A few of you date back long enough to remember when I hung it up to go work at Walmart and try something different. My freight was going down the toilet, I was driving for a company whose entire PM strategy was to wait for me or Hillbilly to actually do a pre-trip on a trailer (for once) and then sit around in this fleabag shop waiting on this fat, stupid retard to get off his lard ass and get around to taking his sweet sweet time to do the work, while we sat around not getting paid a dime. I was going to go back to Walmart and become a service manager and make decent money on the quick trip to salary that would follow right after.

Three years later, I never got that job they promised, but they gave me the run-around seven ways from Sunday trying to keep me in there doing the service manager's work for a technician's pay. I was scheduling 15 employees, dealing with pissed off customers filing completely bogus claims against our insurance, working crazy split shifts to cover for techs that called in, because they wouldn't let me close "my" shop even when I only had one guy working all day. All of this without even giving me the crappy extra $0.80 an hour the job I was physically doing was supposed to pay, and all while the real service manager spent all of his time everywhere but doing his job, or even doing the job I was getting paid for as a tech.

I started trying to get out of here a long time ago, but it never worked out for one reason or another. Partially, it was because I'm stubborn, and I wanted to make Walmart work out. You can make quite a decent living in management with that company, if you can make it that far, and I was always "just about to be promoted." I didn't keep my nose to the grindstone watching for jobs every single day, but I applied for driving jobs in spurts along the way.

I got UPS Freight on the line, and thought I had it, but in the end they turned me down because of my "recent experience" being two months past the limit. This is what I was talking about in that other thread, about what a bitch "recent experience" can be.

Well, I finally caught a break, y'all! I got a heads up on this job last Wednesday, applied, got called Thursday for an interview Friday, and got "pre-hired" Friday. It was all down to passing a DOT physical and a road test. I hadn't had a physical since 2007, and I'm not 20 years old. I should pass, but what if I don't? I hadn't driven an 18-wheeler in three years. Sure, I drove for a lot of miles, but what if I really was as rusty as those insurance idiots thought I would be?

Well, I'm 30 ml of clean pee away from being a freighthauler, and that is a sure enough bet that I have formally notified Wally World that I no longer require their crappy paychecks. I got on with a different LTL outfit (I never say where I'm working while I'm working there, but they have green trucks) all but for signing the final paperwork.

I had my road test today doing city driving in pouring rain and sleet, and let me tell you, after three years since I drove one of those glorious beasts, there's nothing I would have rather spent my morning doing than driving an 18-wheeler in city traffic in the pouring rain and sleet.

I was a little clunky, and I am not in top form, but I don't have any problems a couple of trips won't iron out. I got right around the corners, up the hills, and got it straight into the dock on the first pass. Anybody who thinks I have somehow lost my skill for sitting out three years is full of crap.

So that's it then. I'm a freighthauler. I'll be running line haul on the night shift, and making a damn sight more than I could have as a manager at Wally World. I am one happy truck driver today!

YEEEEEEHA!!!

Good for you Silly!

I remember you AND your sense of humor. Congrats. Good for you. IMHO theres nothing better than an LTL linehaul job, especially when you have some seniority and security. However it can be very challenging to say the least when you're first starting out. Sometimes the paychecks just arent big enough. Stay focused on the big picture when times get tough. Your starting at a good time as spring thru Dec usually stays pretty busy. Hopefully our economy continues to recover and your company has to keep hiring so your first couple of winters wont be too bad for you. I can think of at 3 "green trucks" competitors and you should have a pretty good job at all of them! Good luck!

I'm curious which three you come up with. Me, I could only come up with two until I was coming home from whizzing in a cup. Then I saw a Wilson truck. Oh yeah, that makes three.

So you know I'm not driving for Wilson then, don't you?

The one I thought of before that was ABF. Nope, no Bullfrog here, although I certainly wouldn't have any problem driving for them or Wilson either one.

That means if we're thinking of the same three, we've eliminated all but the correct possibility. Take a guess. It won't hurt nothin'.

If it isn't ABF.........then most likely it is ODF.

We dont have Wilson up here. There's Cowan but their more logistics and not true LTL. Ward Trucking LTL but not sure if they operate in the south. The three I thought of were ABF, Old Dominion, and R&L. I ruled out ABF cuz there's too many laid off teamsters and they are really hard to get into anyway. Hmmm, not positive but I think R&L might start you on the dock first, I dont think they pack an overnight bag so any road opening would probably get taken by someone off the dock or a city guy...that leaves ODFL...I'll go with OD. You can PM me if you dont want it to be public. As for my credentials on keeping secrets, I've known all along where Cold Frosty Mug/Joey Shabadoo works. He told me years ago in a PM. :lol:

I didn't think about ODF or Ward. That's five. So I don't work for ABF, ODF, Ward or Wilson, but I'll never tell you which one of these five I do work for. :lol:

Or I will Monday anyway, or whenever all the paperwork finally comes together.

Congrats and dont worry your secret is safe with me! :thumbsup:

Or we could just look at your avatar!