...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.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
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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