Stories from the Road: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

[Tobin S.]

Something like that. I don't remember the exact quote or who said it, but you get the idea.

I've always been restless. I'm starting to settle down and mellow as I get older, but I still find myself wishing I could be doing something different and envisioning a time when I won't have to work so hard. Starting after I graduated from high school, I was a pizza maker, a college student, a printer, a machine operator, and I've been a trucker since I was 24. But even though I've been in one profession for the last 14 years, I have had many jobs in that time. I've driven for 7 different companies. I've been a long haul driver, a short haul driver, a local driver, and an owner-operator which is what I'm doing now. The longest I worked for any one employer was 6 years, and I feel like I probably wasted a lot of time there. :D

Even now, just three months after I bought my truck, I've found myself dreaming about taking college courses online and also maybe someday being a writer.

But I also think about stuff like this. I'm hauling a 2005 model trailer that I'm renting. Even though I do not own the trailer I am responsible for the maintenance on it. I haul a lot of heavy loads, sometimes right on the edge of the legal limit. It is starting to take a toll on my trailer tires. The tires were not new when I got the trailer, but if I have to replace them it will come out of my pocket. I'd probably be looking at about $2500. When I turn the trailer in, I will not get a credit for replacing the tires. I am also paying $460 a month for a trailer that I will never own. I went with the rental in the first place because I wasn't sure I was going to like this company. Most companies that haul the type of freight that I have experience in hauling only need a power unit. The owner-operators who are leased to them haul the company's trailers. So, if it turned out that I didn't like this company and I had bought a trailer, I would likely have been stuck with that trailer until I could find a buyer, which in the current economy could have been a long time. After three months I've found that I like the company that I'm leased to, and considering the tire situation, it's about time that I bought a trailer. If I'm going to be fixing up equipment, it might as well be mine rather than somebody else's.

That's the kind of stuff that independent truckers think about. I'm not a writer and I'm not a college student. As much as I think I'd like working in an office or a lab, I would probably find myself dreaming about hitting the road again. I sure as hell don't want to work in a factory or a pizza joint. I've been driving trucks for 14 years. I guess I might as well be a trucker.

[rurallib]

1. take copious notes. And you will have these posts to look back at.

There may be some great material for a story after a few years.
Can you take an online class or two. From what I have seen of your posts you are not far from putting some good stuff together.

[Tobin S.]

2. I save all of my stories

Over the past week or so I've been editing them. I've got over 40,000 words together. What you guys see here are the first drafts.

Maybe one day I will be able to put together a book. But even with the best of outcomes (a publisher picks it up), I don't think I'd be able to write for a living. I'm just not prolific enough, and if I had all day every day to write I would probably end up doing more beer drinking than writing. :D

[rurallib]

5. sounds like another Hemingway.

[Flaxbee]

3. Well, since you enjoy writing and you see many other

parts of the country, you do have a lot of material to work with. Maybe you can start 'theming' it, so to speak, and put in interviews with other truckers, truck stop staff, loaders/unloaders (if that's the right word) and turn it into a sort of travelogue. I have no doubt there are many, many on-the-road guides for truckers, but maybe you can find a different angle. :shrug:

Might be fun idea to kick around... :hi:

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. Is the trailer rental month-to-month?

Or do you have a lease committment?

It seems like the $2500 would be better spent on buying a new (or used) trailer.

Are there writing classes / clubs / forums that you can participate in while on the road? Or, even better, when you're parked?

:hi:

[Tobin S.]

15. I rent the trailer month-to-month

The University of Phoenix offers an English degree online. That's the only half way legit writing course I've found online as far as I can tell.

[In_The_Wind]

6. Sounds like you are a trucker at heart.

It's in your blood as much as being a pilot car is in mine.

We are pulling a stretch flat (out to 90 foot) but I'd rather it was a stretch RGN. Couldn't find one to lease and buying is a bit pricey at the moment

:hi:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

7. about that quote:

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"
English singer & songwriter (1940 - 1980)

:hi:

[Tobin S.]

16. Thank you

:hi:

[DiverDave]

8. Buy the new tires

keep the old ones, put em back on when you leave.
I drive too, never been a OO and never will, to much paperwork...
Hope it works out for you though.

[Tobin S.]

17. That would probably be more hassle than it's worth

As far as paperwork goes, it's really not that bad until you get to tax time. The rest of thre year it's not much different than company driving. You just have to keep track of your expenses.

[tigereye]

9. I love road and "labor" stories- so it sounds like you can do both with a blog

or something. I enjoy your insights. Actually I was driving somewhere the other day and when a tractor-trailer went by, I thought of :that trucker who posts on DU!" That's the DU effect, I think. :D

[Suich]

10. How many tires do you get for $2500?

I love reading Stories from the Road!

:hi:

[jmowreader]

12. Eight

Those tires are REALLY expensive, and they come in three different varieties: ones for the front axle only (steer tires), ones for the two back axles on the truck (drive tires) and ones for the trailer (trailer tires). The tread is WAY different on the three types of tire.

[Tobin S.]

18. Thanks man

:hi:

[jmowreader]

23. No problem.

How you liking that 9400i so far?

You'll enjoy this...the Spokane paper had an article about renovations at the Flying J in Post Falls, ID...they're going to put in a 10-nozzle coffee dispenser and (OMG!) a canopy over the fuel island. To which I wonder, this is Idaho--why the hell wasn't there one before?

[snooper2]

11. buy the new tires, keep the old ones with a little tread left

and swap em' out if and when you are done with the trailer :)

[LaurenG]

13. I think you are a writer and I think you could have the best of both worlds

in spite of $2500.00 trailer tires. Your future seems to have a least one published book in it in my opinion. Take online writing courses, read as much as you can. Hang out in the writers group, where they have links to other places to help writers. You can do whatever you want if you set your heart (and mind) to it.

And next time you come home maybe you could have coffee with Chris and I, we'd love to get together with you and talk about writing. :)

[Tobin S.]

19. I appreciate the encouragement, Lauren

And I'll take you up on that coffee date if we can manage to get our schedules to link up. If I can remember to do it, I'll give you a PM the next time I know I'm going to be in town.

[xchrom]

14. thanks for the stories. and take lots of pictures on the road. nt

[Tobin S.]

20. You're welcome.

I'm going to keep writing, it's just that I'm not going to put much faith in ever being able to do it for a living.

[lunatica]

21. Thanks for sharing again!

[mzteris]

22. You're wrong . . .

I think you ARE a writer!

A very good one. I love your stories, Tobin.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

24. You can drive AND write, hopefully not at the same time

You won't be the first with two simultaneous careers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Hoffer

:hi: