A new trail for me to travel.

For about four years, I have been vested in my Teamster pension, and each year that I do not retire I am leaving a large amount of money (to me) on the table....nonetheless, additional years have allowed me to grow the pension disbursement.



As of today, I accepted a position as an Environmental Technician with CDL and hazmat endorsements with a great company...the pay equals what I was making, a really nice signing bonus, and all sorts of extra pay. I will be driving a bobtail or sprinter van in Arizona, New Mexico, possibly west Texas. Averaging 2-3 nights on the road. No sleeping in the truck, hotels of my choice on the credit card, and a per diem for every night that far exceeds what I would eat or drink. Typically pick up from retail locations products that are deemed hazardous that we used to toss in the garbage...batteries, aerosols, etc....typically 4 stops per day, mostly driving, take it all back to PHX load it on the rig and truck it to the disposal facility in Beatty Nevada about an hour north of Vegas. Home every weekend, so pipe club meetings will not be missed.

I can take the wife with me if I want, not sure about Duke. 
A buddy of mine that retired before me...last week his duty was punch in on the clock... Uber picked him up at home>Sky Harbor airport> Uber to a retail business in Denver> pumped 5 gallons of flammable product into jugs labeled for company drivers in Denver to pick up>Uber back to the airport and had a few cocktails waiting for the flight> Uber home punched out...(The employees were not certified to handle the hazardous products)

This should be a good job to carry me forward for a few years...great benefits by the way.

FWIW....On the east coast and central states, the teamster pension sucks...providentially I ended up in the Western states pension system and the pioneers saw what was going on back east and structured it differently...it is funded at 95%...which means that if 95% of the members retired, it would be solvent...not that way east of the Rockies sadly.

If anyone knows a CDL driver (preferably with a hazmat endorsement) that has a good work ethic, PM me..this company provides great opportunities.

I could use some new underwear if you see anything in a lg size. I prefer bikini briefs.

All I can say about this job is that it is unbelievable on the retail side what gets thrown away by retailers to head off to the furnaces. I guess that rather than reselling previously sold products that work fine, or the package is compromised, it is easier to take the write off and pay a company to put it in a furnace is mind-blowing. One place today had a 55 gallon drum of high $ perfumes and Colognes that appear to be full. A lot of “guy stuff” that We picked up... 4 more stores to hit.

Mind you, these are consumer products that are thrown in landfills every day perfectly legally, but a commercial enterprise is forbidden from doing so.

Left Phoenix yesterday, went to Sauharita Az., on the way to Las Cruces NM, and to El Paso, did 4 pickups in El Paso today, but a snag with GE, we shut down early at the motel and took advantage of happy hour and seafood... Tomorrow over to GE, Carlsbad, Hobbs NM, Clovis, and haul our donkeys to Show Low....tomorrow is a long day, I will be glad to get trained up so I can smoke on the road.

Thanks for the heads up... our time there will be minimal, probably an hour or so at each Harbor Freight store. After Clovis, we are looking at getting on the US 60 to go west across the state, is that a pretty good highway?

I will be going to ABQ quite a bit in the future, maybe we can get together for a smoke.