Hi my name is Rick I now live in north central Arkansas. Been here about 4 years moved from California. I have been a driver for 25 years . I have pulled reefer,dry van, flatbed, step deck, lowboy, RGN, shotgun tanker, and just for fun somtimes I run around bob tail. Most of my experiance is in the western US but have been running 48 states for about the last 10 years. If I can be of any help to anyone just let me know. :D

8) Hello, my name is Brad.I live about 16 miles west of downtown Chicago,IL.I work for United Airlines (ramp rat) and I have been there for 5 years.Alot of BullSh*t by cutting our pay,taking our pension,yet the people on top still rake in the money.They don't care about us we are just bodies to do the jobs for them and they treat everyone of us like garbage.So,I started talking to truckers anytime that I could find one and my fiance said that I'm a stalker now lol.I visited the truck show in Walcott,IA with my father(He goes there every year) and it got me very interested in becoming a truck driver.I've seen ugly trucks,I've seen beautiful trucks, I just want to drive one......my father is a retired ANP mechanic.He always told me that he would also like to drive a truck (but unfortunately cannot due to loss of vision)So I figured I would live the dream for both of us....and I will take him with me when I am able to.I've flown half way around the world with United Airlines,even to Europe but at this time in my life I need something more stable to be able to support my family.I was just hired by Schneider but after my year then I'll be looking for something with better pay if I'm still not making enough to support my family like they should be......Thank you Jeff for making CAD and making it possible for me to obtain so much information on Trucks and Truck Driving. :D I'll be comming back to chat after I return from Alaska at the end of the month....then I start Schneider on Feb. 28th.Talk to you guys soo,be safe and Happy Tucking......Brad (Mr. United)

Hello folks... My name is Chris but most everyone calls me biggie or bigson. I'm 29 and looking to get my feet wet in the trucking world (something i wanted to do since i was a kid and hope my stupidity in my younger twenties don't come back to bite me) I live in Oklahoma city for now and work for Waste Management. Before living here I lived in Talladega, Alabama ( Yes home of the worlds Fastest Superspeedway :D )
And worked for a local wrecker service for 5 years. So I am not totally a rookie I have a few Hundred thousand miles under my belt. (just wasn't in a T/T or in a vehicle that required a CDL)

Anyway, I have been reading all the great info here on the boards for about two months So I thought i`d come out of the shadows and throw around a few questions. Well I guess its off to the races now lol Keep up the great work CAD and the mod`s this site is wonderful!

Hi all, I've been lurking here for a while and have posted a couple of times, just happened to go farther down the headings this time. I'm Tom, retired Canadian Air force Sgt., then spent 11 years working in a juvenile detention center before I started into the great life on the road on a full time basis about 2 years ago. I live in the small city of Portage La Prairie, 40 miles east of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada with my wife of 41 years. We have four grown sons, two truck drivers, one Army Sgt and a warehouse worker. They have managed to add 11 grandchildren to the family. I pull flat and step decks for a small company here that covers most of Canada and the US. My better half goes with me when the weather is reasonable and I am headed to a new part of the country she hasn't seen. Spent last week on the winter roads 300 miles north of the trans-Canada highway in Ontario and managed to scrounge 5 days off to make up for the trip, which explains my having time for the computer this time around. Hope I can add something to the forum as I find the topics interesting and have learned a few things here as well.

Tom

Hi all, guess I should post my plug here. My name is Will. I am 29 and a current telecom engineer. Been doing telecom since I joined the Army back in '94. Due to an incident (getting shot should never be classified as an incident) that :wink: "never happened" :wink: I got a medical discharge (thanks Uncle Sam :evil: ). Anyway been doing telecom ever since. Went through a layoff that lasted a year, relocated for a job here in Green Bay, WI and got laidoff again after 3 months. Been doing some consulting work to pay the bills just isn't cutting it though.

Right now I am waiting to hear on my last ditch effort for a telecom job with Aflac in GA. If that falls through I will be going to Fox Valley Tech for Truck Driving School.

I am no stranger to the trucking industry. My dad is a diesel mechanic (has been more years than I have been alive) and have worked for him on and off for a number of years. So it will be interesting to see the "other side of the seat" if you catch my meaning.

My name is Virgil and I caught the driving bug when I was really young due to the neighbor in the back being an O/O with a cabover. (I thought that was really really cool plus he had his own trailer that he parked behind his garage that I would look under and around also we didn't have a/c so at night during the summer when the trucks came off of interstate i would listen for the jake brakes going. I still love that sound)
As far as work experience: I went to college for a few years but since I couldn't figure out what I wanted to be I dropped out back after the fall semester in '88 and took a few months off and decided to go into electronics/ satellite communications at a vo tech in the late fall of '89. They did have a truck driving program that was rotated between the other two tech schools at the time and I almost switched into it almost as soon as it started but I also am a natural techno dummy and had been interested in electronics for a long time so I figured go satellite make money and see tv from all over the world.
Graduated from that in the spring of '91 and bounced from job to job in that (thought I was smarter then what I really was)> The "career" had me go to Connecticut; Alexandria, VA; New Orleans; Philly (Did alot of miles in a Dodge 600 fully loaded with worldly possessions at 55 miles an hour) ((Got passed by three CR England rigs on I 80 in Pennsylvania and that kind of kept the spark of driving going cause I thought their coat of arms on the trailers looked kewl)) then back in the fall of '93 I did a long stint in juvenile corrections for 7 years.
Got burnt out on that and decided to work with the physically and mentally handicapped that needed total care and I really enjoyed that job but learned a hard lesson about how no one does anything stupid when no one else is looking, Well, what I did was pretty noticeable by several people, paid the price for it and I am allows to drop in and see the people at the house I worked with once in awhile.
Well, due to the stupidity act, I went back to juvenile corrections for a year before El stupido grandee struck again a year later. And now I have the opportunity to do something I have always wanted to do: drive truck.
Can't go into detail about the things I did but I will admit that I learned from the things I did and to paraphrase something a guy I worked with in New Orleans told me: things happen for a reason and them things lead to something better.

Welcome to the board, xsgttom,maveric,and rothgar! I think you'll find this board and website very informative.

xsgttom....I see you live in Canada. You mentioned something about driving north of the Trans-Canada hwy. I was wondering,have you ever heard of the "ice road truckers" up there?
I've read about and saw on TV how these elite drivers haul loads across the frozen lakes in the Yukon. I find that pretty interesting,what a challenge it must be! I've driven a 4 wheeler on a frozen lake,but it must be unreal doing that in a rig! Theres a real science to it!

hey my name is scott I'm 24 have driven back in 2999 and 01. Looking to get back into the field. Hopefully I'll see someone out there.

Michelle Eaton
 

My name is Michelle Eaton, I became interested in the forum because my significant other is driving a truck for Werner Enterprises, just began, and I was lonely and wanted to talk with others that were going through the same thing. I love this site. Michelle

I go by "Root." 49yrs old, 5th generation cattle rancher, twice divorced, 10yr old Daughter. Home base, Fort Worth area, TX. Family ranch corp closing ops after my 24yrs fulltime service.. Career Change time..
Graduated Class A/ PTDI cert March 11, '05. Houston Com College/ Commercial Truck Driving School, 7 intense weeks. Did well. Passed DPS Drive test 1st go, t-storm & pouring rain in Houston traffic.
Came home from school to assist in the closing of ranch ops/ business - just now able to pursue CDL job... 3 weeks 'out of the saddle' so to speak.
Sure good to find this Forum and you good folks out there.

Hopin' for the Open Road.. And soon. Cowboy pay never was much. :wink: