The Swamp

Posted: **Fri Jul 28, 2023 8:40 pm**

brian wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 7:26 pmThis might literally be the kindest thing you’ve posted towards me and it’s appreciated.

viewtopic.php?p=55113#p55113

Posted: **Fri Jul 28, 2023 8:47 pm**

I approve of that post

Posted: **Fri Jul 28, 2023 8:59 pm**

Haha. Well both were/are appreciated. Ironically and unfortunately the brain surgery left me with mental health issues but the cure was probably still better than the disease.

Posted: **Sat Jul 29, 2023 9:28 am**

Good luck brian. I'm very interested to hear how it goes. I'd never do it, but I share the same sentiments as you.

Posted: **Sat Jul 29, 2023 11:25 am**

One of the biggest trucking companies, perennial dog Yellow Freight, is expected to declare bankruptcy on Monday, so that means more business for everybody else, and might bode well for you.

Posted: **Sun Jul 30, 2023 12:46 pm**

brian wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:33 pm Seemed too indulgent to start a new thread and too hilarious to deny the existence of this one so I have to report that starting next week I’m going to truck driving school to get my CDL A license and start a new career as an OTR trucker. (Think Lincoln Hawk minus the arm wrestling and snot-nosed brat of a kid.)

I’m fucking done with office life. I have no significant other or kids, I love to drive and I hate other people. So this is hopefully the perfect job. Wish me well.

I've always secretly dreamed of long haul trucking, then when satellite radio came out, I was jealous of truckers. Driving around listening to Howard Stern, comedy shows and music all day seemed pretty fucking great, if it wasn't for the wife and kids. Good luck!

Posted: **Sun Jul 30, 2023 5:47 pm**

Isn't this supposed to be one of the big industries hammered by robo driving?

and listen to this...sounds like you can end up like Tennesse Ernie Ford (Owe Your Soul to the Company Store).

Posted: **Sun Jul 30, 2023 6:00 pm**

wlu_lax6 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 30, 2023 5:47 pm Isn't this supposed to be one of the big industries hammered by robo driving?

Eventually but probably not in enough time to fuck me.

Posted: **Sun Jul 30, 2023 6:04 pm**

It’s doubtful there will be a critical mass of self-driving passenger vehicles by 2030. By the time I’m hopefully ready to retire around 2035 or so I don’t think the government will have signed off on self-driving 30-ton trucks on any kind of mass scale.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2023 11:42 am**

brian wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:33 pm Seemed too indulgent to start a new thread and too hilarious to deny the existence of this one so I have to report that starting next week I’m going to truck driving school to get my CDL A license and start a new career as an OTR trucker. (Think Lincoln Hawk minus the arm wrestling and snot-nosed brat of a kid.)

I’m fucking done with office life. I have no significant other or kids, I love to drive and I hate other people. So this is hopefully the perfect job. Wish me well.

Holy shit. I just saw the post on FB and came here looking for more deets. That's an amazing leap, Brian. Ballsy. I hope it works out.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:32 pm**

Shirley wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 11:42 am
brian wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:33 pm Seemed too indulgent to start a new thread and too hilarious to deny the existence of this one so I have to report that starting next week I’m going to truck driving school to get my CDL A license and start a new career as an OTR trucker. (Think Lincoln Hawk minus the arm wrestling and snot-nosed brat of a kid.)

I’m fucking done with office life. I have no significant other or kids, I love to drive and I hate other people. So this is hopefully the perfect job. Wish me well.
Holy shit. I just saw the post on FB and came here looking for more deets. That's an amazing leap, Brian. Ballsy. I hope it works out.

And since you said you aren’t getting a chimp, you have to get a German shepherd to ride shotgun.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:38 pm**

If all goes well might actually get a doggo after a couple years. Would be nice to have some company that doesn’t talk.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:40 pm**

brian wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:38 pm If all goes well might actually get a doggo after a couple years. Would be nice to have some company that doesn’t talk.

Hey, you can always duct tape the drifters' mouths.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:45 pm**

A_B wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:40 pm
brian wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:38 pm If all goes well might actually get a doggo after a couple years. Would be nice to have some company that doesn’t talk.
Hey, you can always duct tape the drifters' mouths.

Then Brian has no use for him.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:50 pm**

The Sybian wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:45 pm
A_B wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:40 pm
brian wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:38 pm If all goes well might actually get a doggo after a couple years. Would be nice to have some company that doesn’t talk.
Hey, you can always duct tape the drifters' mouths.
Then Brian has no use for him.

I'm talking during the refractory period, of course.

Posted: **Fri Aug 04, 2023 1:55 pm**

I’m thinking a basset hound, like Jerry Reed’s truck driving character had in Smokey and the Bandit.

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2023 7:30 am**

brian wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:33 pm Seemed too indulgent to start a new thread and too hilarious to deny the existence of this one so I have to report that starting next week I’m going to truck driving school to get my CDL A license and start a new career as an OTR trucker. (Think Lincoln Hawk minus the arm wrestling and snot-nosed brat of a kid.)

I’m fucking done with office life. I have no significant other or kids, I love to drive and I hate other people. So this is hopefully the perfect job. Wish me well.

Brian, good luck with this. I'd love to hear how this works for you because frankly, I'm considering doing the same thing. I quit my office job more than two years ago and have been working seasonal jobs since. I also started a home inspection business, but it's going nowhere. I entered that industry at one of the worst times possible, and I'm quickly learning I'm just not cut out to run a business. I make a much better employee than employer.

There's still a chance I could get a full-time job from one of my seasonal jobs, but I can't continue to wait for something to open up. Getting a CDL at least gives me additional full-time job options. I don't think I want to do OTR driving, but there seems to be plenty of trucking jobs around here that are local or regional routes where you're home every day.

Anyway, best of luck with the new career, and I look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2023 11:36 am**

Sabo wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 7:30 am
brian wrote: ↑Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:33 pm Seemed too indulgent to start a new thread and too hilarious to deny the existence of this one so I have to report that starting next week I’m going to truck driving school to get my CDL A license and start a new career as an OTR trucker. (Think Lincoln Hawk minus the arm wrestling and snot-nosed brat of a kid.)

I’m fucking done with office life. I have no significant other or kids, I love to drive and I hate other people. So this is hopefully the perfect job. Wish me well.
Brian, good luck with this. I'd love to hear how this works for you because frankly, I'm considering doing the same thing. I quit my office job more than two years ago and have been working seasonal jobs since. I also started a home inspection business, but it's going nowhere. I entered that industry at one of the worst times possible, and I'm quickly learning I'm just not cut out to run a business. I make a much better employee than employer.

There's still a chance I could get a full-time job from one of my seasonal jobs, but I can't continue to wait for something to open up. Getting a CDL at least gives me additional full-time job options. I don't think I want to do OTR driving, but there seems to be plenty of trucking jobs around here that are local or regional routes where you're home every day.

Anyway, best of luck with the new career, and I look forward to hearing how it goes for you.

Yeah will definitely let you know. My understanding is same as you - there are a lot more local and regional jobs for new drivers than there has been historically but I’m going OTR to start bc that’s where the moneys at.

Posted: **Sat Aug 05, 2023 5:42 pm**

This would be an interesting truck driving job.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:04 pm**

Just covered how to spot human trafficking in class and that might be a more profitable career.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:08 pm**

brian wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:04 pm Just covered how to spot human trafficking in class and that might be a more profitable career.

I still have some contacts at Customs if you need help border crossing.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:20 pm**

brian wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:04 pm Just covered how to spot human trafficking in class and that might be a more profitable career.

As discussed in my favorite trucker song ever, Willin’, by Little Feat:

… I smuggled some smokes and folks from Mexico,
Baked by the sun every time I go to Mexico
And I'm still...movin’…
I've been from Tucson to Tucumcari
Tehachapi to Tonopah
Driven every kind of rig that's ever been made
Driven the back roads so I wouldn't get weighed
And if you give me… weed, whites, and wine,
And you show me a sign,
I'll be willin', to be movin'…

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:24 pm**

I'll see that and raise you El Coyote by Guy clark

"He steps out of the shadows, he won't look in my eyes
His hand's out to take all I've got.
He says that he's smuggled a thousand good men
And he says that he's never been caught.
So with seventeen other, braceros like cattle
Packed in for that long final ride.
In the semi-truck crossing the border it's dark,
And it's hot as an oven inside.
Coyote, coyote, qué hiciste cabron?
Coyote, man what have you done?
You took all our money and left us to die
In the heat of the South Texas sun."

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:30 pm**

What a sad song. (btw, for those of you who don’t know, “qué hiciste cabrón?” means “what have you done, you bastard?”)

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 2:51 pm**

Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight
And make sure that all her dreams are sweet
Said now, would ya guide her on the roads
And make them softer for her feet
Hey Lord, would ya look out for her tonight
And make sure that she's gonna be alright
Until she's home and here with me

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 3:21 pm**

I don't know how I missed this, even as you were describing your classmate Abcdef. Good luck, man. It takes balls of steel to make a career change like this, and I'm hoping it goes well for you.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 6:44 pm**

Can you let me know when you take the course on passing a fellow 18-wheeler going 68 mph by going 68.1 mph? Curious to hear the logic behind this oft-used maneuver.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:10 pm**

Giff wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 6:44 pm Can you let me know when you take the course on passing a fellow 18-wheeler going 68 mph by going 68.1 mph? Curious to hear the logic behind this oft-used maneuver.

Yeah that shit is annoying and I’m not gonna be that guy though in tepid defense the federal (and company) speed regulators are more to blame than anything. But the truck being passed should slow down a little instead of being a dick.

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:33 pm**

Giff wrote: ↑Thu Aug 10, 2023 6:44 pm Can you let me know when you take the course on passing a fellow 18-wheeler going 68 mph by going 68.1 mph? Curious to hear the logic behind this oft-used maneuver.

Isn't this why Texas has 14-lane highways everywhere?

Posted: **Thu Aug 10, 2023 8:35 pm**

Good luck. Hope you find your calling.

Posted: **Mon Aug 14, 2023 3:16 pm**

I passed the THC home test I got from Amazon so going to go ahead with the urine test on Friday. Then going to take a home hair test (though you have to mail to a lab) at end of Sept and see where I stand there.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:26 pm**

This is some humbling ass shit. Not as easy as it appears. But good to get a wake-up call early.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:37 pm**

BeckyHammon’s hoodie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:26 pm This is some humbling ass shit. Not as easy as it appears. But good to get a wake-up call early.

Is the dream over?

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:45 pm**

Always assumed that putting chains on during the middle of a blizzard would be the worst part but I'm sure there's gotta be other stuff.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:47 pm**

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:45 pm Always assumed that putting chains on during the middle of a blizzard would be the worst part but I'm sure there's gotta be other stuff.

I’d think keeping stocked on amphetamines in new towns would be the hardest part.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 3:05 pm**

P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:45 pm Always assumed that putting chains on during the middle of a blizzard would be the worst part but I'm sure there's gotta be other stuff.

Backing a 45’ trailer into a loading dock can’t be easy. Or any backing up while hooked to two 25 footers.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:19 pm**

sancarlos wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 3:05 pm
P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:45 pm Always assumed that putting chains on during the middle of a blizzard would be the worst part but I'm sure there's gotta be other stuff.
Backing a 45’ trailer into a loading dock can’t be easy. Or any backing up while hooked to two 25 footers.

Honestly most of the training you get in these schools is different backing maneuvers and they are hard as fuck. Even backing in a straight line with a 53-foot trailer is not as easy as you’d think.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:33 pm**

BeckyHammon’s hoodie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:19 pmHonestly most of the training you get in these schools is different backing maneuvers and they are hard as fuck. Even backing in a straight line with a 53-foot trailer is not as easy as you’d think.

And I don't think it'd be easy at all.

But you can do this, Brian. We're all living this vicariously through you.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:42 pm**

BeckyHammon’s hoodie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:19 pm
sancarlos wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 3:05 pm
P.D.X. wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 2:45 pm Always assumed that putting chains on during the middle of a blizzard would be the worst part but I'm sure there's gotta be other stuff.
Backing a 45’ trailer into a loading dock can’t be easy. Or any backing up while hooked to two 25 footers.
Honestly most of the training you get in these schools is different backing maneuvers and they are hard as fuck. Even backing in a straight line with a 53-foot trailer is not as easy as you’d think.

Actually, I'd think was really difficult. I'm shocked at how easy truckers make it look.

Posted: **Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:43 pm**

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:33 pm
BeckyHammon’s hoodie wrote: ↑Mon Aug 21, 2023 4:19 pmHonestly most of the training you get in these schools is different backing maneuvers and they are hard as fuck. Even backing in a straight line with a 53-foot trailer is not as easy as you’d think.
And I don't think it'd be easy at all.

But you can do this, Brian. We're all living this vicariously through you.

This is true on all accounts. I saw a Tweet about Ohio U transporting their gear to San Diego for a game this weekend and thought "wonder if CMU employees these truck drivers or if they hire outside companies?"

The Swamp

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