Clearing things up

[DooWop]

Certainly didn't want to get anyone ticked off at my post. Just wanted to get some info. No, I don't see this as a paid vacation and I hope that I did not give that impression. Nor do I see this as part time work, while I see the country from the cab of a truck. I see this as a way to try and make a living for me and the missus before I collect Social Security (if its still around) and then taking a part time job as a greeter at Wal-Mart. Yes, I've been out of trucking for 15 years, and I'm sure it has changed a lot. I do remember sitting around the house and waiting for calls from LTL carriers that I worked for, and I do remember sitting for a couple of days in several different steel mills waiting on loads while the USW and management worked over each other. I quite vividly remember driving the old B-model Macks with quad boxes, the beat half to death feeling that came from the camel back springs, no air ride or power steering or air ride seats. So I guess the point I am trying to make is that I have some experience and don't look at this as a part-time job, paid vacation, sight seeing tour,Magic Carpet Ride. If that were the case I wouldn't have invested all this time into gathering info, going to truck shows, talking to O/O's etc. What I do see is a rather large outlay of cash for a truck at a time in life when many people are planning on kicking back, being away from home a lot on the threshhold of my "golden years" and taking a financial risk that may or may not pan out. This in addition to long hours, lousy food, public toilets, and the stress of running a small business. This begs the question "Why?" And the answer is "I don't know why." Maybe it's just a chance to have some control over my life, maybe just the challenge of expediting. And yes, I am that "some retired guy that would roll out of bed on a Saturday to take a run", because the habit of working 2 jobs for most of my life is a hard habit to break, and anyway since I got out of the Army decades ago I really don't sleep all that well. Snotty comments from some forum members aside,I do appreciate the information that I have learned from EOL. It is not my intention to get into a pissing contest, just to get the facts and then procede with a decision for or against expediting.

Regards

DooWop

 

[RichM]

DooWop excellent post and I clearly hear your comments.One of the things I have learned in my lifetime is to say "When I am wrong I say I am wrong" I did not mean to ofend you or the other hard working folks that know what work is. I think I meant the arm chair warmers that decided to give expediting a try. Anyway if I have offiended you please accept my apologies.

 

[teacel]

Hi DooWop

Where in you post or what in your post gave you that idea?

You have to remember where you are. This is an informational forum. Well for most of us it is! I will only speak for me in this reply. When addressing a thread I reply to the thread of that person. Your post had many different opinions. Some relevant and some irrelevant. If you noticed the way the numbering went in the thread then you can follow who was talking to who. I will dido everything Rich said in his reply to this thread. Just like Rich said about the armchair warmers and the people that think expediting is a paid vacation, THEY know who they are. Then too! they really can’t be faulted. I point the finger at some of the recruiters and the companies themselves for hiring those that only want to pick and choose what time of day to run, what time of year to run, and so on -& on. I think you understand! LOL

 

[ATeam]

I'm a bit confused by the "paid vacation" talk in this thread. If driving team 1 makes X number of runs, earns X amount of money, and takes say 120 days off each year; and if driving team 2 does the exact same thing, does it really matter if driving team 1 calls it "work" and driving team 2 calls it "paid vacation?" Are not both teams worthy of respect in the expediting community?

 

[zingfu25]

Very well said ATEAM!!! Each has their opinion. My wife and I feel we are paid tourists. We get paid to go to places where most people spend thousands of dollars to go to....Vegas, Grand Canyon, Lake Tahoe, The Badlands, so on and so forth. In my opinion, and mine only, people that look at it like its work, need to have more fun.

 

[louixo]

I´ll chime in on this. I think trucking is fun. I like the work and the lifestyle. I like to drive. I like trucks. It´s not fun 24/7 all the time, but what job is? I think it´s working, and being able to vacation without having to pay to get there. That is to say, when I´m in some place interesting, I take time off, whereas the tourist has to get there. I get paid to get there.I like the time management aspect of trucking also. If I want to take a week off, I can, and I don´t have to ask, or take a leave of absence. I don´t think I could ever do a job, just for the money, unless I needed to get the money to go to the next step, which I have done in my life. And in that case as soon as the money is in hand, it´s goodbye. Trucking is not for everybody. If you´re going to do it as a vocation, I would hope that you like it. It doesn´t matter what people call it, or how they describe it. What matters, is do they like thier job, and are they getting what they want out of it? Working at something you dislike, will only bring you down. Do what you gotta do, and don´t worry about what people say on this forum.And if you don´t think trucking is for you, for your own well being, find something that is for you.