Nostalgic

I've been feeling particularly nostalgic as of late, even started a collection of toy trucks I bought from Ebay to recreate parts of my career. Some of these are very special to me, as they represent such cherished memories, especially the Navajo W900 and the Jamestown Classic XL.  That one I had to kind of create myself, I ordered the red Classic XL, and a DHL tractor and trailer, then put them together. The Classic has a bit of a stretched out frame, but it's not bad.

 I miss those days, those trucks, those times. I mean I must come from a different era of truckers, cause even back in 2002 when I started there was a lot of brotherhood out here on the road, and I adopted the whole "chicken hauler" persona for myself. We all had CB's, we talked to each other to pass the time, we had fun on the road and in the truck stops. Now I noticed over time things started to change gradually, until one day I woke up and realized it was all but GONE!
Nobody seems to have there CBs on anymore for information, and heaven forbid you ask someone if a scale is open or closed, you'll get the "why you worried about it if you run legal" rant.  Truckers will tell you they don't turn there radios on because of to much "BS" , but I don't get that argument, I mean there's really not much BS anymore, there just isn't anything! It's dead air!

OK now back in the day, there was a ton of BS on the radio, I mean especially around truck stops in major cities, but hell it was just people goofing off and having fun, there was usually no harm intended. So if you didn't want to hear it, you turned your radio DOWN ( never off) until you were away from the noise, then you turned it back up! So what is the problem really, I'd say technology may have had a lot to do with it, people finding other ways to cure there boredom, and just the general type of people who are coming into trucking. I guess they are not the chrome loving, chicken lights and CB radio big strollin' kind of guys and gals anymore.

It's sad because the professional courtesy and brotherhood has gone right out the window, I mean back in the day hardly a driver passed that didn't wave a hand at you. Now days they don't even look at you, or you'll see them with there face buried in there cell phones or other gadgets. Truckers used to flash there lights to let you over, it's just what we did. Now days they'll flash their damn brights at you 90% of the time, if they flash at all, which I would much rather they did not if that's the best they can do. I don't mean to gripe and moan like a grumpy old truck driver, just pointing out my observations as of late.

So get back to 2006 and I'm at TA Ontario, CA just hanging out and I look over next to me and I see a big flashy purple Freightliner Classic XL says "Jamestown Ohio" on the door, and I was in love! So I started talking to the guy, found out it was a company truck, and that his company operated a whole fleet of Classics, 379s and W9's , and I was hooked! Now here's what being young and dumb will do for you, I was 25 years old, making .35 cents per mile. This company was paying .24 cents per mile (all be it hub miles, but still) No benefits, no tax withholding, but they had some damn fast, shiny trucks! So I was going by gawd! I called them Monday and sent back my application on my way home back to Ohio, and when I got there I turned in my old POS ex-werner century class, and hopped in my pickup and I was on the way to Jamestown!

So they started me out in an old Freightliner Columbia because that's all they had available at the time, but I didn't mind, I knew if I showed them what I could do and bide my time, sooner or later I would get what I came for.

Buddy I tell you what I felt like I was a big time chicken hauler, my truck was wide open speed and I was shuttling that airfreight like a wild man. ZOOM ZOOM!! Just racking up the miles, making over $1000 weekly even at .24 cpm.  So one day I was in the yard fast asleep over in the corner getting some sleep before my next hot run....

There came a knock on my door, so I stumbled out of the sleeper and rolled down the window and the safety man was standing there, so I'm like oh no, what have I done?!? But he says "you know we've been impressed with your performance, you're a damn hard runner and you show a lot of pride in your truck. You see that red Classic over there, it's yours if you want it." Well hell you didn't have to tell me twice! I threw my stuff in that truck so fast! It was a little grimy and dirty, but I of course quickly remedied that problem. It was dubbed "Flight 837" which a previous driver had hand painted on the sleeper. While they had a lot of Classic XL trucks, only 2 were bought with all the extra lights and chrome on the rear. Mud flap hanger lights, and center rear panel and chrome on the frame up to the 5th wheel. It was a 13 speed Detroit motor, 2005 Freightliner Classic XL, leather interior, factory fridge and freezer. I mean I was never so proud of anything in my life as I was to drive that truck. I shined and polished it, chromed out the interior, which the boss paid for 100% (one good benefit of working here, if you were a hard runner the chrome shop was open tab)

Yeah I had a big head, I was in something special and I damn well knew it, and I was gonna make sure everyone else knew it too! Seat riding low on the floor I was just stylin' & profilin' buddy, I was the AIRBORNE ROOSTER now! I had the decals made up for the door that said my name along with a graphic of a jet airplane.

Then several months later I did one of the stupidest things I've ever done, I QUIT! I don't know why, I didn't even really want to, I just let the fatigue get to me, and I lost my mind. Probably just needed a few days at the house and I would have been ready to go truckin' again, but I didn't :(
Now the cell phone camera and social media craze hadn't hit full peak yet, so all the pictures I had of my beautiful truck have vanished. Probably the saddest thing I'll ever encounter in my career. All I have is this, and it does the truck no true justice.

Now I'm an honest guy, I wont take things that are not mine, they bought the chrome and I left it all, except for the air valve knobs. I took them with me and I have used them on every truck even until this day. It's my way that I'll always have a piece of her with me.

Sometime in the next few years after that DHL shut down operations in Wilmington and Jamestown eventually closed down. I just wish I hadn't been so stupid and I would've stayed until the end at least. So you see to me that's what trucking was all about. The way things have become these days truly saddens me, but I still truck on with the same pride I always have, and I do my thing, even if it means I'm the last guy out here who will wave a hand at ya!