First load

Yea made it to my house for my 34 hour restart and leave out tomorrow evening to go the rest of the way. It was very liberating/nerve racking being out there on my own finally. I was happy to see that lumber was my first load since it's easy to strap and tarp until I saw what kind of lumber it was. It was some kind of lumber that is cut up into 2 foot pieces and they didn't put a board across the top so it would be easy for me to strap. So I strapped them down, didn't feel good about it, un strapped and restrapped. Still felt uneasy so I deployed all 4 of my portable and then tarpped it tight as a Christmas present. I called my trainer just to be sure and he said they should have put boards on there for you but with all the straps I put on it, if the load shifts then there wasn't much you could do. But I did plenty of load checks and it was secure, so I guess it's just greenhorn nerves. But for the first time I'm kinda looking forward to going to work tomorrow. Feel pretty good about my route, got my pin point directions and my gps is saying the same as they are so, should be a good trip.

 

Oh by the way, anyone got any backing tips? I'm just not very good at it, I try to avoid truck stops at all costs, I don't know how them guys back it in the hole everytime, be it at a truck stop or consignee, right now I only park at truck stops if there are multiple parking spots available for me to maneuver in. I know I won't be able to do that forever, just looking for professional advice.

 

What all permits do I need in my permit book. Everyone else went over it in class except me since I still didn't have truck the day we were dispatched. I tried to memorize what I needed the best I could but just want to make sure. It wasn't but 30 mins before everyone was about to leave, when some guy quit and they told me to hurry up go do a 2 mile test drive, get it stocked out and get out of here. Once I got to the shipper, my heart sank when I looked in my permit book and couldn't remember everything I need.