Only 7 Parking Spaces

Mono Monday - A trip down Memory lane
The above photo is the current day cab truck I drive with the longest trailer I pull - a 53 foot trailer. For 21 years I drove a sleeper cab truck. With this trailer that would put me in 8 to 10 parking spaces. I had everything from a coffin sleeper (padded like a coffin and you slept with your arms across the chest as there was so little room) to having a queen size bed that folded up so you had a bench. I delivered west of the Mississippi with 9 western states primarily. After failing a physical, being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, it took a few months to get my license back. For the last 9 years I have driven a variety of trucks depending on the type of work I was doing. The above photo was cropped to help prevent location and truck details removed to comply with the companies social media requirements.

A classic song here. The original politically incorrect Six Days On The Road. I am also going to let you know the changes since that song came out.
1. Manual Transmission - although many trucks are still manual especially specialty trucks, for the last 5 years I have been driving an automatic transmission.
2."little white pills and my eyes are open wide" as it says in the song... When I started, it was extremely rare to be drug tested and since you had to be awake and driving for a few days at a time - although I never took anything illegal - there are legal herbs that work too (that are now mostly banned also) Drug testing is now a requirement for employment. Once a year at minimum I get pulled for a random drug test and once I had 6 in one year. I would say two is average. There is now a national database that if you ever have a positive drug test or a driving while intoxicated conviction if your a commercial driver. Almost every company uses that standard now - so mostly, one strike and your out - in an attempt to keep the roads safe.
3. The I.C.C. - Interstate Commerce Commission no long exist. Now it is the F.M.C.S.A. or Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.
4. Logbooks - When I was first dispatched, I was handed two logbooks - one to make pretty for the officers and one that I handed to the safety department. Both looked legal but both rarely matched. Since 2017 for nearly everybody and since 2013 I have been running an electronic logbook. Up until 2017 - just about anything could be "adjusted" in the office but both modifications would show up on the printout - so you better have a good reason to change it. Now no driving can be modified - period only on duty time which again will show both the original and modified.
5. Emissions - If you have "black coal" coming out of your tailpipe - you better have just a show / parade truck as many states prohibit visible exhaust. I could write a very long paragraph on emissions but to keep it simple - a modern truck has very low emission as sulfur has been out of diesel for a long time, many states use a variety of bio-diesel fuels and...

I'm also adding my all time favorite trucking song here. Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses