the same amount from my entitlements?"

You need to do whatever it takes to accomplish your task. If you refuse to even treat your sleep apnea then that should be evidence enough to yourself that you are not motivated enough yet to succeed at this.

Keep that attitude you have and you will be able to succeed with whatever path you take in training for this career.

Do whatever it takes to accomplish this. Adapt to and overcome all problems and obstacles that arise. Even after you have your cdl and are making your deliveries all by yourself keep this mentality.

If you are hauling something explosive that requires a "safe haven" then in no way should you pull off on any old exit for the duration of the company mandated shutdown period, safety should understand that and will likely work with you.

Though if you are not hazmat and are just referring to a truckstop as a safe haven then be honest. Tell them you did not read or understand the message and that you were just trying to do the safest thing possible in an already bad situation.

If you have no accidents on your record then you will be able to get another job. If they waited this long to do anything about it though then I would think they are going to give you another chance. Just be sure to pay attention now.

I have to travel us-62 through Eureka Springs Arkansas every once in a while. It is a beautiful town to drive through but you will be having to concentrate on the driving so much that you will not be able to enjoy it a whole lot. Turns so tight that your trailer is forced into the oncoming lane several times. It is just a tow lane road with a mountain wall on one side and a cliff side drop off on the other. For about ten miles you got to creep through at 15-30 mph.

I never make a delivery to Eureka Springs, but it is positioned between two of my regular stops and going around would add way too many miles. Couple years ago my route planner accidentally arranged my stops so that I had to drive through there three times in one day.

Everyone at my jb hunt account drives a ten speed manual, but I have heard rumors that there are jb hunt otr drivers that have automatics.

34 cents a mile split is great money starting out so if that is your only concern then do not worry about it.

Be sure you can do this. Teaming with an experienced driver should help for those times you get in tight situations. Linehaul though is a lot about routine so so really this might not be such a bad way to start. You should get used to the route pretty quick. You will not learn quite as much as if you were driving otr but I still say go for it.

If I had an opportunity like this back when I first started out I just might have stuck with it till today even.

I can understand the caseworker's doubt. Here is why he asks.

A typical class of students who have all made that decision to be a truck driver will lose 75% of its students by the end. Only a quarter will get their cdl. Even less than that will actually follow through and get a job. On top of that most of that tiny remainder will quit or be fired before even finishing a year of driving.

The reason most fail at this career is because you got to really want it. You have to want it enough that you are willing to do whatever it takes.

Yes there are women truckers. My own company has no problem hiring females and will give them the exact same testing and expectations as the men. Out of our current 35 drivers zero of them are women. It is just the demographics of trucking.

The caseworker is just concerned that this money you will be given will be wasted.

But one thing you can do to convince him otherwise would be to go get your commercial driver's permit on your own. This site has enough material that you can study for it in just a few days time. If he sees you have initiative enough to do that then that should be enough to get your grant. It will also give you a great head start in your training.

Was heading down us-69 going through Oklahoma.

Truck in front of me suddenly swerves right. Crashes into the guardrail, entire tractor trailer jumps into the air and comes crashing down into the grass ditch.

Trailer door rolls up and cargo is flying everywhere. Passenger side diesel tank ruptures and floods the area.

Driver is okay. Did not see a scratch on him.

All this is from a blown steer tire. I admit to have been getting lazy and only bothering to gauge my truck tires once a week lately.

90 degrees is just another day outside of winter in the south. The only time it should bother you is if you have to unload your own trailer or the air conditioning needs some freon. Maybe you will have an increased risk of blowing a tire if you do not keep them inflated right.

Anything below freezing means at any time you can run into snow and ice and all the troubles that come with that. Everything gets more difficult. You will be doing less miles in general so less money.

Do not know anything about beet juice but a good way to keep blood pressure down is go to the physical on an empty stomach. If it is anywhere from morning till afternoon then do not eat breakfast until after blood pressure test.

Couple weeks ago I thought I had done the same thing. Dropped a trailer in a dirt trailer yard and picked up a loaded one. Next day I came back again and saw the trailer I had dropped the day before looking just like the one photo'd there lying on the ground in the exact spot I had placed it.

Except I knew I had not done so. On a closer look I saw that the landing gear was actually lowered all the way down, the whole trailer had just sunk down all the way. Not just a few inches, I mean completely all the way down into the ground, and this place was supposed to be a drop yard.

I do not know the details of sleep apnea or the short-term medical cards but I have known a couple drivers with different health problems that are struggling with having to deal with the extra physicals and the rest of the problems that come with it.

Getting the physical every two years is hassle enough, I cannot imagine having to deal with it even more than that.

It is great to have a good relationship with the folks at the office. You are a good reminder to myself of my own job and how much I am blessed to have such an awesome support team. That makes all the difference in loving or hating your job.

You need to get the weight down. Even at six feet tall you are going to have trouble. The average driver gains a lot of weight their first year, it is just the nature of the job. Losing weight as a driver is going to be even more difficult than it is right now.

Have you tried getting a dot physical yet? That would be the first thing to do before going any further. Even if you are healthy enough to pass and get a job it is likely that you will be required to go and do one every three months which can get to be a real pain.

I love this job and that helps motivate me to keep in shape as best I can , good luck to you.

Sorry for your frustration. Even with an automatic though truck driving is going to get even more frustrating than this.

If you are missing or unable to use a limb then this job will be limited for you, you are going to need to be able to deal with situations just like you are having now often.

I know it is frustrating having to go in and explain every time the alarm goes off. Over time though as long as you never get involved in any accidents or incidents then the office folks likely will hassle you about it less and less when you do get some critical event.

In fact just last night a car came to a complete stop at night on tx highway 34 right in front of me. 65 to zero in about eight seconds for no reason that I could see. I got the hard breaking trigger but not a word from anyone in the office about it.

Just a couple years ago I would have been signing papers and getting the talk from one of the route planners.