An Unplanned Holiday From The Blog

One hundred and sixty eight hours in a week.  Despite that I opened up my blog today and discovered my last post was in April.  April?  Holy crap.  That blew me away.  To say I've had a busy summer would be an understatement.  The funny thing is I have been writing more than I ever have.  That writing has just never made it to this blog.  My intention for this space is to share my thoughts and feelings that are provoked by my experiences out here not to simply report on what has happened to me on a day to day basis.  I am finding that takes much deeper thought and more time than what I had at first anticipated.

It simply comes down to a matter of available time, as always in this business.  A 70 hour work week leaves little time for personal projects, hobbies, social events, and so on.  That's after meeting commitments to my family.  At least to my wife and daughter that is.  To my brothers & sisters I hope to see you sooner rather than later.  I also picked up a gig writing a monthly column for the Truck News earlier this year.  Meeting that deadline each month is no walk in the park either.  I now think of that deadline each month as my great motivator. :)  Here I am, crying a river.  That was not my intention.

It's no coincidence that my last post was about the winter blues.  That's a fact of life in this business.  This is not a workplace for the faint of heart.  There is no one to pick you up when you are down.  No one to give you a pat on the back.  No one to correct a minor mistake before it becomes a major issue.  No one to share their experience in real time.  No one to discuss or advise on a course of action when you find yourself in new territory or questionable circumstances.  All of that comes from within the individual driver.  That in itself is what makes this job such a great job.  Coping with the stresses, finding sources of motivation, dealing with rapid technological changes, adapting to new regulations and compliance issues, all while coping with a stagnant economy on top of everything else has left drivers burned out and pissed off.  Is it any wonder that drivers have a life expectancy 10 to 15 years below the North American average?

This is the common ground we share as drivers.  I don't have a magic solution to all the problems or a silver bullet that will slay the trucking industry demons.  There are better ways to cope though.  We just need to find them and most of all participate in the process.

I'm hoping to bring some of my personal feelings and thoughts on how to cope with this life on the road to the pages of my blog over the next couple of months.  That's not a side of myself I find easy to share in print, so bare with me.  I'm a truck driver not a writer.  I see a lot written about what we do and how to do it, but there does not seem to be a whole lot of information available or a conversation taking place about how to cope with it.  At least from a layman's point of view.  I'll give it a shot.