There are a lot of nay-sayers in the country that say trucking is an industry for the unedumicated. For the most part, they are right. This is not a career that requires a college degree, hell for that matter, even a high school diploma. You could have dropped out of the 5^th grade, and still be qualified to drive a CDL-A vehicle. I’ve had a discussion recently about higher learning, beyond high school that is. Yes, a college degree. The argument presented to me was that without even an Associates degree, you are stupid, that you do not have an understanding of what is going on in the world around you. I call that complete hogwash. I personally only have a high school degree and a 4-week course to get my license. All that course did was teach us the state requirements to achieve our initial goal to drive a big rig. Zero, zip, zilch of anything beyond that. I wouldn’t call myself dumb because of that. People tend to not understand that there are ways of college without spending thousands of dollars in an educational facility.

            There is a way to get yourself edumicated. Be aware of your surroundings. Easy to do, watch what is immediately going on around you. Be amazed at yourself once you start thinking about it. Watching peoples’ reactions, start reading their faces or body language. It’s not hard to do when you are in an area that have likeminded people in the masses. I do not think that it is a good idea to just go to the same location. You need the ability to venture out into the world, get out of your comfort zone. Go see a new location that may differentiate your scenery. Truckin’ around, you have the potential of traveling across this massive nation. Currently, I have been in 47 out of 50 states. One I’m not going to visit any time soon, unless the government gets the urge to spend several billions of dollars to build a bridge to Hawaii. Like I said, not happening. You can see how the past and current political game is going. The effects nature is having. If you see the same people enough, you can learn how about their families, if they are struggling at home. Incredible what we can do with only our eyes and ears.

Technology is great isn’t it? For many, it’s a boob-tube that you don’t need much room for the DVDs or VHS tapes locked away, so you don’t have somebody accidently stumble on it. It’s only slightly embarrassing. For some, this wonderful age of modern technology, people use them for what it was originally intended for; education. The ability to just think of an idea, type it into your phone or laptop computer and BAM there she is. The current financial crisis that we are living in, updates on Space-X, the newest model engine that is coming out. The possibilities are endless. History, geography, economics, politics, we are in that age that some form of electronic device is always within reach. We literally have an encyclopedia that fits into our pockets and is always up to date with the latest information. The sad thing is, most of us use it to watch dirty adult videos or to turn our face into a dog?

It appears that to some people, if you don’t have a college degree, you are dumb. That there is absolutely no way in this world to be smart. They also tend to forget that majority of the best paying jobs, for the middle class, do not require any education. Employers just have a tendency to hire an individual with a high school diploma. Look at the construction trades, only reason why many under the age of 18 do not get hired there is due to insurance purposes. Not because of education. They don’t care if you can spell very good or if you have the ability to not blow up the science lab during chemistry class. They would like for you to have just the basic understanding on how to read the English language with the ability to read a tape measure. It’s the same concept behind the wheel of an 18-wheeler. Can you read that road sign? Do you know your east, west, north and south? I mean come on now, we are not that fresh butter bar out of OCS. Having a sense of direction is a must. You don’t want to have a load from Denver CO bound for Miami FL, and somehow end up in Fairbanks AK. You know how you were sitting in math class thinking to yourself, “I’m never going to use this sh** after high school.” I was also under that impression said it nearly every day. Had somebody showing me the ropes, do you remember the train question? If train A leaves the station at noon, traveling at 50mph, how long will it take to go 250 miles? That’s basic algebra, the one class we said “f**k this” in. Answer is 5 hours so arrival is at 5pm is the answer to that by the way. Now you have to have the common knowledge to estimate your average speed. Any hills that you may encounter. Heading into a big city? Now you have to account for traffic, or in my case the other day, a major accident that shut the road down for several hours.

Just because you drive a truck you don’t have the smarts to cut it in a real job. The funny thing is, I’ve met more people with a masters or a Ph.D. on the road more times than I have ever seen one outside of a hospital, and I’m clumsy, I’m in one often. Even without a degree there are a lot of very bright individuals. It doesn’t discriminate against your race, religion, sexual orientation, if you are a saint Johnny Do-Good, or if you have had multiple felonies. This job is a second chance at life for some. Others it gives broken people, like me, the self-pride to be self sufficient and not having to rely on the government for their money. It gives somebody well into their 60s and early 70s something to do with their free time. The nation tends to look down on the largest vehicles on the public roadway, all because it is the worst of the worst living anybody can do. Which that isn’t even true. You get your life moving by traveling this great land of the United States. Get your pride of having the ability to rely on yourself without a hand out. Having a national average income of $40,000-55,000 per year to just sit on your rump all day watching the scenery go by and maybe work 30 or 45 minutes per day. Yeah, I must say there are some out here who should probably be back in kindergarten learning the extreme basics, but most of us out here are willing to challenge themselves. Looking up interesting topics on their smart phone, people watching, without even knowing you are using some form of math without ever being taught it in school or by simply asking a question. The only stupid question you can ever ask, is the one that is not asked. In this industry there is a saying, “If you aren’t learning something new, it’s time to hang up your keys and walk away. That is when you are going to get somebody killed.” So, keep in mind folks, always keep educating yourself, even if it is outside of the confines of a school.

Guest Writer: Joe Kallenbach

Grew up small town in Washington. Farming community, just your average blue collar. Been driving truck for only 3 years, roughly 400,000 safe miles. Require three states to have what many in their 60’s and 70’s don’t have. But you know, I wouldn’t change this lifestyle for anything. So, I just hope that I am able to put pen to paper on ways that our industry can help itself. My focus is the transportation and logistics industry of this great land, but there are times that I’ll get off track and venture off into different areas.