DJ Brian's Trucking Journal
Journal Entries Nov2002-Mar2003 Apr2003 May2003 June2003 July2003 August/Sept2003
October 2003 November2003 thru April2004 Current
Nov2002-Mar2003
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Why did I choose Trucking as a new career?- Several people have asked me that because its such a drastic change from what I was doing so I thought I would answer it here. Although I enjoy Dj'ing, my day job consisted of sitting at a desk in the same cubicle that I've been at for the past 6 years with a little window to look out of, operating a computer system at a fortune500 company. Recently, I got a new manager I cant stand and I decided I no longer wanted to work for this company. I came upon a crossroad in my life of deciding what to do career-wise. The thought of sitting at another desk at another company day in and day out discussing "corporate vision plans" was simply not appealing to me anymore. I wanted to see the country and I didn't want someone (ie...a manager) breathing down my neck. After some research and serious soul-searching, I decided on trucking since I love driving.
I don't know why it took me so long to get into driving for a career since I've always enjoyed driving. In the past, when I would have a day or two off from work, I would hop in my vehicle and take 1-2 day driving loops around the state, making up my route as I drove while thinking to myself "gee, I wish I could make a living doing this all day". For years, I've seen the advertisements on the back of trucks asking for drivers but felt I couldn't possible be a truck driver as I thought that was something you were basically born into and I wasn't from a trucking family plus I knew absolutely nothing about trucks and how to drive them. Fortunately, my "comfortable rut" day job was no longer "comfortable" so I set my mind to doing something I wanted to do...DRIVE AND SEE THE COUNTRY.
I didn't know where to start so I did some searching on the internet and found several sites (some listed above) and found the steps to becoming a truck driver. I checked about schools and found a couple in the Phoenix area. The one I picked is AIT which is PTDI certified. I checked out the school and found it to be one of the top driving schools. It has been in business since 1988 and is a licensed 3rd party CDL tester for the State of Arizona. The other schools seemed to be just "CDL mills." The price was $7130.00 but my only upfront "out of pocket" cost was $100 registration fee, the rest was covered by a federal student loan and the company I am going to will reimburse $5000.00 of tuition over a 4 year period (that's ok because I stay with a company longer than that anyway) so that leaves me with a $2130 loan I will have to pay, not bad for training into a new career. My first day of class began October 21, 2002. During the first 2 weeks, the school had me fill out job applications and I got "pre-hire" approval status from several trucking companies.
November 25,2002-This is my first entry and I am currently in my 6th week of training. I am taking a 24 week trucking training course that is scheduled Monday through Friday from 7pm to 11pm. The first 10 weeks consists of classroom education, followed by 8 weeks of road-and-range driving where I actually be behind the wheel of a semi truck. The classroom section of training consists of learning all the federal regulations of transporting goods, logbooks, equipment, etc. During my 8 weeks of road-and-range, I will test for my commercial drivers license (CDL) with hazardous material (HazMat), doubles and triples, and tanker endorsements.
January 4, 2003-Last night (Friday) was my last night of classroom training and starting Monday it will be all "behind-the-wheel" training at school for the next 8 weeks. I took my written tests at MVD today and passed all of them, so I now have a CDL permit with Doubles/Triples trailers, HazMat and tankers. Woohoo, what a relief. I arrived at the MVD around 12:30 today and finished my test at 2:45 and was totally drained from all that testing and being nervous...glad the written tests are done with. After this 8 weeks of Road-and-Range training at school, I will begin a 6 week externship with the trucking company I am pre-hired with. This will be my first cross-country trucking experience and will be with a one-on-one trainer. I can't wait.
January 9, 2003-Today was NOT a very good day for me. I don't start with my new trucking company until March 3rd and so I was going to continue working at my current job until that time. After working at my current job for over 6 years, I went in this morning and told my manager to "take this job and #%#". Its a long story but that's what made me decide to do a career change to begin with. I'm officially UNEMPLOYED at the moment and the next 7 weeks will be the longest time span I haven't worked since I was 16. It just may end up being a nice vacation after all. At trucking school, we have 4 students per truck and tonight we learned parallel parking. Unfortunately, for 2 nights in a row, I was the last student of the 4 to get to practice and the third time around we ran out of time, so the other 3 students have had more range time than me and I'm having problems with the parallel parking. I'm frustrated tonight so thank god I can fire up my sound and dance floor lighting system at home, drink beer (Don't drink and drive), and mix music all night long to get my mind off of things.
January 10, 2003-Tonight was much better, I went first on the practice range. Although I'm still having trouble with my parallel parking, it is getting better. I also learned the backwards serpentine tonight as well.
January 17, 2003-This week in training ended well. Thursday night I passed both my pre-trip inspection and range driving test. The pre-trip test involves inspecting the many parts of the tractor and trailer, engine, air brakes, etc inside and out for proper operation and safety. The range test involved straight line backing (or gay-ly backwards if you prefer..hehe), 45degree dock backing, parallel parking and backwards serpentine. I did very good on both tests especially considering 12 weeks ago I had never been in a truck or knew what under the hood was like. The instructors are very patient and helpful. I finally bought a CB radio too....now if I could only come up with a CB handle.
January 28, 2003-Last week and this week I am actually driving a truck on public roads ( with other trucks and cars even) except one night a week when we go back to the range to work on our backing skills. The first night on the road last week I was totally nervous but I'm starting to get used to it. I've been learning how to shift a Super10 transmission and "double clutch" which take a while to get the hang of it. Last Thursday we were back on the range and its surprising how easy straight line backing, 45, parallel parking and backwards serpentine is now. I was running through the range course perfectly. Heck, I may turn out to be a trucker after all.
January 31, 2003-Tonight, I got to drive for 1 1/2 hours and about 26 miles. That may not sound like a lot but we were driving in a 5 mile by 5 mile grid of roads and turning left or right at every 1/2 mile intersection. Most of the roads were two lanes, had very tight turns and in many places there were irrigation canals on both sides of the road with only a 24 inch dirt shoulder on either side so it was scary at times getting the trailer around the turns. The past couple of nights, we have been using a flat bed trailer with cement blocks totaling 30,000 pounds so we could get used to the weight. I did good and starting Monday we only have 4 more weeks of training before I start driving with my new company.
February 24, 2003-Its Monday and I'm in the last week of my training...gee, I thought this time would never come. At this time next week, I'll finally be trucking. I got all my paperwork set with my new company and they are setting me up with a motel for next week's orientation so I'll have to check in to my room this Sunday. An interesting thing is happening with a fellow classmate Paul in trucking school whom I'm somewhat attracted to but he is straight and married. We started the same time in October and we are the only two students left from our original starting class. Throughout the whole course, the the joke in class was how much Paul and I compete against each other for better grades which pleased the instructors since we were always trying our best and not goofing off. Anyway, years ago Paul used to work for a beer company and made deliveries to a gay bar I used to go to all the time called Nu-Towne Saloon although I don't think he knows I'm gay. Well, we've become really good friends and as we sat in the back seat of the truck tonight while another student was driving, he turn to me and said, "dude, I'm gonna miss you" and then 15 minutes later, the student who was driving did something dumb and Paul turn around, put his arms on me and buried his head on my shoulder to laugh. Hmmm..that was nice. I'm going to miss him too.
February 28, 2003-I DID IT!!!! I passed my road test and picked up my commercial drivers license and Arizona Motor Vehicle Division today. I was so excited so I went down there as soon as I woke up to get it. Of course, their computers were down for 2 hours....go figure. the lady said she didn't know how long it would be down and asked if I wanted to come back Monday. I said I've been waiting 4 months for this day so I'll wait...and waited...and waited. Finally, the computer came up and I had my picture taken and got my card...I ran out to my pickup...and it wouldn't start. I opened the hood and the battery cable clamp for the positive had totally corroded through. I'm out there trying to get my truck started and since I was at the Commercial License Division of DMV, everyone inside is probably thinking if I had done a pre-trip on my car this wouldn't have happened...or at least that's what I was thinking. At trucking school, Paul laughed and gave me some "real trucker magazines" as he put it for a going away present. It was something like Penthouse Letters, Big Boops, and other magazines like that. Everyone wanted me to open them, so I opened them while trying not to be grossed out. I saw page after page of women with big boops and their legs spread open. Hmmm...no wonder I'm gay.
March 1, 2003-I'm packing my stuff tonight. I check into the motel for orientation tomorrow.
March 4, 2003-Tonight is my second night at the motel and I finished orientation today. Tomorrow we just have a safety meeting in the morning and then we'll spend the rest of the day at the terminal practicing our backing. After tomorrow its just a matter of waiting for a trainer to pull in and then I'm on the road. My only problem so far was switching from being a total night person to a day person all in 24 hours...in other words, I didn't get any sleep Sunday night cuz I had to get up at 4:30am Monday morning and I'm usually just thinking about going to bed at that time. I went straight to bed after orientation yesterday. I'm currently sharing a room with another student from Tucson and we seem to get along really well although we seem to be total opposites. He talks nonstop and I don't talk at all...I guess it evens it out that way.
March 05-09, 2003-I'm finally on the road and driving now and enjoying every minute. Wednesday night, the student coordinator at the Phoenix terminal sent me and two other students in a rental car to the Fontana Terminal to wait for a trainer. Fontana is located just outside of Los Angeles. Thursday morning I was hooked up with a trainer and we picked up a load that was going to Dallas. I got to drive most of the way and it was pretty cool. A funny thing happened while I was driving on Interstate-20 yesterday (Saturday). I was driving and listening to the radio and all of a sudden it dawned on me. Here I was, driving a big rig down down I-20 in Texas listening to Johnny Cash (I really was listening to Johnny Cash). What a change from a few months ago and I was dj'ing in a nightclub spinning progressive house and Hi-N-R-G music. Well when I get my own truck, I'll be putting a cd player in it so I can play all my music though. Right now, its Sunday around noon and I'm sitting at the terminal in Dallas. Our truck is having some preventive maintenance done and so it'll be a few hours. My trainer is off with some other truckers watching some car race...just not my idea of excitement...although they probably think me sitting here typing on a computer all day isn't fun either.
March 15, 2003-I've had a very busy week. After sitting in Dallas last week, we got a load with a pickup in Houston and delivery in Denver. I have to say one thing here about my trainer though. He's a fat slob but at least we get along on the surface. He really gets on my nerves quite a bit and I keep saying to myself that its only temporary so I'm going to stick it out . God I cant wait till I get my own truck. After Dallas we got a load pick up in Houston for Denver. We arrive in Houston just as the rush hour is finishing up and I needed to take this highway to that highway, get off such and such exit to go to the highway after that and the whole time I'm trying to find exits, my trainer is sitting in the passenger seat pointing out all the "nudie tit bars". No matter where we go, he's always pointing out women he wants to $%&#^. Finally after a week of hearing him say this, I said "give it a break, you not going to get those women so why don't you shut up( I said it in nicer terms though). We did our load to Denver and then we got another load from Broomfield (just outside of Denver) going to San Angelo, Texas. After that drop off, we got another load from Odessa, TX to Portland, Oregon. So this brings me up to date since I havent had an internet connection for about a week. I'm sitting in the corner of the laundry room at the truck stop typing away with my laptop computer on my lap and washing my clothes. All in all, I'm am enjoying myself, its almost like being on vacation every day seeing the country...I hope its stays that way.
March 17, 2003-On our way to Portland, we are driving west Interstate 84
along the Columbia Gorge. It is absolutely breathtaking.
Here's a picture I took from one of the rest areas.
March 22, 2003-I'm in Indianapolis right now at the terminal just checking
up on my email. Earlier in the week, we dropped off a load in
Portland and picked another load headed for Chicago. On our way, we got
snowed in a truck stop in Wyoming.
Being a Arizona boy, it was actually a treat.
During the evening, the landscape was white and the sky was a frosty
blue and pink...very surreal. After about 14 hours, the
highway department re-opened up Interstate 80 and we finally made it to
Chicago last night. After unloading that load, we got another
load right away to Indianapolis which we dropped off around midnight
last night. At the consignee, I was having so much trouble
backing in the trailer and was getting pretty frustrated but finally
got it in there. I did a blind side backing perfectly earlier in
the day so that made up for it. I have to drive 210 hours with a
trainer before I get my own truck and I'm almost half way...woohoo..Im
with my trainer 24 hours a day 7 days a week and I really miss having
my own 'space'. Other than the frustration I get from sharing the
space of a truck with a 400 pound guy, I'm enjoying each day and it
seems like I'm on vacation every day. Tonight we pick up another load
and will be taking that to Ohio. Its a quick trip but the
delivery isnt due until Monday and so we'll have to sit for a
while. It'll give me time to catch up on my computer things.
March 25, 2003-Stress, what stress? I can't have a more relaxing day than today. I got unloaded early this morning and right now I'm just sitting under a large moss-covered sycamore tree in a small town in Florida listening to soft-rock magic104 radio station Its warm and sunny and the only thing missing is me sipping a tall glass of lemonade. I've been running about 6 days a week so today is very laid-back. The town kinda reminds me of Mayberry. I'm parked across from some small old houses and watching one kid mow the front lawn (he's been mowing that small patch of grass for an hour already, I would have thought he'd be done by now) and next door is an old man sitting in the shade of another sycamore tree just watching the day go by....hmmm, just like me. I'm waiting for a load right now but if I don't get it right away, that is fine.
March 27, 2003-MIAMI..THE .EVERGLADES..AND DANCE MUSIC...what a perfect combination. We picked up a load in Miami. I've always wanted to see Miami...but there is one thing I wish to note about Florida...you Florida people cant drive. Every 40 miles, I would see some car stuck in the mud in the middle of the median.. What were they thinking. Out in the middle of nowhere where there is no traffic, someone just drives into the median..call me clueless but what were they thinking. I saw this blond lady in her car, stuck in the mud up to the floorboard of her car in the median talking on her cell phone..apparently she probably won't realize what she has done until she hangs up that damn cell phone. Anyway, back to the Miami...after leaving Miami, we drove from the Atlantic coast to the Gulf coast via the Everglades Parkway. That was real exciting because I've always wanted to see the Everglades ever since I was a little boy. There is a 8 foot high chain link fence for the entire road to keep the alligators off the road and after a while I lost count how many alligators I saw. It was a treat to see live gators in the wild. Also while I was in Miami, I found their Dance Music radio station and I cranked it. Its been 4 weeks since I've been able to listen to dance music and I realized how much I miss it. God I love dance music and I cant wait to get my own truck ( only a couple more weeks) so I can have my cd music collection with me while I travel .
March 28, 2003-Today is a real somber day for me because I am driving through Kentucky. It is a beautiful state but this is where a good friend of mine is from and recently killed himself about 2 years ago. I thought about him every moment as I drove through the state. He was a fantastic guy and he will be remembered and deeply missed for as long as I live. As I drove, I remembered all the time we spent together and how he would many times talk to me using his Beavis and Butthead voices..he sounded just like them.
March 29, 2003-I am at the Omaha Terminal for about a day while we get some preventive maintenance done on the tractor. There's a really cute mechanic here..he kinda looks like a 22 year old Tom Cruise. I also saw a driver again that I previously saw at the Dallas terminal that I thought was really cute. I'm not sure if I mentioned him in my journal up above but he is worth mentioning at least once. Just so every knows what I'm driving, its a new Freightliner Classic XL and its pretty big. Its about the same size as a large Peterbilt and is a bitch to turn because of its length. The Omaha terminal is really nice. They have large driver lounges with pool tables and large screen tv's with about 30 LazyBoy chairs around it. There is also a large company store where you can buy almost anything with our company logo on it. There is also a game room, laundry, showers, weight room and hair salon although I probably wont need that since I recently bought electric hair clippers and shaved my head down to an 1/4 inch. I almost look like a skinhead now...well a 40 year old one. I am actually suprised at the increase in number of people coming to my website because I get several emails from guys who have read my trucking journal and I enjoy getting the emails. Also, a few months ago, a writer from the Advocate Magazine called me and a few others to do interviews about being gay trucker and that issue comes out in April so keep an eye out for it. Speaking of being a gay trucker, I see alot of cute guys at truck stops and rest areas but my "gaydar" doesnt work very well. I'll have to work on that. Well I'm doing laundry right now and its probably done by now so I'm signing off for the night.