Well....
I haven't found a job yet. It seems that if I wanted to go back OTR I could be in a truck heading down the highway tomorrow but since I want to go local there are so many hurdles you have to jump through. I applied at a local woodchip hauling company on monday but was told I would here back from them in two weeks or so... So I'm about do some more sitting and waiting. I have 10 months experience, not a year. Local gigs don't like that due to insurance companies. So I've been sitting here riding snowmobiles, riding my bike, and hanging out with friends, something I didn't do when I was on the road. But everyday I sit here thinking about where I've been and what I'm missing. I'll be back out there one day, maybe 1 year from now or 20. I just hope that one day I make it back out there.
Chris
posted by Chris at 5:16 PM
3 Comments:
Chris,
Man alive I have really enjoyed your blog.
From the time I was a knee high to a grass hopper I wanted to drive a truck. I was infatuated with them and still am.
I want to add some anecdotes, perhaps help with your decision making.
About me,
In 1990, while going to college for a geology degree, I began running a service truck at a local oilfield construction outfit in Taft, California. 1988 Ford L9000 straight truck service rig, 2-axle, 235HP, 10-speed Road Ranger. Not a "real truck" but close.
In '93, growth within the company brought heavy equipment and thus the need for a bigger unit. In comes a used 3-axle 1988 Freightliner FLD set-back front axle, 680,000 OTR miles, new service bed though, Fuller 9-speed, Cummins 350. I lobbied and received permission to fix the rig up. Chromed the bumper, polished the aluminum visor, polished the front Alcoas, got Alcoas for the rears and had those polished; Kenwood stereo. The fuel tank came polished thankfully. It kills me that I don't have a real good photo of the truck now.
I had arrived with the FLD. I was in graduate school for geology by this time but I was on top of the world behind the wheel of that truck. Criss-crossing Kern County chasing equipment: fuel, grease, clean-out airfilters, air, change oil, add hyrdraulic, add gear oil, add antifreeze, change fuel filter, chat up the operator, on to the next one.
But I always wondered what it would be like to go over the road. I ran into a friend from high school who drove for J.B. Hunt. He had logged something over 120,000 miles in 12 months, or in that vicinity. I couldn't believe it.
I realized doing a job like that, being on the road all the time, away from friends and family, would be a wear. I had talked to a vacuum truck driver who had been on the road. He pronounced the OTR duty as "a slave to the wheel!": buying new jeans at the truckstops because he couldn't take the time to wash his "old" ones.
But you surely know all this already.
Undoubtedly you are more connected to the trucking industry and job leads than I am. But what crosses my mind is oilfield trucking. Specifically, rig moving. Have you considered this? It may involve relocating since it sounds like you're in WA or OR. Northern California is experiencing a boom in gas well drilling that I'm sure is stretching the service industry tight. Other day-job driving options could be LPG haulers, or gasoline delivery (refinery-to-station). The absolute best-looking rigs from my home area (Taft-Bakersfield) were the Beneto gasoline haulers. They were veritable jewels on the road.
I know within the sphere of "day jobs" for trucking there was plenty of opportunity in Bakersfield due to the many 'need-trucking' industries around there. Specifically oil and agriculture.
There's an outfit there called "T&T Trucking" who used to run offshore oilfield equipment from Bako to Ventura all the time. I thought that would be a great job: over the Ridge Route everyday (which sounds like cake compared to your Hwy 20, 30-mile 6% gig).
All of this blather just to give you some food for thought. Hope it helps!
Dan
7:44 AM
What happened to Gordon I thought you got hired back?
9:53 PM
Nice blog cool pics! Keep on truckin'!
11:45 AM
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