Well boys. i'm out of the loop.

[jeffintx]

I got hit. It looks like the cutbacks caught up here. I got let go. Nobody in this area is hiring right now. I have lived here my whole life, and as much as I hate to say it we are thinking about moving. My wife has family in SW Missouri. May go up there and hang out a while. It may be a long, cold winter. Any ideas for a man with 12+ years experience in mixer driving, batching, and dispatch?

[BillyCement]

Good luck, dude. We just got our hours cut and there's some talk of possible layoffs. And when things are slow in the NYC area then things are REALLY slow in the rest of the country. Hang in there. Hope you find work.

[Crazy Mudder Trucker]

It's getting hairy over here too. Im lucky to get 8 hrs a day, May I suggest applying for umemployment. I think I am going to if things get worse here. Sorry to here you got laid off. I wish the best for you.

[gant]

what part of MO?? around Springfield, Nixa and Branson??

[jeffintx]

Crazy MT, yes that was the first thing I did. In fact my old boss told me to. ;D And Gant, if we go we will be somewhere east of Springfield, specifically Lebanon. My wife's grandmother lives there and she has an aunt up toward Rolla. Her aunt is between Houston and rolla. I forget what town. Any ideas? I may try to hit rolla ready mix if we go. I see they are owned by the same company that you work for. My wife says if we go to try to get on at fort Leonard-wood. I don't know about that. I am pretty spoiled on driving a mixer. I can make it here on unemployment and side jobs until the first of the year or after. May try to leave in early march when it starts to thaw out a little up there. I ain't never seen more than 2 inches of snow, that will be different.

[gant]

Yeah Rolla Ready Mix is owned by my company.. I think they are union too.. you might be thinking of St. James.. its west of Rolla..Give it a shot.. we have some pretty nice trucks..

[Mixer Driver 69]

Sorry to hear of your lay-off, Jeff. Like Crazy MT says, it's gettin' pretty lean over here on the West Coast too. Gotta find something to do with myself this winter. (Yea, yea, I can hear the jokes already. Haha.) Hope things get better for ya in Mo. Best of luck, brother.

[cfconcrete]

That blows big time bro, I feel for ya.
But, you do have a CDL, someone somewhere needs a truck driver.
There's no layoffs here, but there's gonna be, I can bet on it.

[jeffintx]

Well... I'm still out of the loop, but I got a job. I got hired on at the local defense contractor (L-3 Communications) working in the machine shop. I start monday making $18 an hour. I know a lot of people that have been there a lot of years. The money will be great. They pay OT after 8 hours in 1 day, automatic OT on saturday and double time on sunday. They pay OT after 40 and double time after 50 hours in a week. Right now I start out working 6:30-4 M-F. After 30 days I can work all the OT I want. A buddy of mine has been working 12 hours a day 6 days a week for 18 months and he made 91,000 last year. I worked in a machine shop building rock bits years ago before I started driving a mixer. I will miss hauling mud, but the money will more than make up for it. I will still check up on you guys some time. Thanks for the support. Jeff

[BillyCement]

I'm out of the loop now, too......sort of. I had knee surgery on Wednesday and I'll be on disability for a few weeks (hopefully only two). I had torn cartilage in the knee and it was getting harder and harder to get in and out of the cab.

[Mixer Driver 69]

Clutch knee or accelerator knee? Hope ya heal quickly, Billy.

[BillyCement]

Thanks, it was my clutch knee. Management told me that when I get back I can use one of the Peterbilts for awhile. The have auto trans.

[gant]

atleast they are considerate.. my company's policy is you have to be able to drive any truck they have in the fleet..luckily all ours at our plant are volvo's with the autos

[LEAD DOG]

BEST OF LUCK BRUTHA