Civilian Break 1967 - 1976

After a short while I was promoted to manager but had to move to Iowa to do the managing. Didn't much care for the change and started looking for greener pastures. With little success, I decided to make a bigger change and packed my gear in the car and headed for the other side of the state. I lived in numerous places around the Kansas City, MO area like, Lenexa, Overland Park, Olathe, Shawnee Mission and Shawnee in Kansas and Raytown and Independence in Missouri. I sold insurance for Allstate, managed a sewing machine/vacuum sweeper store in an Overland Park mall and was a Sales Trainer for a buyers club called Uniway. Just couldn't seem to find my niche. A friend suggested I try trucking. I thought that sounded like a good change. A Kansas City company, Jack Cooper Auto Transport, was looking for drivers and they had a training program. Mercy sakes alive! The company paid good and the trips were seldom more than two days long but the trucks were SLOW and UNDERPOWERED and traffic was always backing up behind us on two lanes (back then there weren't all that many four lane highways). I kept longing to drive the "Big Rigs". And finally got my chance. I signed on with a gentleman out of Blue Springs, Mo who owned six rigs that he leased to different companies. My first trip was to the east coast in a cabover Freightliner. I had never driven as part of a team and I learned quickly that two-manning can be heaven or hell. Usually the latter. I drove for approximately five years and most of that time was spent behind the steering wheel, in the sleeper or in a truckstop. There was no time for anything else. I finally realized there was more to life than looking through a truck windshield. I went to visit my friendly neighborhood Navy Recruiter.