2012 53' Reitnouer Step - those are very nice trailers, spread-axle? tri-axle? I pulled mostly Reinke trailers which I thought were pretty decent, Ravens look nice but are over-rated...I was never an Owner Operator, just a company driver, I worked for some pretty decent paying companies and drove some really nice trucks so I couldn't complain much...I drove OTR for about 6-7 years, then local for 3-4 years, was a hostler at a big company that makes cookies and crackers for 3 years, I've been off work for the last 6 months or so healing from worn out shoulders and surgery on one shoulder...not sure if I will be able to go back to driving again or not, but I have no desire to drive OTR anymore...woberto, et al, it isn't the glamorous "paid tourist' career that it is portrayed as in the movies, it isn't just a job it's a way of life...it has its good points for sure, but for me personally the bad outweighs the good...I have no desire to ever again smell the stench of urine baking in the sun on the asphalt of a truck-stop parking lot...I was at the forty-niner in sacramento one time, I was sitting in my truck doing paperwork when I just happened to look up and notice the drivers door of the truck parked across the lot from me swing open and I saw bare feet step out onto the running board, and I thought, holy shit, no fucking way this guy is gonna walk around out there barefoot is he?? nope, he just stood right there on his top step and pissed on the ground right there...welcome to any-truck-stop USA folks, filthy places..but not many other options out there to park 70' feet of truck..
and yeah, "good buddy" is tantamount to "faggot"...as in the definition of a buddy is a guy you might hang out with and watch the game, or go shoot some pool together, you call your buddy when you need help moving...the definition of a good buddy is a guy that will go downtown and get two blowjobs and then come back and try and give you one...