Truck Drivin' Journal

How I Came To Drive A Truck

As you may know, many of my computer training clients were headquartered in the World Trade Center, or had important offices there. Many more were New York based. All were affected by the events of 9/11/2001.

While the economy had been suffering before then (and, of course, now we know why), 9/11 destroyed, permanently, my career as corporate trainer. Companies that hire trainers have been staggering; the business I received—two one-week classes since last September, and a small amount of odd jobs—were not enough to pay the rent and utilities. Hundreds of resumes sent to likely companies didn't do the trick. I was unable to rate even a reply from most. Follow-ups on my part revealed that the companies were accepting resumes "just in case" but were, in fact, not hiring.

So, months late, perhaps, I decided to do the sensible thing and consider a career change.

When I was employed as a corporate trainer, I flew to strange cities—sometimes in foreign countries—,usually rented a car and had to find my hotel and the location of the training facility, usually in the dark, tired from my flight, and without benefit of a GPS system (not yet available to drivers). This was actually pretty stressful. And, as I was driving to the hotel, I would sometimes pass big rigs and look up at the drivers and think, "Now, there's a stress-free job!"

So I got on the Internet, found a trucking company that provided free training in exchange for a one-year committment, grit my teeth, and decided to become a trucker.

This is the true story of how that year went.

Training Days

By: Paul S. Cilwa			Page Views: 1788
Last week I couldn't spell 'trucker'. Now I are one.

On Monday, July 22, I began eleven days of truck drivin' training for Schneider National in Fontana, CA, after which I received two weeks' on-the-road training. Assuming I could pass my truck drivin' test (I'd already taken and passed the written tests), I would then be on the road as a long-haul truck driver.

Read more…

An Innocent Abroad

By: Paul S. Cilwa			Page Views: 1695
Life on the road is a unique experience, which, like revenge, is a dish best served cold.

And, just like that…I was a truck driver.

Read more…

Roads More Traveled

By: Paul S. Cilwa			Page Views: 104
As my experience with trucking expanded, so did my disillusionment.

So, in theory, I was now a seasoned trucker. Certainly there wasn't much I hadn't seen, included the promised miles per month, or an improved truck, or enough money to actually live on. But I was committed to keeping my promise to drive for them for rest of my year, and I intended to keep my promise even if Schneider seemed reluctant to keep theirs.

Read more…

Travels With Lloyd

By: Paul S. Cilwa			Page Views: 104
My first passenger was a challenged, and challenging, young man…who taught me a lot.

After I had worked for Schneider for six months, I was allowed to bring a passenger. Of course, I was hoping that would be Michael. However, Michael had gotten a job and wasn't eligible yet for vacation; so my first passenger was a friend of ours named Lloyd.

Read more…

Hunger Games

By: Paul S. Cilwa			Page Views: 104
As my experience with trucking expanded, so did my disillusionment.

As I started the new year, my experience as a trucker had certainly increased. Yet, most of the experience wasn't driving, which I did well; it was trying to wrestle with Schneider's very poor management of things like directions, loads, repairs… and my increased experience with that suggested it wasn't going to get any better.

Read more…

Links

By: Paul S. Cilwa	Updated: 9/12/2017		Page Views: 4148
Topics: #18-Wheeler #BigRigs #Schneider #TruckDriver #TruckDriving
A collection of links to Truck Drivin' and Road Safety sites.

Here are links to other sites that truckers, trucker-wannabes, and gay truckers might find of interest.

Read more…