Sunday, September 6, 2015

Introduction

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This blog will explore the world of trucking from the perspective of an over the road driver. 

  • If you are a fellow driver, you may be able to relate. 
  • If you are a prospective driver or student in a truck driving school, you may learn some things that help you as you enter the industry.
  • If you are considering trucking as a career, perhaps I can help you make up your mind.
  • If you are a friend, family member, or significant other of a driver, this may help you get a little bit of a idea of what life is like out here. 
  • If you are a shipper, receiver, warehouseman, dispatcher, or member of law enforcement, it may help you see things from the other side of the windshield.
  • If you are none of those things, and just want to read about what it is like, then maybe it will introduce you to a whole new world.

My rotation schedule calls for me to be on the road for eighteen days and home for three, cycling every three weeks or twenty one days.   As the average big rig truck has eighteen wheels, (10 on the tractor and 8 on the trailer) 18 Days on 18 Wheels seemed like an appropriate name.

Over the next many pages, my plan is to discuss  some of the challenges that truckers face, as well as some of the rewards they reap; To explore  some of the day to day life of the driver, trucking lingo and industry news; To show you things a truck driver sees, and help you know what a truck driver thinks and feels.

  I hope that if I intersperse pictures, stories, and thoughts from my own experiences that I can keep it from getting too boring.

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So let me get some of the boring stuff out of the way now.

I got my first professional driving job in 1985, delivering beauty supplies in a panel van in Salt Lake City, Provo and Ogden Utah.  I drove a variety of trucks, for a variety of companies, each progressively larger, and was driving a tractor trailer when the CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) was made mandatory in 1992.  I only drove locally, until 1999, when I made the leap to over the road, or long haul trucking.  

A dock accident in 2005, put me out of commission for a while, but after a lot of physical therapy, and with the newer equipment, I was finally able to return to driving in January of 2015.  I have just over 1.5 Million miles of truck driving experience, and currently haul refrigerated freight out of Missouri, to mostly eastern  and southeastern states.

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Over the years, I have driven a wide variety of makes and models of trucks and pulled a variety of different trailers and freight.  As of the date I am writing this, I have driven a truck in 47 of the 48 lower states, and several provinces of Canada.  (I keep hoping for that load to get me to Vermont, but it hasn't happened yet.)

I am proud to be part of an industry that is vital to the quality of life of most people.  No matter what you have, what you eat, what you wear, odds are pretty good that a truck driver helped bring it to you.  It is a proud occupation, a part of the heritage of our nation. 

More than just an occupation, trucking is a lifestyle.

I hope to share a little bit of that lifestyle with you.

 

 

1 comment:

  1. Great first post Troy! I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing the road through your windshield with you!
    hugs,
    Linda

    ReplyDelete