New here, so "Hey"...(exerpt from Andy Griffith Show)

[Lowbedder]

I'm a "reluctant" new addition here, so guess I'll chime in.
A little about me.

Unfortunately, been in and around all facets of the transport biz since getting a Class A (way B4 those CDL thingies) in 1978.
Tried vigorously to exit it several times, to no avail, so here is still is.
Sold my last big Pete in 2006, now I am proclaiming to be the "World's WORST Employee".
Tried to stay solely in excavation and-or construction, adopting an "anti-truck" mentally for several months in 2008. Worked as a foreman, heavy equipment operator, etc. in the field all last year, and found a couple of things out about myself during the transition;
I'm a "decent" operator, proficient on excavators, bulldozers and various equipment of all sizes. However, I don't seem to be able to take orders from idiotic people very well.
I don't like getting wet anymore, especially when it's unecessary.

I don't like being told what to do by 21 yr. olds with a fresh construction degree, most likely because I don't take orders from my 20 yr. old son, let alone a kid I don't know...
Soooooo, that pretty much sums up my explanation of how I have become the "World's WORST Employee."
Back in a truck, and it's where I think I should be. Although having the desire to be home and enjoy my normal lifestyle, given the region in which I live, it's almost impossible to make a decent wage unless I supplement it with jacking a deer, possum stew every Sunday, and some frozen moose steaks to take the pain outa going to the grocery store.
What's a guy to do that has been around the business for 31 years as a driver/operator/mechanic/salesman/engineer, has called the shots for 15 of them, and now is forced back into the jobplace working for about 30% less than he thinks he should be getting compensated?

Should I: A) Buy another truck and suffer out the next 20 yrs.
B) Keep searching for the "perfect job"?

C) Stop kidding myself, they don't exist...

This could very well be the Midlife Crisis I was warned about. However, I would tend to still think that someone out there either has, or knows of, a decent company to work for with nice people to deal with in command, nice equipment, and the proper pay scale for a man who still has about 20 more good years left in him before he ends up in a wheelchair drooling on himself, blinking once for YES and twice for NO, drinking through a crazy straw.

My interest still lies in heavy hauling, oversize/overdimentional loads with multi-axle lowbeds. Heavy equipment/ military equipment, etc. is my forte'.
Still willing to give 150%, self-motivated, business-oriented, owner-operator mentalitied individual seeks employment with a New England based, or regionally operated company that likes old-school values coupled with a little ambition and experience behind him.

Before I get banned for life from this forum for being what some might consider ohhhh, "neurotic" at the very least, let me just say thanks for reading, and great forum you have here.
P.S. Will lowbed for food. (And some frogskins, too.)

[Gonfercoffee]

check out the windmill thread

[racehorse]

you could just buy an inn like bob newhart.....and marry a girl like mary fran....do some maple syrupin....

[Lowbedder]

Originally Posted by racehorse

you could just buy an inn like bob newhart.....and marry a girl like mary fran....do some maple syrupin....

Hoss, if I could find a girl that looks like Mary Fran, I wouldn't care less about an inn or syrup...(That is, as long as she still looks like she did back when that show was on...)

[Cerberus_Kelpie]

Yo TRUCKOLOGIST,
You ain't a gonna get banned for stating your interests any more than you would get banned for arguing with gonfercoffee. (scroll through the pages in this forum [probably pages 5-8] for "Don't work for a company that sends you a bus ticket, parts 1 and 2, for some laughs).

Have you considered being a Driver Manager, Dispatcher, Operations Manager or Safety Manager in your professional fields of expertise?
Then again maybe the headaches in those areas are worse than just being a Professional behind a decent and reliable steering mechanism.

Anyways WELCOME TO TRUCKINGBOARDS!!

[Lowbedder]

Believe me Kelpie, all those positions have crossed my mind at one point or another. Only thing that prevents that type of radical change in occupational activites is...I'm a bit eccentric (but not to the point I'm psychotic,) a bit excessive-compulsive (but not to the point of needing a full hockey helmet...yet,) and a bit ignorant if I may elaborate on myself. That said, I've reached the conclusion in the very recent past that I am much better off talking to MYSELF sometimes, rather than stupid people around me. It runs in my family genepool, the inability to tolerate incompetence at any level, and the older I get, the less of a threshold I have.

I envy people in HR positions, for example, who have to deal with problems that were 100% error on the individuals part, but have to sit and listen to every excuse as to why it ain't their fault. I prefer to lock & load.............wish I had more compassion for slipknots sometimes though.

In addition, I have a plethera of stored up personal habits in terms of my work life, pertaining to doing things in my excessive-compulsive manner. I go around shutting cabinet doors, I straighten out unevenly squeezed toothpaste tubes by flattening and re-rolling the remaining product up towards the opening and replacing the cap, instead of using the dried up paste as the cap. My spoon that I stir my coffee with, huh, you aughta see what I do with that every morning...I,I,I...
So,... using all of your wildest, creative imagination that you could muster up at this moment...picture working around a freakazoid such as that all day in an enclosed environment.

To prevent any unkind acts to innocent human beings within my surroundings, I have reached the conclusion as I said, that a "decent and reliable steering mechanism" is probably the place I am most suited for at this stage in life. I dunno if good 'ol fashioned time will soften my tempered character as time passes, or if I'm getting harder. Either way, I am destined to always be self employed, in what capacity, that still remains a mystery.

Trucks, trucking business, it's all been bittersweet to me, speaking for myself, not for anyone else. Some love it and won't think of anything else to do, others like me spend every waken hour trying to develop a way to exit it. I for one hope to somehow, some way, get as far away from this business as the East is from the West one day. Again, that's just me...and it ain't easy being me...after 3 decades in something I watch get worse by the day, I can't really honestly say I want to keep on plugging at it, because it hasn't done much for me personally.

I try getting out and going back into excavation, construction, where I can use my skills, background, knowledge, but again, I run into those slipknots on the jobsites, and here I am, back hanging onto a decent, reliable steering mechanism again.

I liken it to a disease. "PsychoTruckitisWithoutis"...It always feels like the flu. Some days you feel great, other days you are ready to projectile-vomit. Good news is, you can only vomit on YOURSELF, (unless it's a team thing,) and as long as nobody sees it, it's all good.

Hope I was clear enough on all that. If not, I can elaborate more if you'd like.

Anyways, enough jibberish about all that. Bottom line; I made some mistakes as a kid, been paying for it for 30 years...

Thanks for the warm welcome too. I'll bet you wish you kept a lot lower profile now after all that spewing, eh Kelpie?