For a few weeks now me and the wife have been visiting this website on a regular bases in attempts to gain knowledge of the trucking world.

As a newbie and recent driving school graduate i must say that i've learned a heck of a lot in my short period of time here and i also now have a tremendous amount of new found respect for the trucking industry as a whole which i can honestly say that i was unaware of a few months ago.

I find myself just reading sometimes alot more than i post on here, and everyday that i login i can truely say that i learned something new.

Now I don't want to sound to "cheesy" but i just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributes to this website for all of the much needed info and the rest of the other entertaining thread topics that i've read since i've been here.

You guys/girls keep up the good work, and it looks like you got a new member here for life.

Now it's back to "lurker" mode for me. Ha Ha.

 

CMate, Glad to have you on board! A great place to learn for sure. This is where I got "my bones." Ever hear of Belpre? 30 miles SE of Athens on the Ohio. OU Bobcats..yeah some great parties going to their hockey games drinking quart beers from A&W root beer containers. Been a few years ago :lol: Jump in anywhere you feel like you want to! Enjoy!

Never mind that Belpre122 guy, I think he's short a few screws. :lol: :P :twisted:

Gary

 

Small world, I use to drive through Belpre to get to the Vienna,WV Sams Club and Walmart when I drove for Schneider. I often went from the Walmarts in Jackson,Oh to Athens,Oh then to Vienna,WV.

I sometimes spent the night at a truck stop there in Coolvile 8) ,Oh.

 

Welcome to the forum, CMate. If you have any questions feel free to ask. You have people from a lot of different backgrounds on this forum. Good luck in your new adventure.

 

Just wanted to second the OP.

Beyond simply providing useful information, the combination of experience and diversity of perspective make this site darned interesting reading.

While it occurs to me, I thought I'd mention that I found this place via 'stumbleupon' (a browser add-on that takes you to random sites based on user ratings), GMan. I basically went through and exhausted anything tagged as 'trucking'.

 

Welcome to the forum, maxbell.

 

Maxbell and Cmate, this forum is for people wanting to learn the trucking business from the inside out like you guys are wanting to do. It is invaluable as a tool for anyone who is already in the business or anyone who is thinking about getting into the trucking profession. You can learn a lot here and if you think you know everything there is to know about trucking you'd better park your rig because you're getting ready to kill yourself or somebody else. A word of advice: anything you see posted by old farts like Gman or Twilight Flyer or anyone for that matter who has diesel fuel in their veins better take time to read it. These guys don't pull any punches, won't BS you, will give it to you straight. They've been there, done that. If you've gotta question ask. There is no such a thing as a stupid question. 8)

 

I see ya workin there Mohawk. :lol: Trying to get me in trouble again. Who would ever believe that Belpre grew up near a place called Coolville? :wink:

I'm gonna tell TF if you guys don't stop picking on me. :P 8)

 

So, Belpre..... what do they CALL someone who grew up in or lives in Coolville?? 8)

 

Thanks! And duly noted. I'm still lurking for the time being, the questions are still formulating. I recently took a seasonal job driving a box truck to raise some dough to pay for CDL training -- probably Bates vo-tech in Tacoma. My truck's a cranky hybrid that started life as an Isuzu diesel but was later allegedly refitted with a bus engine and is currently working off about eleven gallons of diesel in an engine that was designed to run on regular unleaded, so it won't go over 40 mph on the freeway. My dispatchers tend to present me with incorrect addresses, my Thomas Guide is missing pages, I split my time between driving (King and Pierce County in Washington state) and lumping things like five gallon buckets filled with dried cement, and I presently work twelve hours a day, six days a week.

From what I've read, the only thing I'm missing is a sleeping bag in back and interminable layovers. Given the buckets of concrete, I'm not sure I'd mind them so much. :lol:

Seriously, though, so far I've split my professional career between providing hospice care and effectively fixing computers (although at one time, some of those computers were running a huge amount of the emergency location services for cellular 911, so the latter's a pretty big generalization). Not too long ago, I found myself driving cross country a few times and discovered that I really enjoy driving long distances. It was nice finding out that Yellowstone is pretty literally named and that North Dakota is basically a series of exits with signs that read 'No Services This Exit' except for Bismark, which was how I'd visualize a strip mall if one were to be built in a walk-in freezer.

But it wasn't the sight seeing. It was getting out to hang a leak or buy a Gatorade and looking at the trip meter and realizing I'd just driven 900 or so miles since I got up. I get on the freeway anymore and just want to keep going. And I've already lived in places that weren't as comfortable as the back of a truck.

So I'm hoping to find some kind of a gig doing long haul trucking while there still is such a thing.