Coming in off the road.

[Tobin S.]

I am a truck driver. I work for a local operation. Drivers rarely go more than 150 miles out from the terminal. We are all home every day and most of us get at least Sunday off every week. About half of us get Saturday off as well. We put in some hours, but nothing like those long haul drivers. I get between 50 and 55 hours a week, usually.

They just hired a new driver. He had been a long haul driver for thirty years. When he took the job, he swore he would never go back to long haul again. He's been with us a couple of weeks now, and when I first saw him I didn't think he was going to make it. The years of long haul trucking had taken a toll on him. He was very overweight and had the obligatory cigarette habit. I've never seen any official numbers, but my guess would be that 80% of truckers use tobacco in some form. I smoked for twenty years, but quit a couple of years ago. Anyway, like I said this guy was horribly out of shape and the job we do at my employer requires a lot more physical activity and puts more stress on your body than your average trucking job. But he made it through his week of training and is on his own now. He picked things up pretty fast.

I've talked to him a couple of times. He spoke of fixing up his pick-up truck and spending some time with his grandson this weekend. He said he bought him a fishing pole for Christmas last year and hadn't gotten the chance to go fishing with him until now. That's when it really clicked for me. That guy probably had almost totally missed seeing his children grow up.

With determination and the right motivation, there's no telling what you can accomplish in life. If it wasn't for that guy's grandson he might have fallen flat on his face the first day on that job and given up. The prospect of having a normal life and being given the opportunity to do so has changed this man.

It changed me, too.

[Kali]

1. good to see you posting some thoughts, Tobin.

family can be a good motivator (in both good and bad ways I suppose)

[Tobin S.]

2. Thanks, Kali.

[lunatica]

3. I hope his life leads him to that fork in the road just like yours did

Tell us his name, and keep us posted. You'll make him some very supportive friends that you can tell him about after a while.

As usual you sum up a man's life in 4 paragraphs, and leave us wanting more.

[Tobin S.]

4. I think it already has :)

Sorry, I can't tell you his name. When I use names in my posts and stories, they are usually not real names, but the people are very real.