CDL in hand... Now What ? Decision time, that's what...

Today I started off at 0615 for the pre-trip and then got underway at 0630. First stop was at the Iron Mountain terminal to get new windshield wipers. The maintenance guy was very friendly and helped me out right away, once I brought the old blades into the shop. He put the new ones on the truck and they made a huge difference.


First Solo Load


Next stop was a load check at a truck stop in Manistique, MI, along the U.P. All the snow is gone now, unlike last week when we passed by there heading the other direction. After the Mackinac Bridge (toll $25, loaded truck speed limit 20mph), next load check (must perform this every 150 miles or 3 hours, whichever comes first) was at the MI I-75 MM 288 rest area. Two other Roehl trucks came in behind me and I chatted with one of the drivers who happened to also stop in Iron Mountain this morning for a leaking hub seal.


3 in a row somewhere in Michigan


Final stop today is Saginaw, MI at the Flying J off I-75. Total of 412 miles. I had about 2.5 hours of drive time remaining, but decided to call it early to rest and have a shower and dinner. My load doesn't deliver until Tuesday morning. I have talked with the receiver and he told me I can park at the delivery site overnight on Monday. A little over 600 miles left to get there, I plan to do most of that tomorrow, staging somewhere in western Maryland for the final leg.

Had dinner with the same Roehl flatbed driver who was at the terminal and the rest area. We ended up at the same truck stop. He has been with the company for about 6 months. He told me about some of the interesting load assignments he's had over that time. He also recommended getting a truck GPS. I had already been looking at them and his description of the utility of the device put me over the top. I bought the RM 510, since it was on sale here at the J for $269.

Before leaving Marshfield I borrowed a company car and went to WalMart to stock up on food. Had to spring for the coleman plug-in cooler ($88.00). That thing is great and will allow me to reduce the food expenditures, which got quite ridiculous during the training phase.

 

Somewhere along the line during these many weeks of training, I think someone said "Drive the trailer." Essentially what this means is to project your thinking as if you were sitting on the middle of the trailer deck. That thing is so long (48' for flatbed, 53' for van) that it can easily get off track from where you want it. When you are going around a curve, you need to steer along the outside edge of that curve, so that the trailer stays inside the lane. Even going down a straight highway, if the steering tires go over to the edge of the lane, then the trailer can cross over the line fairly easily. Checking mirrors often is a great idea, not only to look for other vehicles, but also to see where the trailer is.

The reason we truck drivers are out here is to deliver precious cargo safely to its destination. If we "drive the trailer" we can increase our chances of being successful.

 

There was a specific moment from last week that I remember vividly. I had been driving all day and was out of hours so my instructor was driving to get us a little closer to our destination. It was night time and I was quite tried and starting to zone out a little. Suddenly I felt myself having a sensation almost like entering a tunnel. The sides of my vision closed in from both sides and I felt lower to the ground. "Whoa! That was weird!" I said out loud and tried to explain to my instructor what I was seeing. He said, "Usually it happens while you are driving, but what happened is that the truck just shrunk for you. That is the moment at which it doesn't seem so big and scary."

Sure enough, next morning when I started to drive, the truck did feel smaller. I felt lower to the ground and it felt more like I was driving a big car. Apparently many new drivers experience a similar phenomenon. It was amazing how pronounced it was for me.

 

http://www.thetruckersreport.com/truckingindustryforum/album.php?albumid=2700


Enjoy

 

Now at the Pilot in Breezewood PA, about 120 miles from the delivery location. Drove 491 miles today; had 2 hours left on the clock but decided to hang here overnight and through the morning. If I was an experienced driver, it would likely be frustrating to have this many days (Fri noon to Tues am) to go 1200 miles. But I am a new solo driver so it makes sense to leave plenty of time. I plan to park tomorrow night at the delivery site so I can sleep in (if possible) tomorrow morning and have a nice sit-down breakfast before moving closer.

The truck did really well in the hills of Pennsylvania. The load is only 27k pounds, but still it pulled uphill in 10th gear every hill except one, which required a downshift to 9th. Passed a Maverick Freightliner and a TMC Peterbilt, both with flatbeds loaded by the appearance to perhaps 3/4 capacity.

Did load checks in southern Michigan, Gibsonburg OH, Seville OH (refueled there also), and northeast of Pittsburgh PA.

Rained off and on all day and except for using the wipers you would hardly know it by the way the truck handles. Overall I am very pleased with the ProStar.

So there you have it, the recap of the 3rd day of solo driving.

Stay safe and have fun.

Perpetual.