Stories From the Road: Officially Off the Road
I've been trying to get off the road since I graduated from college in December of 2014. I got my CDL in December of 1996 and I've been logging miles ever since then. We're talking somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million miles. The most valuable things that I have from that period of time are my stories. This might be my last story from the road.
I had slacked off in my job hunting because I really wasn't getting anywhere and I was tired of the rejection. I worked for a scrap yard hauling scrap metal for them. On March 23 of this year a man was killed where I worked while he was operating heavy machinery. I went home and sent out a couple of resumes on the same day. Just two weeks later on April 6 a fellow driver for the company was killed in a truck crash on the job. It turned out that I had had an agreeable job interview come about on April 1 as the result of the resumes I sent out. When that driver got killed, I knew I had to take a chance if I was offered one. I have been offered one.
That driver was killed running the same route I had run for the previous 4.5 years. The accident wasn't his fault, and when it happened I realized how quickly it can all end. I had to run that route the day after he was killed. I came up on the same two lane overpass he was on when the accident happened. It was the same time of day and it was still in the dark hours of the morning. It was the last thing he saw. I prayed that nobody else was coming the other way and breathed a sigh of relief as I passed through. Yeah, trucking is dangerous. It can still all end quickly for me, I guess, but it's probably far less likely to happen now that I'm going to be off the road.
I was afraid. The only other time I've been afraid behind the wheel was when I hopped into a tractor-trailer for the first time. That was a different kind of fear, though, and it went away after a few weeks. This new kind of fear will not be going away soon.
I spent my last day at the scrap yard washing trucks. It was overtime work, but it was a job I had often rejected because I didn't like to do it. Today, I was grateful that I didn't have to go out on the road and I gladly gave it all up when I finished my shift. My boss actually smiled at me and shook my hand when I told him I was quitting. That was a strange reaction. Then I realized...he probably wants out, too.
= new reply since forum marked as read
There will probably still be stories, just not stories from the road. 
Proud to know you and happy for you and your wife!
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Congratulations, my dear Tobin!
You have worked and struggled for such a long time..........and now I think it's about to pay off!
Take care, have fun, and keep on truckin'!
Things are finally looking up for us for a change.
