A Door Closed Yesterday... Another Opened

[Bird]

Scotty, I'd rather drive that truck than be indoors, at least in my part of the country; not so sure about up north where it's really cold. I've not driven that particular kind of truck with a car on it, but some of the guys who drove them for us said they tend to be top heavy with a load, so be careful and have fun. And Merry Christmas!

 

[sandman2234]

I recently lost a good, very good friend who owned a wrecker company. It is pretty much known that the job ran him into the ground, coupled with his health problems, he died at the age of 50. They closed the shop up a few months later, as nobody was willing to keep it going at the cost of the amount of time it took to keep it afloat. Be careful, as things can go haywire in a hurry!
Just as a side note, my situation changed for the better on this end. I am now gainfully employed!
David from jax

 

[Manitou]

Scotty,.....They say a change is as good as a rest. The new job sounds like a interesting one. Hope you enjoy it. And a safe and Merry Christmas to you and your family. Garry

 

[George2615]

Congrats on the new job. If you were in NY you'd have to get a tow truck drivers license amendment to drive that truck. DMV found another way to make money here by charging a fee and making you pass a written test to operate one. Most guys were grandfathered in if they could prove they have been doing it for a while.

 

[3RRL]

Hey Scotty,
I can't believe I missed this thread until today.
I got your email when all this was going down and I replied to you at the time. You and I are cut from the same cloth, in that we will always be tool makers at heart... no matter what. Once it's in your blood it's hard to shake. You know I work out of my garage now like you were thinking about doing. It's a lot more fun when you do it 100% for yourself and no others to screw your work up. Plus, I get to work on my tractor mods. I like it.
Good luck driving that truck and be careful whatever you do.

 

[rtdiggr]

Congratulations on the new job, it is a nice Christmas present.

Shane

 

[wroughtn_harv]

Good Afternoon Guys,
OK its been a whole month of runnin different scenarios of what the heck Im gonna do, why I want to do it, if I want to do it, when I want to do it etc... I wanted you all to know that Im not gonna sit around and do nothin...

I found a great part time job driving a flatbed car carrier for a local auto wrecking company, heres a pic of my new office http://www.fleetsaleswest.com/photos/International_4700_1300_1.jpg

Actually the truck Im driving is a 92 International DT 466 diesel, but they may be gettin a new truck soon ! The other full time guy has a new carrier.

Im still lookin into a milling machine and a lathe to do some small jobs, couple of potential customers !

In the end I decided after 35 years of machining, I have kind of had it with doing that for other companies, and am really lookin at four walls working inside I may have a different view after working out in the cold for a week or so, but I dont think I will ! So thats the big update~!

Merry Christmas !!!

Congratulations Scotty, a change can be nice every now and then.

The only downside to that job is the twenty four hour committment when on call.

 

[Egon]

Merry Xmas Scott!!

Seems like you have looked out for yourself very well. Congradulations.

 

[rox]

Scotty,
Hey good for YOU! You will be out an about and do the job as long as it intrests you. Have fun.

 

[jinman]

Congratulations Scotty! My nephew has been driving a wrecker for 20 years. As Harvey mentioned, the downside is that middle-of-the-night job where you get called to a bad accident. He sees more than his share of misery caused by drunk or sleepy drivers on weekends. My nephew calls that type of truck a rollback and I see it has a wheel lift for towing also. There are some things the rollbacks work very well for and some things you still need the traditional 1-ton wrecker.

Kathy and I hope you and Kathleen have a very merry Christmas and happy new year.

 

[scott_vt]

Good Evenin Guys,
I realize that this is a very old post, but hopefully Im finally putting an end to the story ! The past 1 1/2 years have been kind of an interesting ride for me. As most of you all know, I was layed off from Pitney Bowes back in Nov of 2007. At that point I had been in the machining trade since 1972 when I started my apprenticeship. Shortly after that layoff I picked up a part time job driving a flatbed car carrier for a local junk yard. I really enjoyed the job and working outside in the fresh air for the first time in my life ! Unfortunately the scrap market dried up in the fall of 2008 and i was left out in the cold again.

I needed another job at the time so I went back into machining/ modelmaking again, but shortly after I realized I just couldnt be cooped up inside anymore !

So I went out and got my hazmat and tanker endorsements for my CDL in hopes of some sort of oil hauling job.

Today I finally landed that job, unfortunately Im the low man on the totem pole, so my shift really stinks, it starts at 6 pm a and it probablly ends around 2 am Yeah I know, not good, but if you dont have any experience in fuel delivery most companies wont even talk to you, just the way it is ! So here is kind of a pic of my new office, actually my truck is a tri axle so not entirely acurate ! One of my big jobs is filling the trains at the New Haven, Ct train terminal at midnight so I better get that part of the job right !

Here is a pic of a 4500 gallon tanker similiar to mine, with the exception of that mine has an extra set of axles.

Wish me luck !

 

[JDGREEN4ME]

I wish you all the best! Be Safe!

 

[Bird]

Hey, Scotty, I've worked those same hours a little bit, many years ago. Be careful and good luck with the new job.

 

[Dmace]

Congrats! That sounds like a pretty cool job. I have thought about getting my CDL license since the land surveying work is dried up and real slow right now.

 

[George2615]

Scotty,

For thirty years I worked mostly 3P-11:30P, 11P- 7:30A, or rotating shifts including these hours plus 7A-3:30P. All those years included working weekends and holidays. The past 9 years I've been working 6A-2:30P M-F with weekends and holidays off.
Its was tough working the odd hours all those years. For the past nine years it has felt good to feel like a normal working stiff and actually have a life.

I've been at this same place for 24 years now and still have 6 years to go before I reach the companies minimum retirement age (unless they offer an early out).

Best of luck with the new job. Make sure you get plenty of rest in your off hours.
George

 

[rtdiggr]

good luck Scotty glad to see you back on pace "again"

Shane

 

[two_bit_score]

scott vt.....sounds like 8 hours a day of good honest work.....congrats and good luck on the new job!

 

[jinman]

Way to go, Scotty! You will soon be the go-to guy I'm sure. They just don't know what a great employee they just got.

 

[JB4310]

Congrats Scotty,
I read awhile back where you were talking about hazmat driving, but you really did it! How long have you had the cdl?

At least with those hours there's less traffic on the roads, good opportunity to get the experience those reluctant employers are looking for.

Working around the trains should be pretty cool to.

Definitely wish you Good Luck!!!

JB.