MetalHand:The Adventures of an American Trucker

By Abraham Isaac Tov

A through and through trucker adventure. Written by a long-haul driver of decades of experience on the road. After reading this you will never look at that stranger high up in the cab on the freeway the same way again. With great storms, honest dialogue, unexpected twists in the road, and rugged writing it is an interesting read.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abraham Isaac Tov
• Release date: Feb 10, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465851826

Abraham Isaac Tov

I often consider how it would be possible to put into words my entire 58 years of life. Traveling as much as I have hitchhiking, working, trucking, fishing up in Alaska etc. has been both a blessing and a curse.Being one of the 99 % and having lost everything I worked for makes me question what is going on here and abroad to make this possible and so completely unfair. I abhor having to sleep on someone’s floor and accepting charity to get by every day.I truly dislike our current government being run and manipulated by lawyers for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. America was never meant to be like this. The United States isn’t supposed to be a Military Empire. I fished as a crabber up in Alaska and yes it is just as hard as you have seen on the tube. In 1971 I joined the Marines and did my time. Been married twice to wonderful women but it did not work out. I have been a teacher and graduated from three technical colleges. To say I am well read is an understatement. I might add I was a trucking company owner and a long haul truck driver. I am an avid online game player, particularly MMO’s, and I will not give that up. I love sushi and good company. I worked and traveled around the Midwest with a carnival for a while and lived in Haight-Ashbury San Francisco, California in a commune.It was a wonderful time and I miss it. I was a hippie and took part in the last really trans formative social movement back in the day.Right now I feel like a non-person with no work right now but I do have a desire to share what I have learned in life. You never know when fortune will strike or luck, love, other wonderful things that will come around. Being very spiritual I know that everything changes and from my point of view it is better to stay positive.If I had one word to choose to describe myself, it would be genuine.I hope you share what I have written for you with others and I thank you in advance.

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Metalhand: The Adventures of an American Trucker:

By

Abraham Isaac Tov

SMASHWORDS EDITION

PUBLISHED BY

Abraham Isaac Tov on Smashwords

Metalhand: The Adventures of an America Trucker

Copyright 2012 Abraham Isaac Tov

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Introduction:

This is about a forty one year old man named Joshua. To escape economic disparity and sexual perversity within his family he moved his mother and younger brother Stan to Arizona to pursue a better life. Once in Mesa the three of them found a decent place to live in a low end apartment complex named The Orange Grove. The mother got a part time job at the local K-Mart; his younger brother went back to his studies, and Joshua, after reading an advertisement, decided to enter the hardest trucking school in America. It was located in Tolleson, due west of Phoenix. He took his time and researched carefully before really going for it. There was no room or time for mistakes.

His father has passed away, his mom is getting older, and Stan needs to be in school. Joshua feels he has to step up to the plate and get some money rolling in the door. The funds they have from selling the family home will run out quickly and he knows that. Most of their possessions are still in storage and they need a bigger apartment. Cramped as they are he was determined to make things better for everyone. They had been through enough hell.

The Rebel Trucking School is a month in the classroom and six weeks out with a trainer one on one driving, loading and unloading in varying states. One out of three never makes it to the end of the program. After six grueling weeks of on the road instruction if his trainer did not sign off on his paperwork he would have failed, period. The weight of his decision began to subtly lighten once he finally graduated. His documents were signed by Bill and so he after the ceremony will head home to tell the family the good news.

Standing in the same classroom where, as part of over thirty men and four women who started with him, he looked around and realized only six others had made it through. All he could feel was pride at such an accomplishment. Everyone shook hands, celebrated, and was happy with their shared success. The patches were on their brand new shirts and Joshua thought it was a perfect fit. The trainers were there and he made sure to take a moment to shake Bill’s hand and express his gratitude for not taking it easy on him. Bill was an old school flatbed driver with more than thirty years of over the road experience.

Bill said to Joshua before he left the ceremony, You are now a trucker Metalhand. Be safe, drive safe and keep the rubber side down. Now Joshua’s story as trucker really begins. What will come? Where will he go? What will he have to load and face out there on the open road in a big rig? Flatbed trucks are dangerous and he knows he still has a lot to learn. Trucking school taught him a great deal but not everything .Right now all he is hoping for is a good truck and good gear. Other than that, he is ready. He is new blood as the much older truckers call him, and he does not understand that, but he will!

Chapter I

As his mother and brother drive him back to the Rebel trucking company to get assigned his truck, He is both happy and nervous. He graduated at the top of his class and was told he Metalhand was going to take charge of 4 other trucks and go get them loaded with cotton bails just east of Phoenix and run them into Wilmington California to the company warehouse not far from the Los Angeles ports. Then turn right around and go get a load of steel and head out for a company in Davenport Iowa.

So, not only did he have his own truck to load and worry about, He had to make sure the other 4 drivers he did not even know, load their trucks right. Well, this is what he wanted! So he waits to hear his name and finally get his truck assigned. Everyone is walking around, talking and very busy in the Company’s big dispatch office. There is a lot going on as he sits and waits. Thinking to himself, Man how long is this process going to take, Joshua wonders’. I want to get rolling and get the hell out of here. He looks around and can feel the tension in the air. Joshua realizes everyone he can see seems very uptight. Then Carl, the head of maintenance, walks up to the window and says, Where is Joshua, Metalhand, which one are you?

I walk up to speak to Carl to get my truck and he says, Your truck number is 832 Metalhand and is over by the maintenance shop in the 3rd row. Go get it, check it out and sign here, here, and here if you like it.

What if I do not like this truck?

Well then I will find you one you will like Metalhand that OK with you.

Yes of course Carl.

Wait a sec till I get the other 4 drivers done and then you all can go get your trucks together.

I was thinking he called me Metalhand, the name Bill my trainer gave me. I hope that the other drivers going with me know I am the lead truck on this run. I do not want any egos getting in the way. Finally after forty five minutes of sitting there waiting for Carl to get done assigning our trucks, we all got our keys