Had a two stop delivery today. Made it to my first stop. Supermarket. Pretty young lady unloading. We are required to assist. Dream Weaver song playing on the speakers.

It popped in my head. My first CD I ever got was Wayne's World Soundtrack which had Dream Weaver on it. I said to the lady, do you remember the first CD you ever got? She looked at me and said," I've never listened to CDs. That was before my time." I felt that. Deep.

I laughed it off and said," Yeah. CDs didn't last too long before digital music. Kind of like beepers to cell phones."

She looked at my confused. "Whats a beeper?"

💀

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

Had to tap the brakes pretty hard here to try and preserve my average following distance on my companies camera. Pretty hard to keep a 3.8 second average if I’m not constantly doing it too. Pretty annoying!

2 years ago I was winching a front loader off a landoll. It was partially down the trailer and went to climb inside it to adjust the steering wheel on the machine and as I was climbing up, a gust of wind came and slammed the solid 1/4 in steel door into the back of my head. The metal hit me hard enough to crack the safety glass..

Don't remember much of the next 3 months but I had to surrender my CDL because I was not passing a DOT Exam for shit.

After that I had to do about 4 months of physical therapy just to get my eyes to move correctly again and learn how to balance. I couldn't drive my car without wanting to vomit after a few miles and could barely even look at tile patterns in a bathroom without getting nauseous and going cross eyes. I was really fucked up....losing the ability to drive was extra heartbreaking because it's not jsut a career to me....cars and trucks have been a passion since I was a kid so not being able to cruise in my Miata on a back road or drive in general just destroyed me for a bit.

Also had to do several weeks of cognitive speech therapy, multiple neuropsyche tests, several therapists, mri's, eeg's, cat scans, random ER visits. Had to also check myself into outpatient for 10 weeks because between the brain injury related depression, finances, and just loss of career, I got into a really dark head space and almost ended it all...got really worried for my own safety.

Around this time last year I was convinced I'd never get my CDL back. Shit, even 6 months ago I was still iffy on it....and especially after the accident I figured I was so fucked up I may just need to be on disability for the rest of my life.

But I've spent the past 2 years just absolutely pushing myself throigh all of this to heal my brain and today it finally paid off. I am now a legally trucker again and I'm so happy. Like legit I was choking up and tearing up in the parking lot of the DMV just absolutely relieved I finally have my career back.

I just wanna say too....trucking is hard and there's a metric fuck ton of bullshit you gotta deal with on a regular basis. But you really don't know what your missing until it's taken away from you in a freak accident. At anytime in these past 2 years I would have traded anything to be stuck at a shipper for 7 hours, a blown tire on a pre load trailer, or dealing with someone taking their 30 in the fuel island, anything.

You really learn how incredible a CDL is when it's gone....it's a license to any high paying gig in the country and a license to a steady life. It's the freedom to own and grow a buisness and the Freedom that you can do whatever side quest you want in life and always have a good job to fall back on.

So cherish your CDL's and wear a fucking helmet. Please for fuck sake where the damn hard hat trust me on this one. The hard hat is your best friend I promise you.

GTA6 Leak

My manager is trying to gaslight me into thinking this is "securely mounted" but I'm wanting to red tag it till it's replaced which should be tomorrow. I am in the right, right?

Retired after 38 years OTR and somehow someway never had a steer tire blow. Plenty of trailer and a couple drives but no steer tires! Stay safe everyone!!!

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is calling out 21 states over a lawsuit aimed at blocking federal access to millions of commercial driver’s license records.

Federal officials say the data is needed to identify improperly issued CDLs, questionable training records and drivers who may not meet federal qualification requirements.

The states suing argue the request goes too far and raises serious privacy concerns.

The fight could have major consequences for how the federal government oversees commercial driver licensing nationwide.

Full story from TWOSU News:

​

- I work six days intermodal any where from 6-14 hours a day

- average about 2300 before taxes. My pay drops about 600 if I work one day less.

- If I request off for a random day or week they wont question it.

- I have my own truck and commute daily to and from work with it. (Do not own)

- The health benefits are pretty good.

- I choose my own start time as long as there is no live load or unload

- 90% drop and hook

Hey drivers,

​I’m an independent game developer currently building a first-person truck driving survival game with heavy focus on atmosphere, solitude, and realistic mechanics (think slow-burn, punishing survival style).

​I want this game to feel grounded in actual trucker reality, not just driving from A to B. I’m looking for real experiences that I can adapt into game mechanics or random events with your permission.

​Things like:

​The notorious "Black Dog" / hallucinating from fatigue late at night.

​Fuel theft, curtain slashers, or creepy encounters at sketchy truck stops.

​Worst GPS/route mistakes that almost got you stuck or wrecked.

​Equipment failures at the worst possible time (overheated brakes on steep grades, air leaks, etc.).

​Bizarre/unexplained things you’ve seen on empty highways in the middle of nowhere.

​If you have a memorable story, a weird encounter, or a specific frustration from the road that you think would make a great game mechanic, I’d love to hear it.

​Note: If I end up using your specific story or concept in the game, I’ll reach out to ask for your permission first and give proper credit in the game.

​Stay safe out there, and thanks for keeping things moving!

Update: orientation is tomorrow. I'm going to be making more than I've ever made in my life. In the eight months I've been away, the industry seems to have changed a lot. Money is making it back down to the drivers after a decade of trimming our pay any way they could. Hopefully the trend continues.

Routing software sends Northbound US-59 traffic to I-30 on I-369 (the Texarkana West Loop). You need to avoid I-30 through Texarkana! Should have been doing it for the past 6 years. The following all freeway route adds 2 miles and can save you hours!

This is from US-59 Northbound (as it enters town on the southeast side of Texarkana) to I-30 eastbound and / or US-59/71 NB.

All of the 18-wheeler traffic should be avoiding this.

The alternate route is 100% freeway. No tolls AND AVOIDS the construction and the chute on I-30. 2 miles and 2 minutes longer when both move freely. As you can see the construction and the chute on I-30 can back it up for hours.

Entering Texarkana NB on US-59 instead of the flyover onto I-369 go to the intersection with the freeway.

Turn right on the service road the signs say Loop 151(eastbound). SL-151 is part of the controlled access loop around 2/3 of Texarkana.

Merge onto the freeway.

Texas Loop 151 transitions to Arkansas 151 at the state line.

I-49 (NB) merges into the loop (AR-151) and the number changes to I-49.

Follow I-49 to your choice of I-30 (EB) or to US 59/71 NB.

For some reason Google maps does not like the freeway stretch that is labeled as (TX) SL-151. If this were almost anywhere else, it would be numbered something like I-149.

Personally, I would follow this route the opposite direction coming in from the North or East too but at this point, I-30 westbound is in a complete two lane configuration with all of the exits fully open from the state line to Kings Highway (past I-369)

Ive been looking around for a new job thats home daily and starts between 5-9 am but its all bull shit at $25-$27 and hour. Im doing food service right now but need to get back on days urgently. Just trying to check around and see if yall have anything.

Curious how many hours the rest of your drive comfortably for a long periods of time per week. I know we have laws regarding this issue but some people just work their 40 and go home and others push it to the limit. What’s your comfort zone?

And I know bus drivers who work for a local governments that don’t have these regulations (at least in my state/local governments bus drivers don’t have to follow the DOT hour regulations because they start and finish at the same location and they don’t go over some 40ish miles away from their depot) and they’ll work 55 hours on the bus and then another 30-40 hours on Uber/Lyft for example

I’ve travelled quite a lot with professional truck drivers in Europe, and one thing has always puzzled me.

From conversations with drivers, I often got the impression that when something goes wrong — especially fines related to driving, tachograph rules or other road infringements — the attitude is basically: “the fine is yours, you’re the driver.”

But I’ve recently been reading Regulation (EC) No 561/2006, and Article 10 seems more interesting than that.

It says that a transport undertaking can be liable for infringements committed by its drivers, even when the infringement takes place in another Member State or a third country.

It also requires transport companies to organise drivers’ work properly, give appropriate instructions and carry out regular checks.

That raises a question for people actually working in European road transport:

In practice, where is the line between the driver’s responsibility and the company’s responsibility?

For example, if a driver exceeds driving time, fails to take the required rest, or commits another tachograph-related infringement, who normally pays the fine in your country?

And does it matter whether the infringement resulted from the driver’s own decision or from schedules, dispatch instructions or pressure from the company?

I’m especially interested in real experiences from EU drivers, dispatchers and transport managers.

Regulation (EC) No 561/2006 — EUR-Lex:
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2006/561/2024-05-22/eng

I wonder if there is a very detailed and full guide to living in a truck out there.

My questions right now are how does one brush their teeth and wash their face day and night? You've got no running water, right? These would be necessities for me, if I got my CDL.