Its over

I received a call today from my attorney, the news is the Supreme Court of Appeals in Nebraska ruled in our favor and dismissed the cross appeal from Drivers Management Inc. Although, excitement of it finally being done and decided the victory is bittersweet. I am happy that with this decision that another driver or employee might have a better chance of fighting Goliath. That being fired and being denied benefits because if you weren't fired you would receive benefits isn't an excuse to defy logic. I am happy that the highest court in Nebraska found in favor of my case. I am forever grateful for my attorney and her law firm listening to me and even though money wise I was a low value case it was the principle of the whole matter that they took it in the first place after so many others turned me down.

I was on Social Security Ticket to Work program where you still receive benefits while you train to work. I thought my benefits ended in January but they actually ended in December and I am still paying them back for the one month they over paid me. Meaning for a month I was really out there on my own making my own wages. I really hope one day I will have that wonderful feeling of being independent because right now it just stinks.

I miss the road plain and simple, I miss the sound of the truck and the life that truck driving provided me. I miss the nearly $1000 a week in income that I once made and the ability to have a life. There is something about truck driving that I never knew would of made such a huge imprint in my life. It wasn't the people even though you would meet those from all over each with their own story. It wasn't traveling all over the United States and seeing places you would of never had seen before. It was sitting there under 40 tons and 60 feet of pure power, the solitude of being in your home and workplace traveling at 65 mph. The pride of being a truck driver as I always kept my truck clean, my interactions professional. I wore a Werner Enterprise shirt with blue work shorts as a representation of professionalism. They didn't require you to wear it but I was a driver for Werner on a great account and I was happy. Werner wasn't a bad company to drive for and I loved working on a dedicate route. Most complaints are the same old complaints you will hear from nearly every company diver out there. Slow maintenance service, trailers from hell with tandems nearly welded in rust to the frame, poorly planned trips by the manager. Trips where you wait 5 hours to pick up a trailer and dive 60 miles so another driver can haul it to the destination thus earning you a whopping $19.80 for 7 hours of work or $2.82 per hour far less than minimum wage. I heard horror stories from drivers from companies far worse than that. Oh how I loved my Pete and she was so good to me. She didn't like to turn tight corners though and if you weren't lucky you found yourself moving 5 inches back and forth for a half an hour before you could get backed in. Driving was good and I will always miss it.

Nebraska workman's compensation does not have pain and suffering. Wouldn't matter anyways because DMI couldn't have enough money to reimburse me for the never ending days of pain. Nerve pain, I wouldn't wish it on my enemy no matter how bad they were. White hot streams of pain shooting down your neck into your back, spasms and knots under your shoulder blade twisting and turning and you can’t massage it, you can’t hold it like you do a cut and the pressure releases the pain. Sensation of stepping on nails every time you place one foot on the ground is pure torture. I can't say I have been able to get over it, sometimes all you can do is lay there and scream and cry. What I can say for those who have been injured like this is... it won't kill you and after years go by those little sharp pains just blends into a whole mass of pain still barley tolerable but yet tolerable. If you feel like not wanting to live because it is too much you can. Take it from someone who was there not imagining another day in pain and praying to die in their sleep. Get help any way you can.

I pray that another driver will never have to feel what I have felt and for those loyal professionals that they never have to feel their company fail them and abandon them when they need them most. Trucking is a great job and I hope that all those who are out there on the road have a safe winter.