Tubby Tobin quits his job at the scrap yard

[BattleHymn]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018858318

Sat Apr 16, 2016, 07:09 PM
Star Member Tobin S. (8,543 posts)

Stories From the Road: Officially Off the Road

I've been trying to get off the road since I graduated from college in December of 2014. I got my CDL in December of 1996 and I've been logging miles ever since then. We're talking somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million miles. The most valuable things that I have from that period of time are my stories. This might be my last story from the road.

I had slacked off in my job hunting because I really wasn't getting anywhere and I was tired of the rejection. I worked for a scrap yard hauling scrap metal for them. On March 23 of this year a man was killed where I worked while he was operating heavy machinery. I went home and sent out a couple of resumes on the same day. Just two weeks later on April 6 a fellow driver for the company was killed in a truck crash on the job. It turned out that I had had an agreeable job interview come about on April 1 as the result of the resumes I sent out. When that driver got killed, I knew I had to take a chance if I was offered one. I have been offered one.

That driver was killed running the same route I had run for the previous 4.5 years. The accident wasn't his fault, and when it happened I realized how quickly it can all end. I had to run that route the day after he was killed. I came up on the same two lane overpass he was on when the accident happened. It was the same time of day and it was still in the dark hours of the morning. It was the last thing he saw. I prayed that nobody else was coming the other way and breathed a sigh of relief as I passed through. Yeah, trucking is dangerous. It can still all end quickly for me, I guess, but it's probably far less likely to happen now that I'm going to be off the road.

I was afraid. The only other time I've been afraid behind the wheel was when I hopped into a tractor-trailer for the first time. That was a different kind of fear, though, and it went away after a few weeks. This new kind of fear will not be going away soon.

I spent my last day at the scrap yard washing trucks. It was overtime work, but it was a job I had often rejected because I didn't like to do it. Today, I was grateful that I didn't have to go out on the road and I gladly gave it all up when I finished my shift. My boss actually smiled at me and shook my hand when I told him I was quitting. That was a strange reaction. Then I realized...he probably wants out, too.

Sat Apr 16, 2016, 07:26 PM
Star Member trof (47,505 posts)
1. What's your new job?

Sat Apr 16, 2016, 07:30 PM
Star Member Tobin S. (8,543 posts)
2. I'll be loading trucks and shuttling trailers on a company's property.

I'll be no more than three miles from home.

Good thing he's putting that degree to work.

Sat Apr 16, 2016, 10:15 PM
Star Member CaliforniaPeggy (118,934 posts)
7. Officially off the road--Yay!

Congratulations, my dear Tobin!

You have worked and struggled for such a long time..........and now I think it's about to pay off!

Take care, have fun, and keep on truckin'!

??  What?   

[BattleHymn]

Sister thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1018858216

Sat Apr 16, 2016, 11:55 AM
Star Member Tobin S. (8,543 posts)

You are all very kind.

Thank you for all of the responses to my new job thread. I just quit my old job a few minutes ago. It's one of those deals where they won't take a notice. They want you gone as soon as you tell them you are going to quit. I start my new job this coming Tuesday.

This couldn't have happened at a better time. My wife's car is getting old and rusty. I'm not sure how many more miles it has in it. Before the new job, I didn't know where the money was going to come from to get her a nicer car. She also recently started a new job making better money, so between the two of us we are going to be okay now.

[I_B_Perky]

Sat Apr 16, 2016, 07:09 PM
Star Member Tobin S. (8,543 posts)

Stories From the Road: Officially Off the Road

I've been trying to get off the road since I graduated from college in December of 2014. I got my CDL in December of 1996 and I've been logging miles ever since then. We're talking somewhere between 1.5 million and 2 million miles. The most valuable things that I have from that period of time are my stories. This might be my last story from the road.

I had slacked off in my job hunting because I really wasn't getting anywhere and I was tired of the rejection. I worked for a scrap yard hauling scrap metal for them. On March 23 of this year a man was killed where I worked while he was operating heavy machinery. I went home and sent out a couple of resumes on the same day. Just two weeks later on April 6 a fellow driver for the company was killed in a truck crash on the job. It turned out that I had had an agreeable job interview come about on April 1 as the result of the resumes I sent out. When that driver got killed, I knew I had to take a chance if I was offered one. I have been offered one.

That driver was killed running the same route I had run for the previous 4.5 years. The accident wasn't his fault, and when it happened I realized how quickly it can all end. I had to run that route the day after he was killed. I came up on the same two lane overpass he was on when the accident happened. It was the same time of day and it was still in the dark hours of the morning. It was the last thing he saw. I prayed that nobody else was coming the other way and breathed a sigh of relief as I passed through. Yeah, trucking is dangerous. It can still all end quickly for me, I guess, but it's probably far less likely to happen now that I'm going to be off the road.

I was afraid. The only other time I've been afraid behind the wheel was when I hopped into a tractor-trailer for the first time. That was a different kind of fear, though, and it went away after a few weeks. This new kind of fear will not be going away soon.

I spent my last day at the scrap yard washing trucks. It was overtime work, but it was a job I had often rejected because I didn't like to do it. Today, I was grateful that I didn't have to go out on the road and I gladly gave it all up when I finished my shift. My boss actually smiled at me and shook my hand when I told him I was quitting. That was a strange reaction. Then I realized...he probably wants out, too.

No Tubbs, he is glad to be finally rid of your fat whiney ass.  He was probably the one that made the decision to get another driver to help push you out.

The real key here Tubbs is they didn't even offer you more money to stay... or tell you that you could always come back if things do not work out.  That tells me they could not wait until your ass was out the door. They even put you on a job that you hate just to slap you in the face one more time.

[FlaGator]

Something doesn't smell right here. A person makes more money loading a truck than someone driving a truck?

[BattleHymn]

Something doesn't smell right here. A person makes more money loading a truck than someone driving a truck?

It sounds like he'll be yard dogging and doing some loading.  I guess depending on what he's loading, it's possible. 

[98ZJUSMC]

Something doesn't smell right here. A person makes more money loading a truck than someone driving a truck?

Not just loading.  Would have to be doing something else.

It sounds like he'll be yard dogging and doing some loading.  I guess depending on what he's loading, it's possible.

 

[Big Dog]

2 million miles  on the road, and he can't back a trailer?

I would have smiled if the DUmbass told me he was quiting, too.

[GOBUCKS]

2 million miles  on the road, and he can't back a trailer?

The forward-gears-only DUmmy was rsmithnumbers.

After three years in truck driving college he always crashed his trailer into the dock.

If he could ever get a license, he and Tobin would make a good reverse/forward team.

rsmithnumbers could get them there, and then Tobin could back up to the dock.

[Big Dog]

The forward-gears-only DUmmy was rsmithnumbers.

After three years in truck driving college he always crashed his trailer into the dock.

If he could ever get a license, he and Tobin would make a good reverse/forward team.

rsmithnumbers could get them there, and then Tobin could back up to the dock.

Thanks for the correction.

Damn DUmmies seem to run together after awhile, with a few notable exceptions: PhDD, gNads, The Big Guy (who is dying), and Poor Poor Pitiful Pitt spring to mind.

[Zathras]

My boss actually smiled at me and shook my hand when I told him I was quitting. That was a strange reaction. Then I realized...he probably wants out, too.

No DUmbass. Your ex-boss is glad to be rid of a gutless coward. Now he can fill the position with someone who will actually do the job instead of running away because they're a gutless coward afraid of their own shadow.

And now I will quote a line from one of my favorite films, The 13th Warrior:

Ahmed Ibn Fahdlan: How can you sleep at a time like this?

Herger the Joyous: The All-Father wove the skein of your life a long time ago. Go and hide in a hole if you wish, but you won't live one instant longer. Your fate is fixed. Fear profits a man nothing.

[SVPete]

It's one of those deals where they won't take a notice. They want you gone as soon as you tell them you are going to quit.

Some jobs are like that. They don't want the soon-to-be-ex-employee to have a week or two in which (s)he could sabotage what they work with. In IT, a soon-to-be-ex-employee has their access to whatever they worked on cancelled as close to immediately as practically possible.

My boss actually smiled at me and shook my hand when I told him I was quitting. That was a strange reaction.

Is this the truck driver DU member who was complaining recently that his hours had mysteriously been cut? If so, the boss was probably thinking, "It worked! We didn't have to fire him, and we didn't have to deal with his unemployment insurance claim! Good riddance, dude, and thanks for doing what we wanted you to do!" Maybe seasoned with a few expletives.

[landofconfusion80]

Some jobs are like that. They don't want the soon-to-be-ex-employee to have a week or two in which (s)he could sabotage what they work with. In IT, a soon-to-be-ex-employee has their access to whatever they worked on cancelled as close to immediately as practically possible.

Is this the truck driver DU member who was complaining recently that his hours had mysteriously been cut? If so, the boss was probably thinking, "It worked! We didn't have to fire him, and we didn't have to deal with his unemployment insurance claim! Good riddance, dude, and thanks for doing what we wanted you to do!" Maybe seasoned with a few expletives.

I believe that's called pulling a milton
 If you've seen office space

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

[Karin]

Sat Apr 16, 2016, 10:15 PM
Star Member CaliforniaPeggy (118,934 posts)
7. Officially off the road--Yay!

Congratulations, my dear Tobin!

You have worked and struggled for such a long time..........and now I think it's about to pay off!

Take care, have fun, and keep on truckin'!

It's like she read none of the saga at all.

[Carl]

Junior Samples there was a regular poster in the DUmp loony bin but since that has all but died he has begun this trek about jobs,forclosures,bankruptcy etc for attention.

[BattleHymn]

It's like she read none of the saga at all.

Only the DUmmies are too dumb to see through her posts for what they are.

[GOBUCKS]

DUmmy Tobin S. somehow reminds me of the pathetic DUmmy diabeticman.

All he needs is an imaginary wife.

[franksolich]

DUmmy Tobin S. somehow reminds me of the pathetic DUmmy diabeticman.

All he needs is an imaginary wife.

You know, I wonder why he never went and became a barber; he wanted to, at one time.

http://conservativecave.com/index.php?topic=22938.0
^^^it's from February 22, 2009, back when Tobin was "Droopy."

[67 Rover]

You know, I wonder why he never went and became a barber; he wanted to, at one time.

http://conservativecave.com/index.php?topic=22938.0
^^^it's from February 22, 2009, back when Tobin was "Droopy."

His arms are not long enough to overcome his girth. 

[Big Dog]

His arms are not long enough to overcome his girth. 

He could wear the T-Rex suit at his local Rainforest Cafe.

[jukin]

ZERO BONGS!