Millis OTR journal

And another thing lol. Cartersville has a pretty good collection of scratch and dent trailers. Wonder why so many? Is it because they are the busiest terminal? Southerners just can’t drive?
I know if I was the training director I would be snapping some pictures of those things and putting them in the slide show with a story for each one.

 

Yeah, I have a checklist, but that doesn't get into everything...like personal stuff...or specifics. But I think I'm pretty much set. Just need a new duffel (looking at a 34" collapsable one), gloves, flashlight.

 

What day do you start? Also if you are not tired. Post your day. It goes by so quick that before you know you will be in trainers truck.

 

Here's my recommendations:

Gloves: Get some el cheapo Wells Lamont leather-palmed work gloves from Walmart. I think they're like $5 for 2 pair. They get dirty and oil/diesel-soaked pretty quickly but they still last a long time. I think I started using my current pair around New Years and they look like trash but they're still holding up.

Flashlight: Not so el cheapo. Go to Amazon or to Fenix's web site and get yourself a Fenix E05 AAA flashlight. They're around $23 but these things are amazing. They have 3 brightness settings and the brightest setting will totally blow you away. You wouldn't believe how much light you can get out of a AAA battery. I use this flashlight for my pre-trip every morning. If you don't set it to turbo brightness every time you use it, a AAA battery should last you several months. I use rechargeables and keep a charger in the truck.

I would also get the Heavy Duty version of the KeyBak retractable keyring from Amazon. Put the above flashlight and your truck door key on it and hang it from your belt loop. I leave the ignition key in the ignition. This keeps both of these items within easy reach and keeps them from getting lost.

 

Yeah, I'd love to do a blog, but probably during training it will just be posts here, haha. Thanks for the tips.

 

Yeah that’s what I meant just keep posting here. I like hearing about the progression.

 

It seems that a lot of drivers like to shoot themselves in the foot with their own pride and hubris. To a lot of these guys, image is more important than how much money they make. They'll happily drive that beat up but chromed out 379/389 with the stick and no camera for $0.42 a mile while telling the guys with the plastic Kenworths, auto shifters, and driver facing cameras to #### off. Not to mention all the guys that refuse to work for any company that hires rookies, because they don't dare risk being mistaken for a rookie by another driver.The mentality of some of these guys is ridiculous. It's almost comic bookish.

 

I also call that the little d_ck syndrom.

 

Yeah I guess that's one way of looking at it. I think a lot of them are just guys who are absolute losers in every single other aspect of their lives but they're good at driving a truck. So they latch onto that and they have to make sure that the WHOLE WORLD KNOWS that they've found something that they're really good at. I'd venture to say that a lot of those guys got told "You ain't never gonna amount to anything!" by their daddies when they were younger, too. But daddy died before little Bobby ever got to prove him wrong, but he still keeps trying to do so.