My Personal Adventure! Newbie trucking......

Well, here I am. It is January 29th, 2012 and should be wrapping up my first 3 weeks out as a solo driver! Man, looking back, not only is life an adventure but to get from Day 1 of CDL(permits, actual license, etc.), to Orientation, to Training, to Upgrade has been one HELL of a ride.
Ok, let's start out from the beginning.....I am almost 36, have an amazing hot latina wife(I'm American.....well white mofo! lol), she supports me fully, have been married for 11 years...we have a beautiful little boy that is 3 and a half.....both had great jobs(it's amazing how when you have a kid...all of money goes away REALLY QUICK! As opposed to when you just have the 2 of you! haha)...2008 came around and we had little guy, a year later, she gets laid off.....2 months later, before my company closed it's doors(Marble and Granite Countertops is what I did for 10 years!) I jumped ship with another company. Then the next 2 years and 2 jobs later...I get laid off again! I've NEVER been laid off from a job.....yet alone, with the economy, 2 times in a row....so After 16 years of playing in bands and living on the road(weekend warrior...sometimes 4 days in a row....when I had vacation time) and a perfect driving record, I decided to become a trucker. Hell, my Dad was very encouraging about it...and him being a graduate of VMI and telling me to not be a trucker when I was younger shocked me!(NO OFFENSE TO ANY OF YOU OUT THERE!) My neighbors and everybody around me looked at me like I had 2-4 heads saying...."you don't look ANYTHING LIKE A TRUCKER!!!!!".....Since I've gone solo, I've gotten crazy looks from other truckers getting outta my 2010 Kenworth with my 153 lb butt going in to eat or so on and so forth! haha
So school, I went to Future Truckers Of America in Asheboro, NC. GREAT SCHOOL! There were a few flaws(students doing daily PTI's and not having instructors monitor them, etc) in it, but everywhere has flaws and I think almost any school you go to is NOT flawless. I decided to go with USA Truck to pay for schooling, since I tried to get a grant with unemployment, and they said they could pay $2,000 but would get me a job to pay for the other $1,000...HELLO!!!!! I am trying to GET A JOB ##########! haha
Well, needless to say I graduated on Nov. 3rd, 2011 and was thrilled, even the wifey was really happy. I was excited for my new journey in life/career about to begin.....but next came the training.....I've been coming to this forum since Sept. of 2011 I've read the trainer(and heard from other drivers) horror stories...... so I'm a headfirst kinda guy.....let's delve into my trainer story....NEXT!

 

The following week(after Orientation! This would be the week AFTER Thanksgiving 2011)...I get a call from my trainer that he is 6 miles from my house, literally around the corner from where I use to work at.....he'll be there to pick me up in an hour...ok, cool...I SCRAMBLE and I mean SCRAMBLE to quickly make sure everything that I had packed, was packed. He shows up 3 hours later. Smelly, stinky little ****** he was. haha He seemed really cool, retired military, seemed to show me respect like I had shown him. First week out...went pretty good...he seemed to love to YELL AT ME when I was backing, I kept telling him cones and trailers are different....tell me, I want to learn this...don't YELL AT ME! But, that didn't seem to help.
By the end of the first week, we had a load that was to be picked up in VA. and dropped off near Chicago. He was happy!(Hell, he made me drive 15 hrs. my second day of driving and I was tired and told him this is illegal...he would just shrug it off and then show me how to "fix the books"..."I'm NOT showing you this, it's just what you hafta do." is what he'd say. ok, buddy...I know better...just have 3-4 weeks of this ahole and I'm free!) Once we got up to Waynesboro, VA the 9th gear just gave out! I had excellent compliments on my double clutching, even he was surprised at how well I was and complimented me on it. He told me it's all good, 9th gear had been going out for awhile and it's be "meaning to go out". Yet, when we got to Van Burean(which was 4 days later, 27 hour bus ride from VA...we did see an old lady catfight break out at 1 am in Knoxville, TN, blows thrown and all...that was cool!!! haha), the ***** SOB told all the other drivers I blew out 9th gear!
I just kept to myself and ignored this smelly ahole's mouth, even though he could be a really nice, down to earth guy, seemed like he was a typical back stabber...loved to yell at you for anything, didn't wanna do anything but sit in the sleeper and play Facebook games all day, while complaining about his "internet connection" going down the road. Finally, Christmas came, I got to go home and be with the wife and little dude...I was excited....just getting out of the truck being cramped for 3 weeks with this guy was enough. I was almost ready to go solo and for a change.....trainer 2 is NEXT!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah, just to gross you all out...haha...this dude always slept in his underwear! Whenever his jeans came off he had a big pee stain on all of his underwear that was just a gagging reflection in itself...I still, to this day, don't know how I didn't throw up! haha

 

Well, the day before new years eve I leave NC for Ky and meet up with my trainer that following Monday....New Years weekend in a hotel room wasn't bad....it was a nice hotel and I had a chance to download a buttload of movies and ps2/wii games for my emulators....haha. My second trainer was a team trainer...we went from KY to Portland to LA back to KY in a weeks time. YEP, I had night shift! The second guy was GREAT, my sleep schedule was WAY OFF!!!! lol I'm use to getting up at 3, 4, 5 in the morning....that when that time rolled around I swear I felt like I was tripping on acid seeing things, my brain was so worn out, and not to mention I couldn't sleep to save my life during the day. 7am I was worn out ready to sleep, but when we stopped for fuel, eat, etc. at 9-10 am by 12pm I was wide awake....needless to say I only got about a good 6 hours of sleep a day...and he was telling me to get more...I just couldn't sleep!!!! He helped me back like there was no tomorrow! I've gotten 10 billion times better on my own, especially since stinky ****** isn't there yelling at my ear to "get it in the hole!" After my week with second trainer was up I went to Vandalia, OH for upgrade.....I was nervous, alittle bit, but passed with high flying colors! Now out on my final week before hometime, my truck has broken down on me and here I sit at Vandalia, fixed and ready to be loaded! The good thing is, I got a trainers truck....meaning....I gotta 10 speed! YEAY!!!!!! With truck fixed and ready to roll...I just hope they don't stick me up in the Northeast and I make another $100 a week check...yep, my first OTR check was $114! How in the hell can I support my family off of that?!?!?!?! I talked to Operations Manager and explained I was driving from Syracuse, NY to Roanoke, VA to turn in my truck. I can't support my family on $114 a week.....so, he promised I'll get more miles....I'll go to home time, since I haven't been home in 4-4 and a half week and hang with the wife and son and then when I go out....either they give me miles(since truck is fixed now!), or give my truck to someone else and I'll just go local. I did meet a guy at school that went with USA and after his first solo and only 4 checks of $180-$250 he quit. I guess I'll wait and see!

 

So, I get on the dog to go to West Memphis terminal to pick up my truck. Boy am I excited, it's a 10 speed...I'm one of the 1% here that gets a stick right outta upgrade. Truck looks great....no problems. I get my first load from terminal that goes up near Chicago....527 miles. Not bad. So, I pre-plan my trip and hit the road....everything went fine until I hit St. Louis. Major winter storm hit....I have never driven a semi in snow and slow down to about 35 mph, even though I was only carrying 8,000 lbs.....I get through the storm no problem, make my drop and find a nice truck stop for the night. Boy am I wiped lout!
The next day, my air lines had a hole in them, call breakdown and they come out and replace them...so off I go again on my next run. Turns out this goes from Chicago out to an hour south of Toledo, Oh....only 350 miles. I start chugging down the road....I notice that my air lines aren't holding 120 psi...but only 90 and no more. I pull into a truck stop to fuel up and get something to eat....then when I release brakes to hit the road...the brakes won't release....call breakdown again and a repair guy shows up 1 hour later....turns out my tractor brake lines had ice in them....It was near 14 degrees outside. So he gets the ice out and I park it for the night....do the drop and get my next load from Toledo to VA....570 mile run....ok once I'm heading down the road....I hafta stop every 3 hours and pour antifreeze into the resivour(however you spell it! haha) and notice somethings not right....after about 4 more loads( and gallons upon gallons of antifreeze later)....after VA...I'm stuck up in the Northeast and my APU went out in 7 degree weather....boy did I freeze my butt off, lol....I finally get into Vandalia, OH and wait for 4 days to have my truck fixed.....this morning, FINALLY I am able to hit the road......get my load, hooked up to trailer, do "tug test"....hook up and proceed to pull away.....once I start turning to the left I felt a "jerk" and then....BAM! Trailer becomes unattached.....I just can't get any money made in this truck! haha Luckily, it landed on the landing gears, since I was only idling through the parking lot....so we get the trailer up and go to hook up to trailer....now there's something wrong with the fifth wheel....it's locked and the handle is pulled all the way out....GREAT.....so now I need new air lines and something has to be done with my fifth wheel....I just hope my second 3 weeks out go better....as bad as this first 3 weeks has been a nightmare, I'm really almost ready to pack it in and get a local job, which is what my plan was after a year....and be home with the wife and little guy.

 

USA is a win or lose company, it seems. I've run into guys that made around what my first check was and worse, and I've heard typically you'll make around $300 a week...I can live off of $300 a week as my unemployment check is close to that. But, being at the terminal, I've seen lots of guys that I did orientation with and met a few new friends that ALL have problems with their trucks and are in for repair.....so I guess it's a "luck of the draw" kinda thing here, as I'm sure it is anywhere...I just hope after this nightmare...thing's will go alot smoother for me...i.e. TRUCK FREAKIN' WORKS!!!!!! haha