Are There Any Truckers on Here?

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DRAGON64

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Just curious, but are there any professional drivers on this forum? LTL? OTR? Expediter? etc etc etc

As our youngest is starting here senior year of high school, and soon ending it with a start in college, my wife and I will be looking at hitting the road. One of those promises we made to ourselves for when our kids are grown and out. Growing up in the 70's, when truck'n was cool, we decided long ago that we wanted to hit the road and drive. I have past driving experience through a couple LTL companies, and I have been driving for my kids high school band for the last 8-years, and will soon be starting my 9th and final. My wife used an inheritance her mother and father left her, to get her own CDL, so we are slowly but surely inching to that dream of ours.

Although we always thought we would go with tractor trailer and OTR, we have since had a change of heart, and are now considering Expediting. We attended the Expedite Expo last month in Kentucky, and have pretty much decided we would take up a new career in Expediting.

Truckers are a unique breed, and truck'n is a unique way of life, do any of you share in this awesome occupation?
 
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Former LTL and Construction driver here, now I am a Teamster working on a Dept of Energy cleanup site. Did a little OTR over the years mainly running tankers of stuff so nasty that without respiratory protection the vapors make you turn green and die.
 
Your not alone...

Fourteen years experience hauling Flatbeds, mostly OTR for a small company out of Southern Indiana. Earned my first One Million Mile Safe Driver award there...
Fifteen years experience hauling Doubles (mostly Night Line Haul) for the second largest LTL Carrier in the USA. Earned my second One Million Mile Safe Driver award last Sept. there.

7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 18, 20 Speed, Duplex, (now driving a 12 Speed Auto)...Have driven them all. :eek:
I often tell people if i don't recognize the name of your town, i've probably driven within 50 miles of it. ;)
My greatest trick is being able to back a set of Doubles into a dock door.

You out to see the looks on peoples faces when you do that next to a someone with a Road Tractor and, a 53 foot Van.-:surprised:

I tell them the truth- " I was born Dyslexic and, can't even do simple math without a calculator but, you put a vehicle with 3 pivot points each going opposite directions in my hands and, it just comes naturally..."

If he hasn't chimed in while i've been typing this- jimzcatz is also a Professional Trucker (and, a good friend) here. Good Luck with your endeavor!
 
Yep, been driving since 1980, currently 19 years with Premier Transportation. If you are OTR, it's a rough life. But at least I am home 2 days a week. Biggest perk I have with Premier Transportation, they give me weekends off to hit out of State launches. MWP and Thunderstruck. Yep minions, I get paid to go to a rocket launch.!
 
I drove for ten years. Van, flatbed, reefer. Mostly OTR. Had a few local jobs. I did prefer the coast to coast trips though. It was fun while it lasted, but like so many other things now, the government wants to control the industry too much. I know I was pretty close to that million mile mark, may have even passed it. I miss it some days, but I'm thankful to have moved on to another profession. Best of luck to you both!
 
Yep, been driving since 1980, currently 19 years with Premier Transportation. If you are OTR, it's a rough life. But at least I am home 2 days a week. Biggest perk I have with Premier Transportation, they give me weekends off to hit out of State launches. MWP and Thunderstruck. Yep minions, I get paid to go to a rocket launch.!

And after driving his tail off just to get to go and enjoy a great launch like MWP
Jim C volunteers the whole weekend RSOing for everybody.......
Doesn't get to put up a flight for himself the whole weekend.....
Then the next time I see him he's mentoring a group of young people
that wanted to put up a very large ( massive ) rocket so he was the flyer of record and
devoted another entire launch to helping these young men out....
So,,, of course,,, to show their appreciation they tried to blow him up,,, lol.....

They just don't get very much more selfless then Jim C..........

Thank you man.....

Teddy
 
And after driving his tail off just to get to go and enjoy a great launch like MWP
Jim C volunteers the whole weekend RSOing for everybody.......
Doesn't get to put up a flight for himself the whole weekend.....
Then the next time I see him he's mentoring a group of young people
that wanted to put up a very large ( massive ) rocket so he was the flyer of record and
devoted another entire launch to helping these young men out....
So,,, of course,,, to show their appreciation they tried to blow him up,,, lol.....

They just don't get very much more selfless then Jim C..........

Thank you man.....

Teddy
We didn't TRY to blow him up.... (yet) ;)
 
I'd like to use this opportunity to exercise my 5th Amendment rights.
 
Ground test... both the one at the flight line and the one on the pad. :)
 
Yep, been driving since 1980, currently 19 years with Premier Transportation. If you are OTR, it's a rough life. But at least I am home 2 days a week. Biggest perk I have with Premier Transportation, they give me weekends off to hit out of State launches. MWP and Thunderstruck. Yep minions, I get paid to go to a rocket launch.!

So you're the guy with the big truck. Cool. Kurt
 
Hey , I have a foldable bunk bed. I drop it and bring my 7.5" rocket plus various and sundry other needed rocketry goodies.
 
I have a CDL B, with passenger and air brake. I drive a 54 passenger motor coach full time, mostly over the Eastern US for a charter and tour company.
 
I have never been able to back a set of doubles in any fashion except straight... of course I hard to start off straight. But I could sure pull them. I ran a number of local routes for about 4-years, before switching over to line haul. The LTL business was back breaking, it was a good thing I was young back then. Now all I run is the local high school band, and I love it! I have been pulling for them going on 9-years now.

20141026_122439.jpg 20150828_132123.jpg 20141026_122853.jpg
 
Wow,,
I've never seen a box that big / long
with a single axle in the back...lol...

I saw Jim's tractor last year at MWP,,
Just about new Freightliner,,,
Smokin beautiful...

Teddy
 
Yep, this is an old Dorsey furniture van that we rescued from a post office in North Carolina. They were using it as a new and used tire storgae box. We (as a booster org) are looking purchasing our own truck this season, as we are facing uncertain renting woes... A local Coca Cola company is selling a fleet maintained beverage truck; it is a single axle Pete, with a 6-speed Eaton transmission. Although the truck is 13 years old, it only has 172,000mi on it.

20160803_132348.jpg 20160803_131705.jpg

Even though it looks small, the truck is rated to 33,000lbs.
 
As a (retiring) band parent, just how big is your band? We typically haul a 20 ft. ramp door box trailer with a pick-up truck and that's enough for all the tubas, baritones, drums, tympani, xylophones, pianos, etc. for a 200 member band. What do you have in there?
 
283 students make up the band. And for whatever reason (I do not question the band directors art direction) we are using a lot of props this season. Props with software controlled LEDs etc.

Lets put it this way, there will be 15 marching tubas in the nose of the trailer...
 
Yup. That's big. For the most part, no one uses props around here. At least not big ones. We have eight tubas and that's usually more than almost all of the other high schools that we play.
 
Remember that not having driven for awhile you probably will have to start out over the road at a bottom feeder company, no sleep and low pay, it can take a few years to get on with a good company.
 
A little different in the expediting world. Although we will be fresh meat, teaming with my wife on the road is the end game. We have already had offers from a fleet owner, to drive one of his trucks, while working with a company called Panther. We are a year out, but we are networking to make sure we start out on the right foot.
 
Get me sum of dem Panther decals!

The Copycat logo...

panther_seville_ohio..jpg


Or the new logo...

23901827501_f21a997cf8_b.jpg
 
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