Newbie Team Driver Wannabees - Can We Do This?

If you all haven't found this info yet, here is a good website with info on trucking. WomenInTrucking.org

I found two links that have been really helpful to us right now.

1. Questions To Ask A Prospective Truck Driving School
http://www.womenintrucking.org/articles/Questions-to-ask-Truck-Driving-School.pdf

2. Questions To Ask A Training Company
http://www.womenintrucking.org/articles/Questions-to-ask-Training-Company.pdf

And for women especially, I found a good article to read about protecting yourself from the dangers that are out there. Written by David Brown, Former Senior Detective Constable, Ontario Provincial Police.

According to him the best way is to not place yourself in a potentially dangerous situation in the first place. I've heard too much in the past few weeks that I've been researching this business ... about women truckers being raped, attacked, forced to do things they didn't want to do, abused, humiliated, called names and more by people out there on the road. It's not always the male truckers who are involved, apparently there are people who watch for women drivers and prey on them. Unfortunately, there are also a few male trainers who will intimidate their female trainees as well. Please take the time to read this article. This is also good advice for men drivers as well, we all need to stay safe out there.

http://www.womenintrucking.org/articles/How-to-Protect-Yourself-from-Male-Drivers-&-Trainers.pdf

If the links don't work for some reason, the articles and links are all on this web page:
http://www.womenintrucking.org/secrets-to-success.cfm

This article has made me think really hard about going out training with a stranger. I think my husband and I will be rethinking how we will approach company training for the two of us. I will wait for a female trainer or wait for my husband to train me when he is allowed to do so.

 

Hey, gdyupgal

I got your PM, tried to reply but it wouldn't go to you because it said your inbox is to capacity and you need to delete some messages. So I'll respond here, hope you don't mind. I don't want you to think I'm ignoring you.

Thank you so much for the nice message! BTW, I LOVE your signature! I've always wanted to be a cowgirl ... kinda jealous here! I used to line dance, back in the '90s, had boots, a cowgirl hat and everything! I'd still be dancing if the club had not shut down. sigh.

I'm smiling at your comment about this thread being like a reality trucking show ... too funny! Maybe I should get on Bravo's website and ask the producers if they'd like to film us going through this? Maybe we could make a little extra money here...! ??

And thanks for the luck, we sure can use all we can gather these days ... and it's good to hear from people like you who are following our story. Glad to be able to entertain everyone (as well as myself at times) ... and it's good for me to be able to write it all as it happens to us, it's good therapy and much cheaper than a shrink!

Thanks again, here's a big hug, back atcha!

 

Yes, you're planning exactly the same thing we are! Except for renting out the house. We're going to try to sell ours. Just wondering if you both are comfortable with wife training for several weeks with a male trainer? After watching the Big Rig documentary and hearing from lady truckers on this forum and other places, I'm really concerned. That video, btw, should be called something like Scared Straight for Trucker Wannabees! A sobering look at the industry. One woman driver said that a gang of guys attacked her truck, were hanging from the truck, she had to use a tazer on one guy. My husband is searching for legal weapons we can carry on the truck.

 

OK, so we bought some weights and have been using them to get in shape to pass the physical tests that we'll be given at a company orientation.

We asked the CDL school what the physical testing consisted of so we could practice ahead of time and she sent this to us in email, saying that different companies do different tests but this is just an example:

1. Crouch - 2 reps ... you have to be able to crouch underneath a table that will simulate your trailer, this is to prove your ability to perform pre-trip and post-trip inspections.
2. Step/Step Kneel/Kneel - 2 reps ... to prove ability to step up/down from cab, trailer and cat-walk.
3. Squats - 10 reps ... to prove ability to perform repeated clutching, step up to and down from cab, trailer and cat-walk.
4. Floor to Head Lift - 30 lbs x 1 rep ... to prove ability to lift personal gear into the cab in a duffle bag.
5. Waist to shoulder lift - 20 lbs x 3 reps/40 lbs x 3 reps... to prove ability to load/unload freight and raise the tractor hood
6. Horizontal pull - 100lb average ... prove ability to crank dollies, open/close trailer doors, close/lower tractor hood, enter tractor & trailer, pull 5[SUP]th[/SUP] wheel, slide tandem, utilize a pallet jack
7. Horizontal push - 80 lb average ... prove ability to crank dollies, open/close trailer doors, utilize a pallet jack
8. Step up/step down on a 12 inch step for 1 minute to test heart rate
9. Carry 50 lbs (female)/70 lbs (male) in a crate a distance of 30 ft/ 3 reps ... not sure if that's 30 ft total (10 ft x 3 reps) or 30 ft x 3 reps

So this is now my daily training routine, which takes about an hour and 15 minutes, including the walking part:
*Walking really fast, 3 miles every day, to increase aerobic ability and test my heart rate.
*100 crunches ... working up to 300 but not there yet
*Step up/down for 5 minutes
*Squats - as many as possible until I feel the burn ... which currently is only about 12 reps (hey, you have to start somewhere)
*We bought a plastic crate and filled it with 50 lbs of weights and I have been practicing lifting it from the floor and carrying it 30 ft. So far I can do this once and then have to set that thing down!
*I'm also doing bicep/tricep training with little 5 lb and 10 lb weights for about 15 minutes.

After a week of training (so far), I am already seeing results. The exercises are getting easier each day, but I'm afraid I'm losing inches and will have to buy new clothes. By the time I get to school I will probably be down to 100 lbs! That's not my goal, to lose weight, but if you're exercising, that's what happens! (at least to me) Maybe I can eventually build muscle and since muscle weighs more than fat (not that I'm fat), maybe I can maintain my weight after all, we'll see. My husband is training with me, but he is doing different exercises using heavier weights; he won't have a problem with the physical tests. And neither will I! Just sayin'...

 

Hey, I found TruckerDesiree last week! I love this woman! Watched all of her videos on youtube. She's one of the lady truckers who made me aware of the possible dangers out there. And I heard/read about what happened to her while training with a male trainer. And she's not the only lady trucker who has had a problem with this.

Thanks for the link. All the women trucker-wannabees should definitely hear her story.

 

Thank you for the encouragement, Chompi. I have days where I am totally on-board with this and other days where I wish we could stay right where we are. Especially when I'm going to bed at night in my warm, comfy bed. I'm going to miss that bed so much! I'll also miss my desktop computer and 24" monitor, I don't know how I'm going to do my photography processing on a small laptop so I can still sell my work. I'm concerned about my dog getting enough exercise ... and myself too. I can't imagine two people and a small dog living in such a small space for weeks at a time. I have never seen the inside of one of those trucks, other than in photos, so it's hard to envision.

We started taking shelving from the bsmt to the storage unit yesterday. Today I start taking stuff to Goodwill and Salvation Army and the "keep" stuff to storage. Husband is off flying for 4 days. He has just a couple trips left and then he's done with this company and can get packed up and ready for CDL training.

I will take you up on the offer to PM you, I do have questions, I'll do that later today ... Thanks.