Been a while since we talked last. Allow me to bring you up to speed. In May is 2013 I was asked for my compliance data from my CPAP Machine. I swelled up my chest and called in and told them that I was an owner operator and did not have to wear that infernal device anymore. I was wrong. At this point I was picking up a load in Ohio bound for Idonotrememberville but had to pass it off and was issued a DOT shutdown order until my data was in compliance. In non trucker terms that means I had to use my CPAP for three nights in a row then send in my data card to be read and then have my shutdown lifted. No problem. Three days off at a small Pilot in Eaton Ohio. I slept three nights while using my machine for at least 4 hours per night and sent off my data. Only two nights registered. Shit. Because it was the last night that was missing I had to start all over again. Three more nights in Eaton Ohio. I sent off my data again. One of my three nights was too short on the machine. Fuck. Three more nights in HELL Ohio. By this time it will be the weekend and my data will not be read before Monday so add a night. All the time I am calling home and discussing my options with my business manager AKA the wife. We decided that as soon as I was able to legally drive that I would drive home and quit OTR trucking. So 12 days from the start of this ordeal I was driving home. I parked my truck at the drop yard and told them to come and get it. Not the most classy move but they wanted me to drive it to Green Bay to drop the truck off and then take a bus back to Knoxville with all my stuff. NOT HAPPENING!
I have a brother in law who has worked for the same company (Holston Gases) for almost 15 years and he told me that they were looking to add a driver. I applied and with his recommendation was hired for the job. It was a night time delivery job dropping off cylinders of gases to the distribution locations. Glamorous right? Nope. But it was a job that had me driving and home every day. Fast forward a few months and I was offered a transfer from night cylinder delivery to day carbon dioxide bulk delivery to eateries and machine shops. SWEET!
Now I am home every night. I get to sleep in the same bed as my honey and I have steady income that is not dependent on my fuel economy. Life is good again. I still get annoyed from time to time but that is a story for another post.
