I've skipped this thread until now, and so now with your indulgence I'll share my semi driving experience. It's not an exciting story. I drove for a few years, never bent anything, and quit when licensing laws changed in beginning of the CDL era.
My dad owned a 125+ employee commercial and industrial sheet metal business, with a 50,000 SF fab shop. He did jobs from Portland to Chicago, and when I was fifteen he purchased an International CO-4070 cabover tractor and a 48' birdcage trailer. At that time I had had a driver's license for about six months, but because of growing up in the desert SW, I had been driving since I was eleven. My grandmother was my first instructor.
The shop was on the SE side of Albuquerque, just a hundred yards from the perimeter fence of Kirtland AFB. I grew up on a steady diet of Century Series fighters along with the B-47, -52, and -58 flying overhead in the downwind leg of the pattern, but that's another story.
Since sheet metal work takes up a lot of space without weight, his guys perfected the art of making knocked down ductwork and fittings so they could pack the trailer up to the weight limit. The largest truck he owned before the 4070 was an extended wheelbase Ford F-750 cabover, with a birdcage body and pulling a 40' triple axle birdcage trailer.
I had driven that around town and to jobs on the Indian reservations west of Albuquerque. I started out slow at first with the 4070, going over to the shop on Saturdays when no one was around, and took just the tractor out for drives. It had a turbocharged Caterpillar 3406 and a 13 speed Fuller transmission, and it was a blast to go through all those gears. After a while I became confident enough to take it out with the trailer attached.
After my dad gave me some training on how to drive the truck (
), over the next few years I drove the rig to Alamogordo, Los Alamos, Santa Fe, and Farmington delivering loads of ductwork. When I turned eighteen, I tested for and received my New Mexico Chauffeur's license, which was what the state termed the unlimited heavy truck license.
He sold the business when I was twenty, and I moved to Texas. When I was at the DMV getting a Texas driver's license, the lady that was helping me asked if I wanted to take the test for a Texas Class A license, which allowed me to drive eighteen wheelers with a 48' trailer and the maximum gross weight allowed. I did, and passed the test, which was pretty easy. I kept the Class A license until the adaptation of the nationwide CDL licensing scheme.
Since I had no reason to be driving an 18 wheeler, I didn't apply for the CDL. Part of that was because the penalties which could be assessed against a CDL holder for traffic violations, even if one was driving a personal vehicle. I could lose my driver's license if I was found speeding over a certain amount or driving with a BAC over .04%. That was three or maybe just two beers in a 30 or 45 minute period, and there were occasions were I would stop at an ice house after a hot day at work and drink a couple with coworkers.
This all sounds a bit fantastic when one considers all of the limitations and oversight that truckers receive today, but back then there were no weigh stations except near the state borders, and I drove very carefully to avoid interaction with state troopers. New Mexico was run pretty loosely back then. I remember reading there was just one trooper for every 150 miles of major state highways. I was aware of the consequences that might occur if I had an accident of any sort, and drove accordingly. I always thought it was fun to drive a big rig.
Hell, it had an air horn.
