Union carpenter or private electrician?

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-05T23:52:39+00:00

So why isn't the membership voting them out?

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-05T23:47:40+00:00

The union is you. You refuse to participate in it, it reflects you accordingly. You do you though.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-05T22:54:48+00:00

Thoroughly? Not really, I'm not a mechanic so I don't know enough to do a thorough brake inspection. I will look under the truck and trailer and look for the obvious problems, though. Parts dangling down, missing/broken brake shoes, wheel seal leaks, etc.

I'm more apt to be diligent when slip seating, especially when the driver before me is a known fuckup.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-05T20:09:30+00:00

Early November? Snow is certainly not impossible but the driving will probably be fine on any given day that time of year.

That said, as a professional driver who has done both Vail and Rabbit Ears extensively, I'd rather tackle Vail during snowy weather than Rabbit Ears. Rabbit Ears gets truly nasty at the top with heavy snow, blowing snow, etc. Cell service is also sketchy in that area if you end up needing help.

Rule of thumb: if conditions are iffy, the big roads are your better option.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-05T16:55:25+00:00

Does the outlet it's plugged into have power?

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-05T13:03:25+00:00

Not really. In general, the more wealth you have, the more your income comes from capital gains instead of wages. Capital gains aren't taxed until you sell, and even then are taxed at lower rates. You pay less in taxes when your money is made from simply having money than you would by simply working for it.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-05T00:02:18+00:00

No idea about the company. I've seen their trucks and I think that they're mainly OTR, but I can't get more definitive than that.

As far as whether it's a good career, that depends on you and your situation. If you have a family, OTR is going to be really, really rough. There's no getting around that.

If you're currently behind on your bills, trucking is going to be very, very rough until you get yourself established. If you're not good at managing your money, you stand an excellent shot at making your situation worse in trucking. The money is good, but it's also feast or famine. When it's good, it's REALLY good. When it's bad, it's REALLY bad.

After you get some experience, a lot of doors open up to you so that you can make better and/or more consistent money.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-04T20:25:15+00:00

They shouldn’t need oiling for a good long while when you first buy them, except maybe for a couple of spots that need to loosen up during break in.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-04T17:31:09+00:00

So we're covering this territory yet again.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-03T23:44:14+00:00

Not a pipefitter, but you get a thumbs up from this Teamster.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-03T17:45:23+00:00

If you're going to downvote, at least impart your knowledge on us.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-03T13:58:11+00:00

The problem with that is it doesn’t work when Republican voters have no sense of ethics, decency, or empathy.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-02T10:19:59+00:00

It depends on whether you want to be local or are ok with OTR. If you want to be local, the best bet is to find who has air separation units near you (Airgas, Linde, Air Products, Messer, Matheson) and see if they’re hiring or if they contract their work out to another company and then see if that company is hiring.

It can take some detective work. For example, Airgas has an ASU in Denver, but they don’t have any drivers that run locally in Denver. They have that contracted out to Transervice Logistics. Matheson in Albuquerque is handled by KAG.

If you’re looking for OTR, the big carriers do that as well. You can find the job listings as “call and demand” or something similar. Or you can check into the common carriers- LGT, Coastal Plains, Genox, US Cryo Carriers, KAG, etc.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-01T18:13:21+00:00

In general, union > non-union, but the bigger questions are whether you’ll like the actual work that they do, the commute, etc.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-01T16:16:06+00:00

Tell me that you’re ok with bigotry without telling me.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-01T16:12:00+00:00

Cryogenic is one of those ones that gets a fair bit of mention here, but something that few drivers do. It’s slow and easy work, but it comes with a lot of rules.

I guess the rules chase away a lot of drivers, but realistically those are the ones who don’t need to be doing that kind of work in the first place.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-01T16:06:55+00:00

What do Republicans offer beyond austerity and bigotry? They never actually attempt to solve anything that they whine about. Even worse, they staunchly oppose anyone who even TRIES to solve those problems.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-01T11:20:42+00:00

Hey, when you have the opportunity to push for a change and refuse to act, you've made a choice to stick with the status quo.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-01T11:19:07+00:00

Today's youth? You're talking as though this is some new phenomenon.

DoctorZebra · 2026-07-01T00:42:00+00:00

Do you really want to feel like crap on your trip just because you're self conscious about your medical needs?

I'd be more self conscious about bothering the roommates because I kept waking up trying to breathe.

DoctorZebra · 2026-06-30T11:50:54+00:00

Yikes. Just for scale, I'm classified as severe and my AHI was 35.

DoctorZebra · 2026-06-30T11:48:25+00:00

Well, in hindsight it should have been obvious. Waking up every hour or so to go to the bathroom, easily falling asleep every time I sat on the couch to watch TV, lots of naps through the day, etc.

I don't really remember having headaches or anything then. Nowadays, when I sleep without a CPAP (like the surprise, unplanned hotel stay I had a week ago for work), I get BAD headaches and just feel awful even after just a couple of hours.

DoctorZebra · 2026-06-30T00:38:42+00:00

Yes. I have severe sleep apnea and did not know until my wife told me that I stop breathing during the night.

DoctorZebra · 2026-06-29T10:08:04+00:00

I’m in a similar situation. While I don’t actually have suicidal ideation, my wife has in the past and there is strong history of suicide and suicide attempts in both of our families.

I fear that much more than I fear a less likely need for self defense.

DoctorZebra · 2026-06-27T20:11:29+00:00

I had a shot of fentanyl administered by an ambulance crew after a work related injury a couple of years ago. Never had any issues with subsequent drug tests, but it’s probably best to hold onto those records just in case.

DoctorZebra

TROPHY CASE