Odd question... any truck drivers here?

"White Line Fever" recommendation.

 

Breaker breaker .... Is this 1977 again?

 

10-4.

 

Long-distance trucking had a better than 100% turnover rate for drivers in 2019, and that's been a long-term trend.

Why is driver turnover in trucking so high? - FreightWaves

 

My dad went off on a mid-life tangent for a few years, fulfilling his "dream" of owning and operating 18-wheelers while, at the same time, also working in his real, full-time job as an airplane engineer. There was a time when he/we owned four trucks, and my dad and my two oldest brothers took to the road often to keep them going whenever the other couple of pairs of drivers my dad hired needed time off.

My dad, who always loved to drive and also was a gifted, MacGuyver-ish improviser who could fix almost anything (not necessarily the recommended, best way, but he would always make things work) and my oldest brother, an actual ace mechanic who always could do almost anything when it came to repair jobs, also did most of the maintenance and upkeep of the trucks, which often spent days parked in our suburban driveway, or on the side street adjacent to our corner-lot house while being worked on, or awaiting the start of the next cross-country trip.

I wasn't involved in the business at all and don't remember tons of details from that time in our family life. But I think my dad's little trucking business lasted about six years, until it almost broke us, financially, and the stress became too much to handle while my dad also retained his regular job. I do, however, remember all of them -- my father and my brothers -- loving a lot about those years, and always coming home with entertaining stories from the road. (The eagle that flattened itself -- read, died -- when it flew directly, smack!, splat! into the windshield of a truck my brother was driving still comes to mind, because, as my brother told it around a full dinner table, the wings spanned the windshield and my brother couldn't see at all and had to pull over).

And, I remember I could only love and admire my dad as I watched him work so hard, trying to keep the business going while also working in his regular job, all in support of something he...just wanted to do, while also supporting our large family, too. I can still recall him, lying on his back, working under the trucks, often all weekend and sometimes at midnight, after coming home from his second-shift stint at his real job, as he tried to keep things going.

This all went on for quite some time -- until our next-door neighbor, my dad found out, started repeatedly calling the cops to complain about all the illegal parking going on in our driveway, and until all the headaches and financial drain just became too much, forcing my dad to finally sell all the trucks.

He never lost his love of driving, though, and even in his later years, he would sometimes say he longed to go out in a truck again, although he wouldn't ever recommend to anyone that they own one, or four, anymore.

 

When I was in high school — late 90s — my dad got his CDL and began driving long-haul for a company that is don’t think had a good reputation. As a newbie, he was given a subpar cab and his trainer stole his bonus check. My impression was it wasn’t what he thought it would be. Owner-operator was the way to go, if you could get there.

He ended up quitting and driving tow trucks for a bit. Later, he bought a party bus and drive that for a while before selling the business.

Like him, I have that wanderlust. But I’m really curious what life as a train engineer is like.

 

Train operation is rather interesting - a huge exercise in physics, especially in hilly terrain.

Another large part: learning the Operating Rules. Similar to our rules of the road for cars, but designed for safety and keeping you and equipment from getting destroyed.

 

I cannot believe this hasn't been posted by now. Must be lots of youngs on this board.

 

Life on the railroad would be interesting. I think they start you off on the short-haul routes, so it wouldn’t be super exciting. And if you’re in a major market, you’re probably working weird hours so freight doesn’t conflict with commuter runs.

WriteThinking, my first thought when you mentioned your dad’s side business was “the neighbors must’ve really enjoyed that.” Surprised he got away with it for that long.

 

Only issue with driving is I'm not sure how popular primates will be in light of animal-human transmission of CV-19.