What have you been doing? (Lifestyle & Career)

[demonoid 16]

So out of curiosity I thought I'd post this here. I've been playing APB on and off since the RTW closed beta, and I've seen this community fluctuate a lot. Back when I first started playing APB in 2010 I was a Highschool dropout living with my mom and baby brother as a babysitter after my parents had finally split up. I didn't have much going for me at the time, the economy was crap and finding a job without any sort of credentials was difficult.

 

Things finally changed for me in 2014 when I moved across the country from Oregon to Iowa to live with my dad. At the time he was kinda screwed up do to depression, anxiety, and being epileptic. But he pushed me to get a job, and I finally did that getting my first taxed job working fast-food. While I was doing that I went out and got my GED, and within 9 months I quit my fast-food job and signed up for a CDL trucking school over in Indianapolis in 2015. I followed through with that and got a job doing OTR trucking for Celadon for a little over two years. After awhile I got me and my dad moved out to Oregon, and in March went to another school for specialized hauling of glass on flatbed and general comodities too. I finished up that and for about the past month have been doing flatbed with Combined Transport.

 

I feel I've come a long ways over a short time. 5 years ago I was living with my mom playing games constantly and given no incentive to better my self. And now I'm working in a solid career field and getting paid well for it. The only real downside is I'm away from home for 8-10 weeks at a time, and don't get much time to use my desktop anymore. But I'm looking to remedy that soon and get me a higher end laptop as a desktop replacement. As living in a truck all the time I only have limited space to store and setup things.

 

 

A lot has changed for me over the past few years, and I've certainly improved from where I had started. How about you? Has your life changed considerably over the past few years?

[NotZombieBiscuit 3145]

Could trying to not kill myself be considered a job?

[xnyuu 21]

8 minutes ago, NotZombieBiscuit said:

Could trying to not kill myself be considered a job?

Yes.

[demonoid 16]

1 hour ago, NotZombieBiscuit said:

Could trying to not kill myself be considered a job?

I suppose, I had to help my dad through a rough time when he was suicidal due to his medicine being screwed up and being clinically depressed.

 

I guess I'm one of those happy go lucky people always looking to climb the next step in my life. It can be difficult to step out of our comfort zones and try something new. My career as a trucker was a challenge, but I managed to adapt after awhile.

 

We all walk through life at a different pace, but getting out there and trying to improve it can be rewarding. I grew up in a low income family, I started life as an adult with nothing but the clothes on my back. I've been working hard over the past few years and now I'm living independent, own my own vehicle, pay my bills, and still have some excess left over at the end of the cycle.

 

Nothing is quite as rewarding as climbing the ladder to success and becoming independent. Everyone I know in life is always saying how their proud of me seeing where I came from, and it gives me even more motivation to keep improving.

[Regenance 59]

2 minutes ago, demonoid said:

I suppose, I had to help my dad through a rough time when he was suicidal due to his medicine being screwed up and being clinically depressed.

 

I guess I'm one of those happy go lucky people always looking to climb the next step in my life. It can be difficult to step out of our comfort zones and try something new. My career as a trucker was a challenge, but I managed to adapt after awhile.

 

We all walk through life at a different pace, but getting out there and trying to improve it can be rewarding. I grew up in a low income family, I started life as an adult with nothing but the clothes on my back. I've been working hard over the past few years and now I'm living independent, own my own vehicle, pay my bills, and still have some excess left over at the end of the cycle.

 

Nothing is quite as rewarding as climbing the ladder to success and becoming independent. Everyone I know in life is always saying how their proud of me seeing where I came from, and it gives me even more motivation to keep improving.

You had license before for a trucker or you just woke up one day and said "I'm going to get a license, and then to find a job as a successful trucker"?

[demonoid 16]

1 minute ago, PTCntte said:

You had license before for a trucker or you just woke up one day and said "I'm going to get a license, and then to find a job as a successful trucker"?

I had a few relatives/grandparents that did trucking and was kinda inspired by that. It was always a cool feeling as a kid when my grandpa or uncle would drop by for a visit in their truck. Once I hit about 19-21 I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I was living with my mom and brother at the time just playing games and hanging out with friends around the neighborhood. I think it was when reality stuck after getting sent to live with my dad that I was a lazy patootie. I didn't like people talking about me like that so I decided a change was necessary, and my dad helped motivate me too. So I signed up for a CDL school to get my commercial license and haven't looked back since.

 

When I visit and interact with my friends and family now, I'm treated with respect and given appreciation. Nothing feels quite as good as being appreciated and acknowledged as someone successful.

 

So I guess yeah, I woke up one day and decided I'd had enough and did something about it.

[Excalibur! 207]

8 hours ago, NotZombieBiscuit said:

Could trying to not kill myself be considered a job?

You just need one thing to do to stop it but if i say it i would be considered bad.

---

 

And op, nice you found something. Traveling in your truck must be really fun.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Excalibur!

[StrelitziaDeWitt 56]

I've failed some of my exams over the last 2 years and had to wait an entire year to redo them cause the government doesn't give you a retry directly if you only go for the certificates and not for the diploma itself.

Kinda puts a wrench in your plans but I still got 1 year left and if I fail then I will be too old for the military and will most likely go to the police force then. 

Since my father is paying for the education and the exams I had to promise I wouldn't go for a job in the meantime but I will prolly find something after this years exams since he loosen it up as long as I can still concentrate on studying for the last year.

[demonoid 16]

11 hours ago, Excalibur! said:

And op, nice you found something. Traveling in your truck must be really fun.

Yeah it's been an interesting job so far. I'm 27 now and I've already seen the entire lower 48 states with the exception of Maine and Rhode Island. It has it's pitfalls though, like now, I'm just stuck waiting to deliver this load on Monday. Which is one of the reasons I want to buy a laptop soon. Doing this flatbed hauling, everything is live load and live unload, and most of my customers are only open for a few hours on week days. So sitting and waiting will become a common trend with this new company. But it's an excellent company, as they are very family oriented and take good care of their drivers. So even though I'm stuck here sitting on my bum waiting, I'm getting layover pay for the down time.

 

So it's been an experience so far, trucking isn't just a career but also a lifestyle choice. At the end of the day I can't just go home and game or watch TV. I'm stuck in my truck for weeks on end all by myself, and on occasion I might find someone to chat with, but it's uncommon. It's certainly not a job for the faint of heart. On the upside I'm paid well, on the downside I'm only home for about 4 weeks in a year. So my gaming computer at home mostly collects dust anymore lol. So once I get me a laptop here soon, I might just format my computer at home and give it to my brother. He's 12 years younger than me, so I think he'd enjoy it.

 

I thought a topic like this would be a good place for folks to vent their daily life struggles, or to revel in the achievements they've made. I try to steer clear of a lot of the toxic parts of the community, and do my best to create positive content. Even when I've had a shitty day, I try to keep a smile on my face and trudge on. If I have nothing positive to say, or productive to add, it's probably not worth saying in the first place.

[neophobia 215]

I went to kindergarten, primary school, "grammar school" and am at university right now. (grammer school + uni are not really posh/expensive over here.)

I'm working as a tutor at that uni for 10h/week and at Dell for 20h/week parallely to be able to afford my... living?

 

That's my life till now. Not very exciting. I am glad about the latter bit to be quite honest cause... well, feels like enough trouble to me right now.

I wonder if I could handle more tension etc.

Well, I'll be done with my bachelor thesis on tuesday so I'll see what future I'll have from then on. I can't say that I really wanna see though.

 

(21)

Edited June 16, 2018 by neophobia

[demonoid 16]

7 hours ago, AlexandraTromp said:

I've failed some of my exams over the last 2 years and had to wait an entire year to redo them cause the government doesn't give you a retry directly if you only go for the certificates and not for the diploma itself.

Kinda puts a wrench in your plans but I still got 1 year left and if I fail then I will be too old for the military and will most likely go to the police force then. 

Since my father is paying for the education and the exams I had to promise I wouldn't go for a job in the meantime but I will prolly find something after this years exams since he loosen it up as long as I can still concentrate on studying for the last year.

Best of luck with your exams, and if the military is your end goal then bravo. I never joined myself, but I gave it a lot of thought in the past. My parents, grandparents, and a few of my cousins have served in the military. But I decided to go into trucking after awhile because the allure of the open road was irresistible to me. My grandparents and some other relatives drove trucks for many years and it kinda inspired me to do the same. So I just followed through and ended up where I am now. I've no regrets of the choice I made, and I'm enjoying my new found career.

 

Just give it your all, and make sure the path your taking is for yourself. Nothing feels better than hitting that milestone, and taking the next step towards your goals in life. People acknowledge others when they're willing to keep pushing to better themselves. 

[Excalibur! 207]

56 minutes ago, demonoid said:

Yeah it's been an interesting job so far. I'm 27 now and I've already seen the entire lower 48 states with the exception of Maine and Rhode Island. It has it's pitfalls though, like now, I'm just stuck waiting to deliver this load on Monday. Which is one of the reasons I want to buy a laptop soon. Doing this flatbed hauling, everything is live load and live unload, and most of my customers are only open for a few hours on week days. So sitting and waiting will become a common trend with this new company. But it's an excellent company, as they are very family oriented and take good care of their drivers. So even though I'm stuck here sitting on my bum waiting, I'm getting layover pay for the down time.

 

So it's been an experience so far, trucking isn't just a career but also a lifestyle choice. At the end of the day I can't just go home and game or watch TV. I'm stuck in my truck for weeks on end all by myself, and on occasion I might find someone to chat with, but it's uncommon. It's certainly not a job for the faint of heart. On the upside I'm paid well, on the downside I'm only home for about 4 weeks in a year. So my gaming computer at home mostly collects dust anymore lol. So once I get me a laptop here soon, I might just format my computer at home and give it to my brother. He's 12 years younger than me, so I think he'd enjoy it.

 

I thought a topic like this would be a good place for folks to vent their daily life struggles, or to revel in the achievements they've made. I try to steer clear of a lot of the toxic parts of the community, and do my best to create positive content. Even when I've had a shitty day, I try to keep a smile on my face and trudge on. If I have nothing positive to say, or productive to add, it's probably not worth saying in the first place.

You may want to do exercises in your free time because to be stationary for long periods is really bad for health.

 

I am somehow interested in trucking since you are like in home, but traveling at the same time. Its like you said, a lifestyle, an interesting one.

Driving at night must be really beautiful.

Edited June 16, 2018 by Excalibur!

[demonoid 16]

1 hour ago, Excalibur! said:

You may want to do exercises in your free time because to be stationary for long periods is really bad for health.

 

I am somehow interested in trucking since you are like in home, but traveling at the same time. Its like you said, a lifestyle, an interesting one.

Driving at night must be really beautiful.

Oh I get plenty of exercise, no worries lol. Doing flatbed is tough work. My lumber tarps for example weigh about 140lbs each.

 

But it is a different type of job as it doubles as a lifestyle. Modern technology also makes it more bearable now that we have internet, cellphones, and highly portable electronics. As for night driving it depends on where you are. In some places driving at night it's nothing but pitch black and whatever your headlights happen to light up. But it is convenient driving at night as there is a lot less traffic to deal with.

 

Getting into trucking is easy these days, as there is currently a massive shortage of drivers. You can Google it pretty easy, just look up truck driver shortage. The main thing is most people my age have no interest in it due to the lifestyle part, as it's a tough job mentally for a lot of people. If your a natural introvert you'd probably do well so long as you don't mind long drives. I imagine most gamers with good hand eye coordination would do well.

 

Most trucking schools only cost 4-6,000, and it's usually no money out of your pocket. Just sign up with a company, go through their school and get your CDL. After that they'll hire you and put you out with a trainer on the road for usually 4-8 weeks. After that your on contract to work for them for a specified amount of time to repay for the schooling. After that your free to do what you want, as there are a lot of different types of driving jobs out here.

[MrChan 335]

@ Demonoid

What's the pay for that like? I say that because most truck drivers I meet in Ireland are Eastern Europeans who tend to have a much higher tolerance for working for sod all.

 

 

Been in substantially the same pattern for the last couple of years. Go to work. Not get paid enough for the work I do (Capital Accounting, but I'm the same pay grade as the receptionist and replaced someone two grades above me), but I tolerate it because I like my job. Come home. Play bass or games.

 

But I got some changes lately:

 

- Bought a house and I'm getting the last couple of bits together (patch up and repaint an old kitchen table, get carpets fitted, buy a TV & some white goods off the back of a truck somewhere) to move in.

- Studying for a job interview on Tuesday. It's a promotion where I work and if it was done by the management team based on everyone's existing work record and I'd piss it and have been told as much, but because I'm the public sector there has to be a competitive interview process with outside interviewers.

- To top it off I'm playing in a local show. Which for me has descended to trying keep my eyes off the Dance Captain & Choreographer. She's wondrous and magnificent, but she's also at least 9 years younger than me. Anytime I think about it, it just screams bad idea.

 

On the plus side, I'll probably be doing virtually nothing in a month or so.

Edited June 16, 2018 by MrChan

[demonoid 16]

28 minutes ago, MrChan said:

@ Demonoid

What's the pay for that like? I say that because most truck drivers I meet in Ireland are Eastern Europeans who tend to have a much higher tolerance for working for sod all.

Well I live here in the States so it may be different based on taxes, and pay scale. But doing my current job, with my current company I can expect to make close to 60,000 a year before taxes or benefits deductions. So let's say about 45-50,000 in take home pay at the end of the year.

 

On the flip side to this industry there are also owner operators who own their own truck and sometimes trailer. Rather than getting paid hourly or by the mile they get paid a percentage of each load. They can make a lot more a year 150-300k but also have to pay for fuel and maintenance on their equipment as well. Plus at that income they are in a higher tax bracket as well.

 

It can be a lucrative job if your good at managing your finances, and avoid eating out a lot. But even then I can make a lot of my money back through tax deductions. Cost of clothes for work, cost of tools, cost of food while on the road, and such.

 

It takes a bit of research, but it costs very little to get started in the industry. After 5+ years out here with a good track record you could be making around 55-75,000 a year before taxes as a company driver. Some of the owner operators I've talked with that work with my company take home 90-110,000 a year after taxes and all expenses are accounted.

[Chinook 140]

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

 

  

 

There's few samples. I'm pretty much jack of all trades when it comes to logistics, I do dispatching, driving (both delivery/pickup and linehaul), drive forklifts at our cargo terminal, etc...

It's not an easy job or glamorous. Sometimes it's great when everything goes as planned and weather is nice and there's good music to listen. Sometimes it's pure hell on earth, specially during winter. But you do what you got to do to pay the bills.

Edited June 17, 2018 by Chinook

[vsb 6131]

i sell alcohol to people who probably shouldnt be feeding their addiction

[demonoid 16]

Don't see truck and trailer combos here in the states much, other than with dump trucks. Everything here is mostly tractor trailer. Although I have been seeing a lot more triple 33' trailers in the northwest. I personally don't hand any experience using dollies for multi trailer. I've only done single dry van/reefer, and currently flatbed and double drop now.

 

Done plenty of winter driving since I drive the lower 48 states. Do they have a lot of long haul in Europe? IE: 1,500+ mile/2,400+ KM routes. I've always been curious how European trucking differs from trucking here in the states, as I've never really looked into it.

[Chinook 140]

I'd say the biggest differences are equipment and legislation about driving time when you start comparing trucking in europe vs US. Most of the countries in continental europe have pretty strict limits to truck and trailer combo length and weight, thus making them a rare sight outside certain types of loads where they make sense. The european sized tractor trailers with the standard 13.6m semi trailer are by far the most common vehicle type, specially in international transports. Here in Finland however quite a lot of domestic traffic is done with longer truck trailer combinations like the ones in my pictures, which are sitting just shy from our 25.25m max length and can be up to 60000-76000kg total weight (depending on axle configuration) when fully loaded.