Why I Became a Trucker

A question one of my aunts once asked me has stuck with me for a while, and I've been pondering it quite a bit lately. She asked, "Your mom tells me you became a trucker because of 'Smokey and the Bandit.' Is that true?" Well, yeah, more or less, it is.

I grew up in the 1970's, and was fairly young when the movie came out. But through reruns on TBS, I became very acquainted with the film. It is still one of my favorites today. Back then, truckers were the kings of the road. They led a life most would only dream of. And that's what I did. I wanted to be The Snowman, running that bootleg Coors into Atlanta, with a bad-ass Trans Am running blocker for me. It's a thought that got stuck in my head at a very early age, and it really stuck around.

But when I became old enough to follow the dream, I followed a path that society found more acceptable. By that point, the luster of trucking had dulled quite a bit, replaced with meth-addicted truckers who were chasing lot lizards and running until they died. Accurate or not, that was the public's opinion of trucking for quite a while. I went to college, got a white-collar job (such as it was), and just went through life, not finding much fulfillment.

But that dream, that seed that was planted when I was very young, never really died. I kept it in the back of my head, never really acknowledging it, but never really killing it off either. I realized that I wasn't happy doing what I was doing, but it was more socially acceptable, so I kept with it. The problem was, the job I was in was sucking my soul away. All I did was tell customers no all day, and I'd go home at the end of the day, wondering what the point of it all was. Ultimately, there was no point. I was in a job, not a career, and it was sucking all the joy out of my life. I knew I had to make a change, and when the opportunity came, I took it.

Long story short, I found myself unemployed and unmotivated. I didn't want to go back to doing what I was doing, and I was unsure I could make a go of it in a different career. My mom asked me what I really wanted to do, and I told her trucking. It was an idea that had become more prominent, but I didn't think it could become a reality. She helped me along, and made it possible.

That road isn't always easy. As I've mentioned in previous posts, this life isn't always easy. But, at the end of the day, I can look back at what I did and see something quantifiable. I can say I made a difference. Because of the work I did, frat boys at Penn State will have beer to drink this weekend. Shoppers at Walmart in Texas will have potato chips for their barbecues. Kids in Argentina & Brazil will have computers to do their homework on (well, more likely they'll just use them to download porn. I don't judge). Farmers in Japan will have hay for their cattle. Fitness buffs in Seattle will have protein for their shakes. Old guys in Iowa will have Viagra, and I don't really want to think of why. Kids in New York will have Halloween costumes. Yes, I've hauled all of that and more. And it makes a difference, both to me and the economy. I find a high level of fulfillment in what I do. And I've never been happier.

This is National Truck Driver Appreciation Week. It may not seem like much, or not a big deal, but for those of us in the industry, it can mean quite a bit. Most people look as us as a nuisance. Nobody wants to be stuck behind one of us crawling up a hill. We are disrespected by others driving on the road. I can't tell you how many times I've been cut off, or given the finger, or yelled at for something that was out of my control. But take a moment to think about the impact truckers have on your life. Everything you have, everything you own, is hauled by one of us at one point or another. We keep America going. So please, take a few seconds to wave at a trucker, say hi, or smile. Give them room on the freeway. Believe me, we will appreciate it. It may be the only positive thing we get that day.

Do I regret becoming a trucker? Not for a minute. Certainly I wish things were better. But I'm not complaining. I wish I would've taken this path many years ago.

BIG news!

Okay, so I have some news to share. Some of you already know, but most of you probably don't. Several weeks ago I leased my own truck. This has been my goal from the beginning, and it's now a reality. Those of you who follow me on Facebook may have noticed that I haven't bitched about my truck constantly breaking down, and that's why.

I bought a 2013 Kenworth T660, and it's awesome! Granted, I have to pay for the fuel (imagine spending $800.00 every couple days on fuel. Welcome to my world) and any maintenance issues that come up are my responsibility as well. But I got to choose my truck, I have much more freedom now, and I'm making a bit more money than I did before.

From top to bottom:

1. Side view of the cargo box on the side of the truck. Gotta have my Utah logo on there somewhere. And yes, I purposely chose a truck that's red & white. Not gonna spend this kind of money on a blue & white truck.

2. Driver's side of the truck.

3. Front grill. This what you'll see from your rear-view mirror. Interestingly, this windshield has already been replaced (at about 4,000 miles). Stupid rock chips.

4. Overall view from the driver's seat.

5. Closer view of the dashboard. My Qualcomm/GPS is the box mounted on the right.

6. It's the view behind the wheel. I think it's probably obvious.

7. Look at the odometer. Yeah, it only had 19 miles on it when I drove it off the lot. Well over 15,000 miles now.

So, there you go. If you see me on the road, honk & wave!

Back the Truck Up!

You may think my job is easy. "All you do is drive. I've done that since I was sixteen!" you might say. Yeah, it's not that easy. I have to know the weight on each of my axles. Don't wanna go into a weigh station overweight. I have to know how high my trailer is loaded, so I don't roll the truck in a curve. I have to know if I'm going too fast for a corner, or if I can stop when I hit the brakes, when some idiot cuts me off and decides to slow down. That happens more than you would like to know, believe me.

But by far, the hardest part of my job is backing. Particularly at night, when I'm tired, and I pull into a truck stop. These are the places that provide the greatest challenge for me. Truck stop parking is tight. I try to get in there early enough that I can get a place to park without any problem, and usually, I can do that. But not always.

I just watched another trucker back into a spot, and he was driving the same truck I do. He took about five minutes to get into the spot, and he did it without backing into anything. This is an accomplishment. He & I drive a truck with a notoriously long wheelbase, making backing difficult to begin with, but to add to the problem, you can't see out the driver's side window when backing. That may not seem like a big deal, but believe me, it is.

In any case, this trucker made it into the parking spot. Took a long time, but he made it. I feel like I'm a patient guy, but I don't have the patience to do what he did...yet.

I guess my point is, that backing a fifty-three foot trailer is not an easy task. I've been doing it now for more than a year, and I still feel like I have a lot to learn. The fact that my tractor isn't good at said task doesn't make it easier.

When you see a truck on the road, think about where they've been. Where they're going. Their journey may just be starting, or may just be ending. But in any case, their job is harder than you might think.

On a side note, the first anniversary of bin Laden's death is upon us. It is said that you'll never forget where you were when you heard the news. That's probably true in my case. I was trying to sleep in the top bunk of a Kenworth T2000 in Gary, Indiana. I was kinda chuckling, because I was so close to where Michael Jackson was beaten into greatness, when my little sister sent me a text saying Obama got him. It was raining a little, and I enjoy listening to the raindrops hit the fiberglass. I sent a text to my little brother asking if he'd heard anything. As usual, he was oblivious. I only have one little brother. You know who you are. Dumbass.)

That was the first time I'd driven through Chicago, and Obama got bin Laden that day. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Hurry Up & Wait

One of the most frustrating things for me about my job is something that is largely out of my control. Waiting. I don't like sitting and doing nothing, but it happens far too often. Waiting to arrive at a shipper because I can't be too early. Waiting to be loaded or unloaded. Waiting for snowy mountain passes to open. Waiting for my piece of s#!t truck to be fixed.

As I sit here typing, my truck is waiting to go to the shop, to repair some critical emissions issues. It's an old truck, and I suppose that some breakdowns are inevitable, but it seems that lately, it's spent more time in the shop than on the road.

Last week, I broke down just north of Parowan, such an exciting town along I-15 in Southern Utah. Stopped me for about six hours. That really sucked, because the weather got worse while I was shut down, making driving that much more difficult once I actually got back on the road. Hopefully, the problems will get resolved and I can get rolling again soon.

A friend of mine asked me, not too long ago, how I stave off boredom on the road. As anyone who's driven across the West knows, towns are few & far between, and there's not much going on. And it seems that I can't get out of the West for quite some time now. So, I've found some things that have saved my sanity.

My iPod: Probably my most valuable possession at this point. Some may say that an mp3 player is an mp3 player, and for them that may be true. But in my case, that couldn't be further from the truth. I have an iPod Touch, and it can do much that other players can't. It handles audiobooks very well. I've downloaded several, and have "read" many books that I otherwise wouldn't have the time to read.

Obviously, it handles music extremely well. I do like having all my collection in one place, easy to access. Much easier, and safer, than fumbling for a CD every 45 minutes.

The feature that makes everything more bearable is the apps available. I find that while I'm sitting and waiting, I can surf the net, watch YouTube videos, or play games. I end up playing Monopoly more than I thought I would, and killing Nazi zombies is always fun.

Satellite Radio: Picked this up when I was still in training. I'd thought I could make it without, but while I was driving from Phoenix to Dallas, I realized that I needed it. There is no radio on that stretch of interstate, and I quickly went out of my mind. Aside from that, I have radio feeds of college and pro football, so while I usually can't watch my teams play, I can at least listen to the game. Worth every penny.

iTunes: I'm surprised at how much I use this program. There are some TV shows that I really don't want to miss, and short of satellite TV on the truck, I needed another option to view them. I'm a big The Walking Dead fan, and consider it valuable research for when the inevitable zombie apocalypse comes. I will be a survivor. So, I end up downloading the show on iTunes, and it's available on my iPod, anytime I want. Sitting in a terminal or truck stop, doing laundry, waiting for my truck to get fixed, doesn't matter. That makes life so much more bearable.

The problem with this is getting the data. I can download the show on my mobile hotspot, but I can run through my monthly allotment quite rapidly that way. Fortunately, most big truck stops have WiFi available for a nominal fee, so I can link up with that without too much problem, most of the time.

Also, I do have a portable TV on board, so if I'm within a TV area, I can watch football or whatever else might be on. And I have some of my favorite movies on DVD, and I can always watch one of those if the mood hits.

Fortunately, this makes life on the road much more bearable. Sometimes I feel completely isolated and outside of the normal living world, disconnected and detached from so much, but I can find a little bit of normalcy once in a while.

More stereotypes

Recently, I talked about stereotypes I had about various states I had never visited. Now, I will discuss stereotypes of states I have visited.

Wyoming Blows. Very true. Every time I've been there, the wind is howling. It both sucks and blows at the same time. It may not seem possible, but it happens. I've been there in the summer and the winter. The wintertime is much, much worse. Of all the times I've thought I should chain up, they've all been in Wyoming. Sorry to my friends who live in this state, but Wyoming is like Kansas. I just don't get why anyone lives there. Wyoming has no redeeming qualities. If anyone can prove me wrong, please do so.

It's always raining in Seattle. Maybe. Personally, I've been up there several times, and it's always been sunny and nice. I think the locals try to say that to keep the tourists away, so they can have the city to themselves. I don't blame them.

Sunny Southern California. Having been there much of my life, I can't say I had preconceived notions about the area. Most of the time, this has been true. I'll be honest. I love the area. I was there less than a week ago, and it was beautiful. Very warm, orange groves, nothing to complain about. I'll take SoCal over NewJersey anyday.

Utah Drivers Suck. They do. They can't merge. They can't pass. They have no clue how to signal. They're generally idiots. That being said, it's always nice to make it to my home state.

I guess my point is this: there are idiots in every state. Some more than others. But if I could pass some wisdom on to you, it would be this: give truckers room. We weigh much more than you do, and will take much longer than you will to stop. We want you to be safe, but we also want to be safe. We have many more challenges on the road than you do. Please, give us room.

Christmas on the road, Stereotypes

Such is the life of a trucker. I decided (willingly) to be on the road for Christmas. I did so in order to allow other drivers with spouses and kids to be home for that day, and so hopefully, I could have New Year's off to spend with my brother.

Alas, I'm stuck on the Kansas side of Kansas City, as my truck broke down. Ultimately, it's a simple fix, but one for which they didn't have the part necessary to repair. Which means I'm stuck here, until the part comes in. I'm hoping I can hit the road tomorrow, and possibly still make it home for the holiday.

As I've gotten older, Christmas has lost much of it's meaning for me. It felt like just another day to me, with the exception of less traffic on the road and an easier time to find parking at truck stops. It did also allow the chance for me to have a more-or-less proper Christmas dinner, which consisted of ham, turkey, roast beef, and all the trimmings, served from a buffet. Not bad, all things considered, since it was all-you-can-eat, and I can eat a large amount of ham & mashed potatoes.

Of course, this meant that I had no idea where I'd wake up on Christmas morning. I found myself in West Virginia, of all places. In my mind, I expected to see a nativity set up, with the three "wise men" (Bill O'Reilly, George "Dubya" Bush, and Dale Earnhart) surrounding the baby Jesus. But I saw none.

This made me think of some of the pre-conceived notions I had about other states going into this job. Not having traveled much outside of the western U.S. prior to taking this job, I didn't really know what to expect. Here are some of my thoughts:

West Virginia Full of backwoods hillbillies. Didn't really turn out to be true. However, I was surprised to find that they had TV there now. But I wasn't too surprised to find that they only have two channels: Fox News and wrasslin'.

Kansas Flat & boring as hell This one turned out to be true. Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would live here. The place sucks. The only thing the state has going for it is "The Wizard of Oz," and that was released nearly a century ago. I don't get why Dorothy wanted to get back here so bad; if I were surrounded by midgets and flying monkeys, I'd have a hard time leaving.

But I do now understand why Wyatt Earp left Dodge City for Tombstone. He was bored out of his mind.

Texas Everything's bigger in Texas More or less true. I saw some football scoreboards at high schools that were massive. The Big Texan Challenge offers a free 72oz steak. But the one thing I don't get is "The Lone Star State." I've seen the stars at night (big and bright), deep in the heart of Texas, and one thing's for sure: that claim is B.S. There's way more than one star in the sky.

Wyoming Well, as anyone who's driven I-80 across Wyoming knows, it's a barren wasteland. So is I-80 through Nevada, for that matter.

For now, that's enough...I suppose. I have more but will save them for a later time. My laundry's done, and I just bought the new "True Grit" on DVD and am looking forward to watching it, during a rare down time for me.

Wish I would've stayed in bed

Ever have one of those days, where nothing goes right? I've had several in a row. It all started when I got dispatched to Denver. As I was crossing I-80, it started to snow. East of Laramie, WY, the roads got icy. Really icy, and windy. That sent my stress levels up.

I finally shut down for the night in Cheyenne, when the snow started hitting hard, and was falling sideways. I was glad to be off the road, but I knew I still had to get to Denver the next morning, and I was secretly hoping the freeway would shut down so I could sleep in.

Sadly, it did not. I got up around 3am, did my pre-trip, and hit the road. What would normally take me 1 1/2 hours to drive took 3. The roads were a mess, and it seemed that every time I looked up, there was another car slid off the road, up against the median barrier. Honestly, Denver drivers are terrible. I thought Utah drivers were bad, but Denver drivers are crazy.

After I delivered, I went to a truck stop, and informed dispatch that I wasn't hitting the road until the snow cleared. Fortunately, they didn't fight me. Later that day, after the snow stopped, I got another load, this one headed to Jackson's Hole, WY, and Nampa, ID.

I made it as far as Johnstown, CO that night, and I stayed at a truck stop there. On a side note, if you're ever in the area, I highly recommend you stop for dinner. The restaurant there is really quite good. Anyway, got up the next day and headed to Rock Springs. This was probably the best day I've had in a while. Short drive, weather was good, listened to books on CD.

I had the hours to go past Rock Springs, but there's nowhere to park a truck between there and Idaho Falls, so I was stuck for the night. This meant a very early morning for me, and I got up at just after 1am. This is when things really started to suck.

As I headed north towards Jackson's Hole, the weather started getting pretty bad. Snow covered roads, wind, actually just what I expected in Wyoming this time of year. A 2 1/2 hour drive turned into six. I was driving less than 20mph at some spots. About halfway there, I just about hit a bear that was wandering along the road. It was a fairly large bear, and probably would've done some serious damage to my rig. Missed it by inches.

When I finally got to Jackson, I looked at the temperature on my phone. -14. Damn, that sucks. Spent three hours there, waiting to get unloaded, then finally headed out.

As I approached Twin Falls, ID, my truck started losing electrical power. Not good. I was able to nurse it into a Freightliner dealership, and fortunately they were able to fix the problem in no time. However, I had to disconnect from my trailer to put the truck in the shop, which meant setting the trailer brakes. That's a very bad idea this time of year, but I had no choice.

While I was there, I called my aunt who lives in town, and asked if I could drop by. She was very glad to hear from me, and sent my uncle to pick me up. I spent a wonderful evening with their family, and I really enjoyed myself.

Remember how I said setting the trailer brakes was bad? That's because they can freeze up, locking the axles. When I returned to the truck the next morning to get to my destination, that's exactly what happened. One of the axles was locked, which I didn't realize until about half a block later. By that point, two of the tires were shredded. So, I had to get those replaced before I could leave town.

Fast forward to today. Early this morning I got a message on my Qualcomm from my boss, yelling at me for not being at my delivery by 10am. I had an open delivery time up until 8pm, and wasn't even close to late. I responded that I wasn't in danger of being late, but I don't think she was very happy, for whatever reason. Then, dispatch sent me two trips they wanted me to run, neither of which I could've done as I am low on hours.

To top all that off, I'm in Oregon. Oregon has the speed limit set for trucks at 55 mph. As I normally can go 62 on the interstate, this slows me down at least 7 mph, which essentially means I have to take a $2/hour pay cut to drive here. Thanks Oregon!

I guess when it rains, it pours. Often in this job, things are rather uneventful. You wake up, hit the road for 10 hours and shut down. No big deal. Sometimes it feels like the world is out to screw you, and that's been the case over the last few days for me. Such is life. Of course, this isn't limited to the trucking industry; this happens to everyone.

But one thing I've learned is that you have to have a good sense of humor about things, and try to laugh it all off. Especially in this job, if you can't do that, you'll burn out in no time. As I write this, I'm sitting at a rest stop just west of The Dalles, OR, headed to Spokane. Got another early day tomorrow, and who knows where I'll end up after that? To be fair, that's one thing I really like about this job. When I wake up in the morning, I never know where I'll end up at the end of the day.