Thomas Murray's blog: "My Life"

Well I'm sitting here at the Love's Travel Center just off I-35 and I-410 southside of San Antonio. I stay here most of the time at night. Its been a long ride trying to become a truck driver. I started in 2008 at truck driving school at the Truck Driving Institute Of Indianapolis. When I got into a semi truck for the first time I didn't even know how to make it go lol. I had to ask the instructor how do you make this thing go? Its been a long road since then and a lot of bumps in the road. I graduated from the school and I worked for Werner Enterprises for about three months and back then I couldn't back up a semi truck worth a shit. I sucked at backing up. I had about five different trainers at Werner because stuff kept happening where I had to get a new trainer like when I was in Denver and I had to stay to take that road test but my trainer had to get back on the road he had a load so I had to stay and had to get a new trainer.

They gave me that road test in Denver and I did pretty good on it. He was amazed at my knowledge of the Pre-Trip Inspection and my driving skills on the road were good. The only thing was I didn't do to good backing up but I managed to back it up into the space. He passed me and I went back on the road and then a few weeks later I was in Phoenix, Arizona and I was ready to test out to get my own truck. That was my goal to be able to have my own truck. Well it wouldn't be literally MINE because I wouldn't necessarily own it but I would have it all to myself no trainer there to tell me what to do. I would be free to do as I please and that truck would be my home for most of the time so basically it would be my truck. So anyway I tested in Phoenix and the instructor that was testing me said that I reminded him of somebody that just got out of truck driving school lol. Well duh I did just get out a few months before that. Truck Driving takes time to perfect its not something that can be learned overnight. People think its just driving and nothing else but that's not true. Its a lot of hard work.

Anyway that time I couldn't back up into the space so Werner failed me on the test and they terminated my employment because I couldn't back it up into the space on TIME. I managed to back it up into a space but I took too much time and it was the wrong space that the instructor told me to back it up into. So Werner fired me and I returned home to Indianapolis. I moved back in with my Grandmaw. Anyway I started looking for another truck driving job but nobody would hire me since I only had a little bit of experience and then something happened that would change the course of my career as a truck driver and it would put it to a halt at least for a few years. I got arrested around July 30, 2008. I will tell that story at a later date but anyway I got put on probation for a year and nobody would hire me as a truck driver while I was on probabtion.

So anyway I got off probabtion in late 2010 but I still had a problem. I was low on actual truck driving experience. I only had 3 months over the road experience. So I worked at meaningtless jobs  McDonalds and a place called RGIS Inventory. Every day wishing I could be behind the wheel of a Semi Truck.

-To Be Continued