So, why is the sky falling now?

[silvan]

I haven't been on here in a long time. I'm the guy who decided to hang it up and go back to Walmart a couple of years ago. I was going to be a manager. That wasn't working out so well, so I studied all this crap to become a licensed pharmacy technician, only to find it didn't really pay anything. A nice white collar "professional" job earning squat.

So I ran into a buddy of mine who's hauling gas, and happy as hell, and I'm sold. Having 9,000 gallons of gas under my ass has to be less dangerous than standing in the lube pit while some Asian chick drives through the safety chain and tries to take my head off.

I let my hazmat and tanker go a long time ago, which is a nuisance, but not a real problem. I haven't driven a big truck for two years, but I've found at least one company that requires "at least two years of experience driving a tractor-trailer within the past seven years" so I'm not feeling too bad about the "recent experience" thing.

I pulled up my driving record for 11 years, and I don't have anything against me on there. Everything I might have had to worry about has gone off, and it's squeaky clean for 11 years, 9 of which were trucking. Any company ought to be pretty happy to see that, even if I have been on a long vacation.

I'm planning to go trucking again as soon as I get my hazmat settled, so now's the time for me to find out what new horrifying crisis has been brought about by the Obama administration and/or CRASH and/or the DOT.

Is it safe to come out of the woods?

[repete]

I'd say your good to go, but if I were you I'd see about a refresher course. If nothing else get a day behind the wheel and you'll realize just how rusty you've become. BOL

[GMAN]

There are a couple of things that might be of interest to you. We are in the process of undergoing yet another change in our hours of service thanks to MADD and some of the other meddlers. They would like to limit our driving to 8 hours per day and get rid of the reset. We are in the beginning stages of what is called CSA 2010. It is basically a safety score for drivers where drivers are going to be held more accountable for the safety of their equipment and their actions. It is a point system that will follow you for 3 years. Even a warning ticket can hurt your safety score. You can now get a copy of your safety score online. I don't remember the web address off hand. If you don't have any failed inspections, moving violations or warnings for the last 3 years you should not have anything to worry about. You can do a search on the forum or just GOOGLE and find out more about the new program.

[silvan]

Thanks for the heads up, GMAN. I'll get reading.

As to a refresher, I wouldn't mind taking one, but I've got no bank. About all I could do would be to go out with one of the rookie companies, and if I can avoid that, I will.

[One]

go local brother, go local unluess u really wanna roam the land..