First I would like to say ...I understand the frustration in this mans words ...I have never been a trucker ...but I am a human ...and i understand what he is saying ...even if he was a lil outa line saying it ...I realize I am a noob here but just want to offer some thoughts here so....


Okay , Y'all stand Back ...I'm going all Boy Scout here ...well kinda


Okay Look to all of You Ladies and Gentleman in the trucking Industry

I am an Educated enough man to understand that all of you are the backbone of our society ...no the whole society ...

I know that everything I can lay my hands on in my comfy home only got to me cause someone had the ass to climb in a Truck and bring it here ... fact

Americans like myself are Hedonistic ...sorry its not a bad word ...just means we like our convienences , our hot/cold Water , heat , big TV's ...our toys if you will. stop those from being available ...I bet we get cranky real quick ... you assure with every mile and sunrise far from home...that home stays as it was when we leave it

I love to cook ( hence my portly stature ) I am aware that every refer truck meets my eye is bringing produce and foodstuffs ...let that stop and see how quick we revolt ...period ..again fact nothing starts a war faster than three hungry men in a room with one chickenleg ... try it see what you get.

SO IN GENERAL ...we ALL as a nation owe you more thanks than you might ever get ...from old muleskinners to the modern trucker
so for my part ...THANK YOU ALL ....cranky ones too :wink:

I am 40 ... and call it a midlife crisis or whatever you like ...but I need a change ... I was unhappy and burnt out with my old career ... started an online company (and even though it is not a "failure" persay) ...I'm not making money ..)so Istarted looking for something to do else to do ( construction is down so my Survey skills are not in immediete demand )

I am very much and individual ...I have always liked the idea of being a specialist in any field i was in ...one man in maybe a hundred ...that knows what I know ...or can do what I do ...or can endure what it takes to do it ...

Since I was a boy ...in the age of "BJ and the Bear" , "convoy" etc. ... I have traveled alot ...starting with my pops in the car ...I remember days of flashing a rig changing lanes to let him know I got his back ...and
getting a fourway flash to say "thanks" ...If I remember ...it was called courtesy ...what the hell happened to that ??? I've been told now ...it is illegal to do it ? ...anyway

I have always loved you guys ...in concept anyway ...so now that I need a change I started looking into your world ...

Now Like I said I am 40 ... I have been a soldier and a Merc ( Private security theses days ) I was in Landsurvey for 16-17years ...going into ungodly undeveloped areas to stake out land for clearing ( some parts of Florida that have not seen anything on two legs since the Seminole ran through goin south ) this is another unsung American proffession ...I am sure there are more too...point is in life all these experiances apply .. to any situation you face

I have been a long way from home , lonley , strung out , exhausted , hurt ...and I am still here
I am guessing at least as a driver you dont get shot at on a daily basis and thats a plus
I am told that I could ...if i do the right things ...look at making about 60k by my third year into the industry in an OTR capacity ...
I know that the trucking industry has had its ups and downs ...but facing a possible recession ...even in the Depression ...stuff still needed moving ...from across the dust bowl ...to new alaskan Highways ...truckers probably worked more than many other proffessions

Since it seems MOST of this is close to correct ...as much really as any of us can hope for in this world ...heres what I have decided I want

I want to be a Trucker ...
I want to win the confidence of a company ...
I want to train like i was a new schoolboy ...
I want to earn my money and pay my dues ...
I want to pay what I owe ... I want a chance to shave my face and not feel I am looking at a fool for the over 60k in debt I am under at the moment ( I know its not a whole lot ...but it is to me cause it is my honor that owes it )
I want to sleep in a fibreglass box waiting till I can wake and start clocking the CPM that will ease that guilt ... and pay for the place I choose to sing my death song ( old Native American custom ...and my way of saying retire )

I want to watch the sunrise over strange places like I did in my youth
I want to have had a solid breakfast and maybe some good conversation with an oldtimer at a diner or truck stop ...and in doing so learn something I didnt know before ...or maybe remember something I have forgotten...

I want to stand outside and see the rest of the world awake and start to move ...wonder what they are ?...what they do ?... wonder what their lives a re like for a moment i can spare ...think of home and know exactly what they are doing ...maybe call her and the boys ...let em know how much I love them ...and miss them and maybe whn I will be home again ...

I want to get home ...spend my few days ...with the woman as if it were our first time ... and some advice kids ...this is a must ...if you plan to keep comming home ...or have one to go to ...


I want to know that even though she misses me and probably doesnt really want me gone ...she also knows she can sign onto the bank accounts and not turn pale like she does now ...I want her to do bills like she used to do ... with no more than a frustrated growl for some unforseen or unplanned for charge ...that NOW might upent the whole damned apple cart

I want to stay put with one company for 3-5 years at least untill my personal books are in the "black" again ...0 ..nada ....paycheck ...all mine ...double those Mortguage Payments ...and be able to do what I want ... when I have the time to do so ...

I want the pride in myself ...doing a frequently dangerous job ... weather , and well you all have seen the knuckleheads they give licenses to...so you all know ... and know that even among many ...I am still one of the few men and women with the stones to do it ...and do it well

I want to honor those who came before me ...I already ordered me a new pair of good lether dingo engineer boots ...a new Oil skin duster ... and will soon replace my Cavalry stetson and braid so ican honor my first chosen proffesion as a "Cavalryman" and in an odd way ...still continue to ride along with the spirit of "Old Bill" ... ( yea ...starry eyed ? not really ...but i will always be a romantic ...sorry )

I want to step down out of that rig ... go home for a bit ...to maybe a company christmas party or other function as holidays home may not always be an option ...and shake some soft sweaty palmed mans in a seer sucker suits hand and when he asks " What do you do? " I will look him level in the eye ( maybe squeeze a lil harder than nessecary ) and say with all due pride ...

" I am an OTR Truck Driver sir ...and you ?"

I already know odds are he will think me a creatin ...but that is just okay ...cause I know what he doesnt ...that if "WE" ( at this point in my fantasy ...i am in fact able to claim the title of yet another "noble " brotherhood ) didnt do what we do ...he couldnt have all the little status symbols he scrambles like a rat to get so he can feel himself "superior" to those around him ... including me.

as Shakespear put it ... (Take it away Willie )

WESTMORELAND. O that we now had here
But one ten thousand of those men in England
That do no work to-day!

KING. What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin;
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made,
And crowns for convoy put into his purse;
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is call'd the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when this day is nam'd,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian.'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars,
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispian's day.'
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Hey I warned you I was a romantic ....

Point being those that cannot do ...are those with enough leisure time to critisize ... so what do I care what he thinks ...

To Youger Guys ...look every day you breathe ...you establish who you are ... every failure is an opportunity to learn ...

The Job is what it is ...period ...if you think about it just for a moment ...think about it hard ...it easy to see some of the pitfalls ...

Sorry but I tell you like I do my own ... Theres an old Southern Idiom ...

" If the Farmer had built the henhouse right in the firstplace ...fox never would have got in "

What this means is this ...If you are looking at this Job ...or any ...that takes you from home ...as a way to "run" away from problems ... guess what ? the "mailman will pet your dog AND your wife yes ... but it doesnt matter what you do ...if you dont secure your life behind you ...odds are you will be dissapointed in the longrun anyway ...and thats you ...not the job ..sorry

At the moment all thats wrong with my life is a lack of a steady paycheck ...So i make this decision considering what support I can count on ...or not ...from home ...I look to the affore mentioned "ROMANTIC " notions to grease the sled over those rough spots that are a direct result of the job

course I have a nice henhouse ...and a "foxhead" tacked over the door for good measure ... so there you have it.

Nothing is free ...even your own pride will cost you ...and thats all THIS MAN ...or any here are trying to tell you.

Shawn(Ogre)