The Difference Between Purple and Pink

I am here in Des Moines, IA, having completed my happy little orientation phase and now I am approaching the actual driving and hooking up and handling paperwork phase. I have completed my driving test which was unusual in that it took place on the very first day. The second day was videos with some hands on as we pumped from one trailer to another using both air and the hydropak. Funny how I could have been in the driving industry for so long and not really pay any attention to how tankers work. Looks good so far. The funny thing about this company is that there really is not a "story" or spin. It is what it is. I have spoken to at least 20 of these drivers and I am here to tell you that I can't get one of these guys to say a darn thing bad about the company. Oh, wait, there was one guy that said that sometimes the freight was "inconsistent". Welcome to trucking sunshine...

The bittersweet component added to the fact that in my opinion, I have managed to stumble into the best company to work for to date, is that Des Moines is in the middle of fighting an oncoming disaster. Yesterday, I was meeting and getting information from the department heads, ordering my uniforms and getting a general understanding of how the operations side of the company works. Just about any television was showing the down town flooding and showed the coming band of miserable thunderstorms and the red boxes representing tornado watches and warnings. Yesterday in western Iowa, a tornado hit a Boy Scout camp north of Council Bluffs and 4 scouts between the ages of 13 and 18 were killed. That kind of tragedy rests heavy on me as I was a boy scout at one time and I remember fondly the campouts and all the activities. It was real life in the fact that I was involved and with my friends and yet for me, it was fantasy in that the real world was insulated from the recreation, the tent building and the pranks and hazing that is frequent among groups of men in the wilderness. I am thankful in that no one was killed on any of my campouts. My prayers are with the families of the victims.

I think that the experience with this company will be a positive one and that perhaps it will change the scope of this page. Hey, a guy can't rant and rave about all the annoying stuff in life every day. That would get old. Perhaps I can attack an occasional lot lizard to stay in shape. Who knows? Dedication