Sorry for the lack of update. The last week I lost my computer hook-up, so I had no way to get things taken care of. Anyhow,
The last week of my training was dedicated to road training. We left the range behind and started dealing with real roads, real traffic, and the very real chance of wrecking the truck and ending my trucking before it really even begins. My road instructor's name is Paw Paw. I shit you not. Everyone on the range and even people in the towns we trained in called him that. He was a big, round, chain-smoking, and jolly old man. Along with him, there were three other students on the truck at all times. Our shifts lasted from 4:30 PM until around 2:30 AM. Each student got around two hours of driving time with plenty of breaks in between, so it wasn't that bad at all.
The first night we drove out to a place everyone called the shifting pad. The shifting pad was located in Jericho, Arkansas-- just 45 minutes or so from Millington. Basically all it was was a loop of surface roads on either side of the interstate with truck stops at each end. One lap around the loop was 14 miles. It turns out that as goofy as Paw Paw was, he turned out to be a great instructor. When it was my turn to drive, before I even turned the truck on, he explained the concept of how to shift the truck (which is so very different than shifting gears on a car) Then, I started the truck up, and went to work. Before we went out the first night, I was pretty worried about learning how to shift the trucks. Hearing everyone else talk about it, you get the impression that its damn near impossible. But it was pretty damn easy once you were in the driver's seat. At least, shifting up is. Downshifting is a bit of a different story. Though it wasn't exactly hard, it required much more effort than shifting up. But after 14 miles of shifting all the way up (the transmission on the truck I was driving was a 10 speed) and all the way down, I got it pretty well.
The second night was dedicated pretty much to learning how to deal with traffic and how to go about making left and right hand turns. Most everyone has seen an eighteen-wheeler turn at a light before and known that it was a lot different than a car. Due to something called offtracking, the ass-end of the trailer moves on a different path than the tractor. Because of this, you have to take turns extremely wide. On right hand turns, you have to take up oncoming traffic's turning lane, and on left hand turns you have to take the tractor all the way to the far curb. If you don't do a turn correctly, you run the risk of running the trailer on a curb or knocking over signs and lights, or destroying cars. So needless to say, the pressure was on.
Beyond that, the rest of the time was dedicated to connecting the dots between shifting, turning, and basic skills necessary in driving a vehicle that large. The title of the week on the road could have easily been, "Which Damn Gear Am I In Again?!" So through the week of driving, I sharpened my skills and I learned how to drive the truck around the city.
Then came Tuesday, my scheduled day for the road test. For some reason, I was incredibly nervous. But also incredibly excited about the prospect of coming back to Huntsville, having accomplished everything I set out to do.
And then it was done. I passed my test with flying colors and I bussed back home with a CDL in my hand.
And here I am. I'm still tired from this and that, so rest is definitely needed. While I was on the truck, but not driving, I wrote down a bunch of ideas and quotes that had been floating around in my mind, so I'll probably write those in here in the next few days.
Until then, I need sleep!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
The End of Training
I passed my road test. I am now a CDL-holder.
I've been up 38 hours, so I'm going to get sleep. Peaceful sleep for the first time in 3 weeks.
A more detailed update(s) soon.
I've been up 38 hours, so I'm going to get sleep. Peaceful sleep for the first time in 3 weeks.
A more detailed update(s) soon.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
The First Day on the Road/ How I Once Again Found Myself Contemptlating Life in Wal-Mart
I initially wrote that I would have the number of barrels I destroyed whilst practicing my basic skills to report. And that number is... 0! As it turns out, the barrels are pretty hard to destroy, let alone even knock over. I did manage to bump into a few of them and scoot a smaller number than that.
However,
I did manage to completely destroy a flashlight.
So, if you've ever wondered, "Can a flashlight withstand being ran over by an eighteen-wheeler?" the answer is a resounding "NO"
Anyhow, we finally took these monsters out on the open road with traffic and all last night. The instructor drove our group through Memphis, TN over the Mississippi River, and into Arkansas where "the shifting pad" is located. In a small town called Jericho, Arkansas there's a 7 -mile stretch of surface road 'longside the highway that we practice shifting on. That was the main objective of last night, to learn how to shift.
Shifting a truck, at least the way the Federal Government wants you to in order to attain your CDL, is nothing like shifting your car. One has to do something called double-clutching in order to make it work. What that means, is that instead of just pushing in the clutch and holding it in while you take the car out of gear and shift to the next one; you have to push in the clutch to take the truck out of gear, let it out, and then push it back in while you put the truck into the next gear. And your timing has to be just right, or else you're likely to miss a gear and really mess things up. The trucks we're driving also have 10 gears, so thats something new as well. And downshifting... also a pain.
In conclusion, shifting gears in a tractor-trailer is nothing like shifting gears in a car.
But, after an hour and a half of driving, I've got it. At first I felt like something must have been wrong, because I picked up on it much faster than everyone else here said I would.
On that note, I've noticed that there are a lot of negative people within the trucking industry. Nay-sayers, pessamists, know-it-alls, people who love to argue, assholes, etc. There was a span of three-four days where I would try to reason with some of these people, or convince them that things aren't that bad but, when people refuse to see things positively on their own, they're not going to let somebody else help them.
Somebody here even told me that they were "going to lay you the fuck out" because I was trying to convince him that the test was graded this way, when he thought it was going to be graded another way. If he went on thinking that it was graded that certain way, he wouldn't make it. I tried reasoning with him, but it didn't work. He ended up failing his basic skills tests.
I tried, I really did.
I've resolved to just keep my mouth shut and not interfere with anyone's path here. It's best for me and it's best for them, I think.
It's very much against my nature, but I have to keep in mind that I'm not here to make friends. I already have great ones back home. I'm here to get my CDL, and then move on. It's tough to think that way, though.
And now, for an emotional aside:
I was standing in Wal-Mart, yet again, contemplaiting life the other night. I had walked there at around 1:00 AM to search for something to eat. I was standing in the soda section when the christmas tree song from A Charlie Brown Christmas started playing. As strong as I've felt lately, and as sure as I am that I'm doing the right thing, I realized that I was immensely lonely. I lost myself in thoughts of how many people I miss. And worsely I found myself thinking of the women of my past.
The most I'm willing to admit here is that none of them are interested in the least in what I'm doing and what I am feeling and thinking. I find it cruel that life/fate has an ironic way with contrasts. To be so important to someone, and to be so in tune with them, and to feel as though you would do anything for them-- and then its as though you've fallen off the face of the planet to them. As far as they're concerned, I think, I don't exist.
And that's all there is to that.
We go on the road again tonight. This time, we'll be in Memphis with a higher volume of traffic and more turns to make. In fact, I think tonight's focus will be learning how to turn correctly. Hopefully I'll get that as well as I did shifting gears.
7 days untill I'm done here.
However,
I did manage to completely destroy a flashlight.
So, if you've ever wondered, "Can a flashlight withstand being ran over by an eighteen-wheeler?" the answer is a resounding "NO"
Anyhow, we finally took these monsters out on the open road with traffic and all last night. The instructor drove our group through Memphis, TN over the Mississippi River, and into Arkansas where "the shifting pad" is located. In a small town called Jericho, Arkansas there's a 7 -mile stretch of surface road 'longside the highway that we practice shifting on. That was the main objective of last night, to learn how to shift.
Shifting a truck, at least the way the Federal Government wants you to in order to attain your CDL, is nothing like shifting your car. One has to do something called double-clutching in order to make it work. What that means, is that instead of just pushing in the clutch and holding it in while you take the car out of gear and shift to the next one; you have to push in the clutch to take the truck out of gear, let it out, and then push it back in while you put the truck into the next gear. And your timing has to be just right, or else you're likely to miss a gear and really mess things up. The trucks we're driving also have 10 gears, so thats something new as well. And downshifting... also a pain.
In conclusion, shifting gears in a tractor-trailer is nothing like shifting gears in a car.
But, after an hour and a half of driving, I've got it. At first I felt like something must have been wrong, because I picked up on it much faster than everyone else here said I would.
On that note, I've noticed that there are a lot of negative people within the trucking industry. Nay-sayers, pessamists, know-it-alls, people who love to argue, assholes, etc. There was a span of three-four days where I would try to reason with some of these people, or convince them that things aren't that bad but, when people refuse to see things positively on their own, they're not going to let somebody else help them.
Somebody here even told me that they were "going to lay you the fuck out" because I was trying to convince him that the test was graded this way, when he thought it was going to be graded another way. If he went on thinking that it was graded that certain way, he wouldn't make it. I tried reasoning with him, but it didn't work. He ended up failing his basic skills tests.
I tried, I really did.
I've resolved to just keep my mouth shut and not interfere with anyone's path here. It's best for me and it's best for them, I think.
It's very much against my nature, but I have to keep in mind that I'm not here to make friends. I already have great ones back home. I'm here to get my CDL, and then move on. It's tough to think that way, though.
And now, for an emotional aside:
I was standing in Wal-Mart, yet again, contemplaiting life the other night. I had walked there at around 1:00 AM to search for something to eat. I was standing in the soda section when the christmas tree song from A Charlie Brown Christmas started playing. As strong as I've felt lately, and as sure as I am that I'm doing the right thing, I realized that I was immensely lonely. I lost myself in thoughts of how many people I miss. And worsely I found myself thinking of the women of my past.
The most I'm willing to admit here is that none of them are interested in the least in what I'm doing and what I am feeling and thinking. I find it cruel that life/fate has an ironic way with contrasts. To be so important to someone, and to be so in tune with them, and to feel as though you would do anything for them-- and then its as though you've fallen off the face of the planet to them. As far as they're concerned, I think, I don't exist.
And that's all there is to that.
We go on the road again tonight. This time, we'll be in Memphis with a higher volume of traffic and more turns to make. In fact, I think tonight's focus will be learning how to turn correctly. Hopefully I'll get that as well as I did shifting gears.
7 days untill I'm done here.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
The Next Step
I passed all three of my skills tests.
By no means was I graceful in doing so, but I did it. And for someone who has never driven anything larger than an F-350 and never even dealt with a trailer, I think that's pretty damn impressive.
If I can put this machine where I want it to go, in reverse, and with only 3-4 days of instruction, I think I can do just about anything.
The range is basically one trailer's worth of a classroom and about fifty tractors and trailers in the middle of an old navy airfield. The night shift (my shift) leaves for the range at around 4:00 pm, and ends at 2:00 am. The majority of this time, we're standing outside on the tarmac, practicing basic skills. We have groups of three. One person drives, while the other two walk outside the truck and offer advice.
If you were to stop, and look around, it would seem like you were right in the middle of some sort of bizarre mechanical ballet. We stay in very low gears and don't even use the accelerator so it's almost as if everything is in slow-motion, with trucks bending and twisting around eachother and people walking 'long side them.
You can't help but feel a sense of awe that these machines can be manipulated in such a fashion.
The first day I got to the range, I experienced something that I don't think I'll ever forget...
When we first got out to the trucks, after a brief bit of classroom instruction, they were all lined up in a row. We were supposed to wait for the instructors before starting the trucks, so during that time the only noise I could hear was the wind. That in itself wasn't the remarkable part. As I was standing there listening to the wind, it started to make a noise that I can only describe as singing. There were two distinct pitches that were in harmony with eachother that had to be produced by the wind cutting its way through and past the trucks. I closed my eyes and listened until the instructors made their way out to the trucks.
I've never heard anything like that in my life. It was like the air was alive.
At this point, the next step is to go through some class-time about shifting the truck and general safe road practices. I think I'll get tested on that in the next two days, and after that-- it's the road. Our groups of three will be in one truck, driving back and forth from here to Arkansas. As long as I can keep the truck in one lane, and not destroy stationary objects when I make right-hand turns, I should be ok.
One of the first days during class one of the instructors told me that in trucking, there are no days, only dates. Days to a truck driver, mean nothing. I don't even have my full CDL yet and already this is becoming more and more true. Today is Sunday. I thought for sure that it was Friday, or Saturday at the latest. The days are losing meaning and blurring together into one long string of sun ups and sun downs. I'm not quite used to this.
One more week to go, and then it's a bus back to Huntsville with empty pockets and a CDL in my hand. Once I get back to town I have a few things that are on my list of things to do.
1. Sleep untill I can't
2. Go to Mason's and get an ice-cold beer and a rueben sandwich
3. Go downtown, and take a walk through the park and the surrounding neighborhoods
4. Find somebody to take a walk with me
5. Thank everyone profusely who has helped me get here and through this
6. Tie up some loose ends
I end this with a text message that I got the other night from a good friend. I am incredible fortunate to have people like this in my life. In times of weakness, its the people you surround yourself with and call your friends that will keep you going when you don't think you can.
Your hard work is getting me through finals. It used to be different where I would work to be in a better spot than you as motivation, but now I have to work as you are. I am proud of how well you're doing over there. Keep up the good work. I'll do the same. God I just want to sleep but no. I will continue.
By no means was I graceful in doing so, but I did it. And for someone who has never driven anything larger than an F-350 and never even dealt with a trailer, I think that's pretty damn impressive.
If I can put this machine where I want it to go, in reverse, and with only 3-4 days of instruction, I think I can do just about anything.
The range is basically one trailer's worth of a classroom and about fifty tractors and trailers in the middle of an old navy airfield. The night shift (my shift) leaves for the range at around 4:00 pm, and ends at 2:00 am. The majority of this time, we're standing outside on the tarmac, practicing basic skills. We have groups of three. One person drives, while the other two walk outside the truck and offer advice.
If you were to stop, and look around, it would seem like you were right in the middle of some sort of bizarre mechanical ballet. We stay in very low gears and don't even use the accelerator so it's almost as if everything is in slow-motion, with trucks bending and twisting around eachother and people walking 'long side them.
You can't help but feel a sense of awe that these machines can be manipulated in such a fashion.
The first day I got to the range, I experienced something that I don't think I'll ever forget...
When we first got out to the trucks, after a brief bit of classroom instruction, they were all lined up in a row. We were supposed to wait for the instructors before starting the trucks, so during that time the only noise I could hear was the wind. That in itself wasn't the remarkable part. As I was standing there listening to the wind, it started to make a noise that I can only describe as singing. There were two distinct pitches that were in harmony with eachother that had to be produced by the wind cutting its way through and past the trucks. I closed my eyes and listened until the instructors made their way out to the trucks.
I've never heard anything like that in my life. It was like the air was alive.
At this point, the next step is to go through some class-time about shifting the truck and general safe road practices. I think I'll get tested on that in the next two days, and after that-- it's the road. Our groups of three will be in one truck, driving back and forth from here to Arkansas. As long as I can keep the truck in one lane, and not destroy stationary objects when I make right-hand turns, I should be ok.
One of the first days during class one of the instructors told me that in trucking, there are no days, only dates. Days to a truck driver, mean nothing. I don't even have my full CDL yet and already this is becoming more and more true. Today is Sunday. I thought for sure that it was Friday, or Saturday at the latest. The days are losing meaning and blurring together into one long string of sun ups and sun downs. I'm not quite used to this.
One more week to go, and then it's a bus back to Huntsville with empty pockets and a CDL in my hand. Once I get back to town I have a few things that are on my list of things to do.
1. Sleep untill I can't
2. Go to Mason's and get an ice-cold beer and a rueben sandwich
3. Go downtown, and take a walk through the park and the surrounding neighborhoods
4. Find somebody to take a walk with me
5. Thank everyone profusely who has helped me get here and through this
6. Tie up some loose ends
I end this with a text message that I got the other night from a good friend. I am incredible fortunate to have people like this in my life. In times of weakness, its the people you surround yourself with and call your friends that will keep you going when you don't think you can.
Your hard work is getting me through finals. It used to be different where I would work to be in a better spot than you as motivation, but now I have to work as you are. I am proud of how well you're doing over there. Keep up the good work. I'll do the same. God I just want to sleep but no. I will continue.
Saturday, December 8, 2007
The Big Three
The big three. The skills tests. Straight-line backing, parallel parking, and offset backing. As of right now, I've already passed straight-line backing, so that leaves two. I have parallel down to a science. Who would have ever thought that I would ever learn how to parallel park an eighteen wheeler?! I can't even parallel park my car...
As far as offset goes, with a little more practice tonight, I'll pass just fine. Hopefully.
I got the antibiotics so I should be back up to par soon. Not to mention the tea and vitamin C that I've been taking, as prescribed by a certain somebody.
I smiled.
The temp. is a little higher today so the conditions should be a bit more comfortable than they have been lately.
So, more practice, and then these tests and then I move on to actually driving one of these monsters on the open road.
Millington TN metropolitan area, watch out.
As far as offset goes, with a little more practice tonight, I'll pass just fine. Hopefully.
I got the antibiotics so I should be back up to par soon. Not to mention the tea and vitamin C that I've been taking, as prescribed by a certain somebody.
I smiled.
The temp. is a little higher today so the conditions should be a bit more comfortable than they have been lately.
So, more practice, and then these tests and then I move on to actually driving one of these monsters on the open road.
Millington TN metropolitan area, watch out.
Friday, December 7, 2007
The Halfway Point
Fact: an average eighteen wheeler, trailer and all, is about 70 ft long
Fact: your standard four door sedan is about 12-15 ft long
Fact: an average eighteen wheeler is roughly 4-5 car lengths long
Fact: backing an eighteen wheeler in a straight line is perhaps the most frustratingly difficult thing I've ever had to do
We've spent two days straight now learning how to back these monsters up in a straight line, and it's taken me two days to finally get it right. That's a good thing because we move on to something called parallel backing and offset backing tonight. Your goal is to basically manuever the truck (in reverse) into a small box bordered by painted yellow lines and barrels marking the corners. The instructors said to expect many barrels to be ran over, so I'm assuming that the next time I post, I'll have some number of barrels that I demolished to report.
Things are continuing to go well, and the class size continues to wither. I'm hanging in there though, with high spirits. However, spending hours out on an airstrip in the cold practicing backing eighteen wheelers in the cold has taken a toll on my health a bit. I've got bronchitis again. This is like, the second time in three months. That's a new record for me. My mom is getting a prescription for antibiotics sent up here so hopefully in the next few days I'll get that taken care of.
At this point I've been here for... ten days. It feels like so much longer. So I guess this is the halfway point. In four days, supposing I pass all these skills tests, I go out on the road every night for a week with an instructor to prove I'm competent and then that's it.
So in another 10 days, I'll have leapt over the most difficult of hurdles in my journey.
Hopefully.
Fact: your standard four door sedan is about 12-15 ft long
Fact: an average eighteen wheeler is roughly 4-5 car lengths long
Fact: backing an eighteen wheeler in a straight line is perhaps the most frustratingly difficult thing I've ever had to do
We've spent two days straight now learning how to back these monsters up in a straight line, and it's taken me two days to finally get it right. That's a good thing because we move on to something called parallel backing and offset backing tonight. Your goal is to basically manuever the truck (in reverse) into a small box bordered by painted yellow lines and barrels marking the corners. The instructors said to expect many barrels to be ran over, so I'm assuming that the next time I post, I'll have some number of barrels that I demolished to report.
Things are continuing to go well, and the class size continues to wither. I'm hanging in there though, with high spirits. However, spending hours out on an airstrip in the cold practicing backing eighteen wheelers in the cold has taken a toll on my health a bit. I've got bronchitis again. This is like, the second time in three months. That's a new record for me. My mom is getting a prescription for antibiotics sent up here so hopefully in the next few days I'll get that taken care of.
At this point I've been here for... ten days. It feels like so much longer. So I guess this is the halfway point. In four days, supposing I pass all these skills tests, I go out on the road every night for a week with an instructor to prove I'm competent and then that's it.
So in another 10 days, I'll have leapt over the most difficult of hurdles in my journey.
Hopefully.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The Brief Update
Ah, the brief update. If there is one thing I'm great at, it's leaving everyone hanging.
Things go well. The days here are long and stressful, but I've made it through the hardest part. Don't let anyone tell you that getting a CDL is easy because it isn't. At least through Swift. I wake up at 4:30 AM every morning and then go to class for 13 hours. Then after that I study for 3-4 beyond that and pass out to do it all over again.
Challenging, but I'm doing it.
I have my CDL-permit now.
Today is going to be my first day in the belly of one of these machines. I get behind the wheel this evening to practice straight-line backing.
Can you believe it?
I'm using somebody's laptop so I can't really go into much details, but I am doing great.
Never in my life have I been so sure about a decision. I am strong and I am focused.
Here's to attaining goals.
I'll update again as soon as I can.
Things go well. The days here are long and stressful, but I've made it through the hardest part. Don't let anyone tell you that getting a CDL is easy because it isn't. At least through Swift. I wake up at 4:30 AM every morning and then go to class for 13 hours. Then after that I study for 3-4 beyond that and pass out to do it all over again.
Challenging, but I'm doing it.
I have my CDL-permit now.
Today is going to be my first day in the belly of one of these machines. I get behind the wheel this evening to practice straight-line backing.
Can you believe it?
I'm using somebody's laptop so I can't really go into much details, but I am doing great.
Never in my life have I been so sure about a decision. I am strong and I am focused.
Here's to attaining goals.
I'll update again as soon as I can.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
The Bad News
...and for the bad news. Or the interesting news, depending on how you view it...
I made a grave mistake when I was paying some bills before I leave. and I miscalculated the amount I actually have, leaving myself with $18 for food over a three-week span.
I'm not sure how I'm going to stretch that, or what I'm going to do.
If anyone is in a giving mood and can possibly spare $20 for me to have food while I'm in Memphis, please call me at 256.658.1217. I can give you my bank account number and information so you could deposit the money directly into my account. I'd be willing to pay back twice the amount.
Think about it.
The good news though, is that I'm pretty caught up on bills.
I made a grave mistake when I was paying some bills before I leave. and I miscalculated the amount I actually have, leaving myself with $18 for food over a three-week span.
I'm not sure how I'm going to stretch that, or what I'm going to do.
If anyone is in a giving mood and can possibly spare $20 for me to have food while I'm in Memphis, please call me at 256.658.1217. I can give you my bank account number and information so you could deposit the money directly into my account. I'd be willing to pay back twice the amount.
Think about it.
The good news though, is that I'm pretty caught up on bills.
The Present
It's 3:01AM and I need to be at the bus station by 8:30AM. Sandbagging so as to delay the inevitable? Maybe. The past few nights I've been scared out of my mind. I've been so nervous and frightened that I've been having nightmares. Vivid ones too, where it takes a few minutes for the fog to lift once I wake, and I realize that I was only dreaming. Intense. Though I've been pretty terrified, I'm ready now. My nerves are complaining a bit, but I'm absolutely ready to do this and make it work. Today was incredible stressful. I'm in a position where I'll be making a lot of money soon, but I have to invest a little money until then, to float through. I had to pawn my car title today because my father didn't have the money he promised me he would when I told him weeks ago that I would need it. I really should learn that I can't rely on him, or anyone else in my family for that matter.
Today was just an incredibly stressful day.
And on top of it all, my car tire blew while I was driving. I was stranded in the rain, in the cold, with no jack, and no help.
It's been a long day.
I still need to pack. I'm hoping that won't be too distressing of a job.
I should probably do that now.
Here's to the road less traveled.
I'm off to chase adventure.
Today was just an incredibly stressful day.
And on top of it all, my car tire blew while I was driving. I was stranded in the rain, in the cold, with no jack, and no help.
It's been a long day.
I still need to pack. I'm hoping that won't be too distressing of a job.
I should probably do that now.
Here's to the road less traveled.
I'm off to chase adventure.
Monday, November 26, 2007
The Details
Oh, the details.
I've been researching the trucking industry and trucking companies (called carriers, within the ranks of truckers and those like them) heavily in the past month and a half or so. In order to drive a tractor trailer you first have to get your CDL (commercial driver's license). There are a few different ways to go about doing this, but the one that is the most feasible (and also the quickest) is to find a company that will pay for you to receive training, and then hire you once you are learned in the ways of driving a truck. There are a ridiculous amount of trucking companies out there to choose from, but only a handful actually hire 21 yr olds with no experience or CDL, and then provide them with the training to get it. I spent my last three weeks in Auburn waking up early to call and express interest in companies and leaving work early in the evening to talk with the recruiters (all trucking companies have people called recruiters who try to find potential candidates for employees). I thought of every possible important question to ask them, and wrote them down ahead of time so as to make the calling most efficient. When I called each company I asked this set list of questions and wrote down all their responses and then compared all the companies side by side. Once I filled out applications, I had a job offer within a week. A week after that I decided on the company that I most wanted to work for.
The company's name is Swift.
I leave on a bus tomorrow to Swift's south-eastern training facility in Memphis. They are paying for my bus fare, as well as my stay in a hotel during the training, and food while I'm up there. The training period will last from November 28th to December 19th or 20th. During this time I won't be receiving any pay. In this time period I'll be spending a week and a half or so in a classroom learning from videos, books, and an instructor; and then I'll take my CDL-permit test. Once I receive the permit, I'll go out on the road for a week and a half or so with a driver-trainer and learn the basics of operating a semi-truck. After that, I take a road test and receive my CDL. Once those three weeks are up, I catch a ride via bus or a truck heading towards Huntsville for a break for Christmas and New Years. By January 2nd, I'll be back on the road again. I'll be partnering up with a driver-trainer for 4-6 weeks, until the middle of February or so. By that time, I'll have learned enough about the truck and drove a good 15,000 miles and I will be given the keys to my own truck to drive solo. There are a few different types of drivers, such as an Owner-Operator, Short-Haul, etc-- but I'll be a company driver. Which means I'm not leasing or buying my own truck. Instead, I'll be driving a company-owned truck. However, during my duration with Swift nobody but me will drive this particular truck. What that means is that I take it home with me. I'll also be driving as an Over The Road driver, which is basically the most intense of the truck-drivers. What that means is that I'm in it for the long-haul, and I mean that very literally. I'll spend 2-3 weeks out on the road at a time, with 3-4 days off after those stretches. I'll drive to one place, pick up a load, then drive to another place in another part of the country and drop it off, and then drive to another part of the country to pick up another load, to later drop it off. The most I can drive during a 24-hour period is 12 hours. During that 12 hours, I'm required to get some amount of sleep, the number of which escapes me at the moment. An average driver drives 3,000 miles a week. I hope to drive 4,000+. When I do sleep, I'll sleep in the back of the truck, which has a full-sized bed in it, as well as connections for fridges, microwaves, televisions, etc. I get paid by the mile, so the more I'm on the road, the more money I make. I'll have full dental, medical, and vision insurance for something like $60.00 a month, which is great.
These are the details, thus far. Aside from what I left out, everything else is totally unknown to me. So needless to say, this is going to be a huge experience. Tomorrow/today I need to get some errands done and pack in time to be at the bus station downtown at 8:30 AM.
I don't know if I'll have internet access during training. If I don't I'm bringing along a notebook to make sure I document all of my thoughts and observations about the whole thing. I'm also bringing my camera as well, so expect pictures soon.
Stay tuned. It's about to get interesting.
I've been researching the trucking industry and trucking companies (called carriers, within the ranks of truckers and those like them) heavily in the past month and a half or so. In order to drive a tractor trailer you first have to get your CDL (commercial driver's license). There are a few different ways to go about doing this, but the one that is the most feasible (and also the quickest) is to find a company that will pay for you to receive training, and then hire you once you are learned in the ways of driving a truck. There are a ridiculous amount of trucking companies out there to choose from, but only a handful actually hire 21 yr olds with no experience or CDL, and then provide them with the training to get it. I spent my last three weeks in Auburn waking up early to call and express interest in companies and leaving work early in the evening to talk with the recruiters (all trucking companies have people called recruiters who try to find potential candidates for employees). I thought of every possible important question to ask them, and wrote them down ahead of time so as to make the calling most efficient. When I called each company I asked this set list of questions and wrote down all their responses and then compared all the companies side by side. Once I filled out applications, I had a job offer within a week. A week after that I decided on the company that I most wanted to work for.
The company's name is Swift.
I leave on a bus tomorrow to Swift's south-eastern training facility in Memphis. They are paying for my bus fare, as well as my stay in a hotel during the training, and food while I'm up there. The training period will last from November 28th to December 19th or 20th. During this time I won't be receiving any pay. In this time period I'll be spending a week and a half or so in a classroom learning from videos, books, and an instructor; and then I'll take my CDL-permit test. Once I receive the permit, I'll go out on the road for a week and a half or so with a driver-trainer and learn the basics of operating a semi-truck. After that, I take a road test and receive my CDL. Once those three weeks are up, I catch a ride via bus or a truck heading towards Huntsville for a break for Christmas and New Years. By January 2nd, I'll be back on the road again. I'll be partnering up with a driver-trainer for 4-6 weeks, until the middle of February or so. By that time, I'll have learned enough about the truck and drove a good 15,000 miles and I will be given the keys to my own truck to drive solo. There are a few different types of drivers, such as an Owner-Operator, Short-Haul, etc-- but I'll be a company driver. Which means I'm not leasing or buying my own truck. Instead, I'll be driving a company-owned truck. However, during my duration with Swift nobody but me will drive this particular truck. What that means is that I take it home with me. I'll also be driving as an Over The Road driver, which is basically the most intense of the truck-drivers. What that means is that I'm in it for the long-haul, and I mean that very literally. I'll spend 2-3 weeks out on the road at a time, with 3-4 days off after those stretches. I'll drive to one place, pick up a load, then drive to another place in another part of the country and drop it off, and then drive to another part of the country to pick up another load, to later drop it off. The most I can drive during a 24-hour period is 12 hours. During that 12 hours, I'm required to get some amount of sleep, the number of which escapes me at the moment. An average driver drives 3,000 miles a week. I hope to drive 4,000+. When I do sleep, I'll sleep in the back of the truck, which has a full-sized bed in it, as well as connections for fridges, microwaves, televisions, etc. I get paid by the mile, so the more I'm on the road, the more money I make. I'll have full dental, medical, and vision insurance for something like $60.00 a month, which is great.
These are the details, thus far. Aside from what I left out, everything else is totally unknown to me. So needless to say, this is going to be a huge experience. Tomorrow/today I need to get some errands done and pack in time to be at the bus station downtown at 8:30 AM.
I don't know if I'll have internet access during training. If I don't I'm bringing along a notebook to make sure I document all of my thoughts and observations about the whole thing. I'm also bringing my camera as well, so expect pictures soon.
Stay tuned. It's about to get interesting.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Quick Note
I'll be updating this site as often as I can, with details and stories about what I'm doing.
A longer update is coming soon.
A longer update is coming soon.
The Announcement
4:22 AM 11/25/2007
My name is ________ (edited for Reddit identity protection!) and I leave Tuesday morning on a Greyhound bus for Memphis, Tennessee where I will begin training to become a truck driver.
I've been sitting in this chair for thirty minutes staring at the screen trying to decide how I'm going to explain this. Explain how I'm going to break the news. Well the cats out of the bag now.
Not many people know why I'm doing this. Not many people know at all that I'm even going to do it. I haven't told people for any number of reasons, but mainly because I'm fairly certain that, in the past, I have been thought of as someone who would say things but would never followthrough. Or as somebody who didn't commit. Who didn't stick with it. And maybe in the past that was true. But no more. I decided that I was going to do this over a month ago. Because of those reasons, I've told very few people. I guess this is my formal announcement. I wanted to make sure that I was well upon my way before I let people know what I was doing.
More than that though, I'm afraid that people won't understand. I can't be sure of many things, but one thing I am certain about is that not everyone will understand why. Some people who read this will understand. Some people who read this, will judge. Some people will laugh. Some people will nod in agreement.
What it comes down to, is this: When I am old, and when I am dying; I refuse to look back on my life thinking, "It could have been so much more interesting, so much more fufilling." HAPPINESS IS NOT A MEASURE OF ONE'S LIFE VERSUS SOMEONE ELSE'S.
Anyone who knows me, knows that my life is one that I really didn't choose for myself. Bad things that I have had no control over have happened, and as a result, I haven't been afforded the same opportunities and comforts that other people have. As the metaphor goes though, it's not the hand but how you play it. My whole life I've done what I thought was the best I could, when in actuality, all I've been doing is re-acting to things. I haven't been moving past problems, I've just been sidestepping them. Adjusting. I've thought a lot about my goals and what I want to accomplish in my life. I have a lot I want to do. I've got a destination, and now I need a road.
Why drive a truck? Why become a truck driver?
Well, first off I guess an important piece of information is that I'm only going to do it for a year and a half at most, but at least a year. Why that amount of time? Because that's all the time I need to accomplish the things I've set aside to do.
Adventure. Money. Stories. To be Unorthodox. To do something nobody else is doing. To totally immerse myself in something. To see the country. To travel. To gain financial independence. To grow. To see things many won't ever get the chance to see. To go places nobody else will go. To breathe different air. To cross state lines. To prove to myself that there is more out there than Huntsville, Alabama or Auburn, Alabama. To set aside money for the future. To follow in the footsteps of my father (if only for a little while). To invest. To get a new car. To pay for college. To prove people wrong. To come out stronger.
But mainly TO TAKE A STEP TOWARDS THE REST OF MY LIFE, AND TO FORGE MY OWN PATH.
Ultimately, when I'm done I'll have accomplished many things that most nobody, if anyone, my age will have.
I've delayed writing this for as long as possible, but the time is now. In fact, I'll be keeping a blog on the road which I'll update often, but that's another entry for another time.
What you eventually must ask yourself, is how do you view life? What's the right way to look at things. What kind of lense are you looking at things through? To me, life is a story. Regardless of who you are and where you are from, you have a story to tell. I want to be able to look behind me and know that I have an incredible one to tell.
This, is one of my stories.
My name is ________ (edited for Reddit identity protection!) and I leave Tuesday morning on a Greyhound bus for Memphis, Tennessee where I will begin training to become a truck driver.
I've been sitting in this chair for thirty minutes staring at the screen trying to decide how I'm going to explain this. Explain how I'm going to break the news. Well the cats out of the bag now.
Not many people know why I'm doing this. Not many people know at all that I'm even going to do it. I haven't told people for any number of reasons, but mainly because I'm fairly certain that, in the past, I have been thought of as someone who would say things but would never followthrough. Or as somebody who didn't commit. Who didn't stick with it. And maybe in the past that was true. But no more. I decided that I was going to do this over a month ago. Because of those reasons, I've told very few people. I guess this is my formal announcement. I wanted to make sure that I was well upon my way before I let people know what I was doing.
More than that though, I'm afraid that people won't understand. I can't be sure of many things, but one thing I am certain about is that not everyone will understand why. Some people who read this will understand. Some people who read this, will judge. Some people will laugh. Some people will nod in agreement.
What it comes down to, is this: When I am old, and when I am dying; I refuse to look back on my life thinking, "It could have been so much more interesting, so much more fufilling." HAPPINESS IS NOT A MEASURE OF ONE'S LIFE VERSUS SOMEONE ELSE'S.
Anyone who knows me, knows that my life is one that I really didn't choose for myself. Bad things that I have had no control over have happened, and as a result, I haven't been afforded the same opportunities and comforts that other people have. As the metaphor goes though, it's not the hand but how you play it. My whole life I've done what I thought was the best I could, when in actuality, all I've been doing is re-acting to things. I haven't been moving past problems, I've just been sidestepping them. Adjusting. I've thought a lot about my goals and what I want to accomplish in my life. I have a lot I want to do. I've got a destination, and now I need a road.
Why drive a truck? Why become a truck driver?
Well, first off I guess an important piece of information is that I'm only going to do it for a year and a half at most, but at least a year. Why that amount of time? Because that's all the time I need to accomplish the things I've set aside to do.
Adventure. Money. Stories. To be Unorthodox. To do something nobody else is doing. To totally immerse myself in something. To see the country. To travel. To gain financial independence. To grow. To see things many won't ever get the chance to see. To go places nobody else will go. To breathe different air. To cross state lines. To prove to myself that there is more out there than Huntsville, Alabama or Auburn, Alabama. To set aside money for the future. To follow in the footsteps of my father (if only for a little while). To invest. To get a new car. To pay for college. To prove people wrong. To come out stronger.
But mainly TO TAKE A STEP TOWARDS THE REST OF MY LIFE, AND TO FORGE MY OWN PATH.
Ultimately, when I'm done I'll have accomplished many things that most nobody, if anyone, my age will have.
I've delayed writing this for as long as possible, but the time is now. In fact, I'll be keeping a blog on the road which I'll update often, but that's another entry for another time.
What you eventually must ask yourself, is how do you view life? What's the right way to look at things. What kind of lense are you looking at things through? To me, life is a story. Regardless of who you are and where you are from, you have a story to tell. I want to be able to look behind me and know that I have an incredible one to tell.
This, is one of my stories.
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