Any tips for a new driver on their own?

One year driver talking here:

1) Dont leer at the waitresses, fuel desk girls, or other truckers' wives, they aint interested and will just see you as a creeper or a pervert.

2) If the is ice, dont risk it. If there is snow, for the love of God slow down. Usually 55 mph will dot he trick. In whiteouts go slower. Learned this driving up US 81 from KS to NE and hitting the rumble strips with my driver side tires.

3) Plan where you are going to stop ahead of time. Have 3 locations in mind. One as best spot closet to your destenation. One you can live with if something happens and then worst case scenerio.

4) Get a cb and run with it on. Once you get past all the crying and whining you will get useful info, usually.

5) Shower every other day. Every day js unrealistic, but should be able to get one every other day.

6) Unless you love the USA channel or Law & Order dont count on watching tv in truck stop lounges.

7) Never use gps as only routing tool. Buy a truckers atlas. If you cant read it learn to or ask someone to teach you. I will if you need me too. Learn length law requriements for each state.

8) If an old timer is trying to help you. Listen and heed his advice. You will know if he is bsing you. If you cant tell come here and confirm.

9) Always, once you hook to a trailer, always check to make sure locking jaws are closed around the king pin, and do tug test. If its dark use a flashlight. I always check, learned hard way and almost dropped a trailer on nose, because I thought I heard clicking. Dont just rely on that clicking noise.

10) Never talk about what you are hauling. If asked I say Im mt. If they say there is a seal on it I will say none your business. If they keep pressing issue, call cops because maybe trying to highjack the load.

11) If you do have an accident or incident, please dont come one here with full details and ask if you will be fired. I have been there. It is a scary time, bht never discuss the accident with anyone other than safety, cops, and company insurance person or lawyer. Dont even talk to to other driver if one involved and dont psot on social media about it. Lawyers can and will use it aganist you. They are ruthless

Good luck.

 

The social media comment is good advice, nice post. When I got my first smart phone & realized how cool the camera was, the temptation was to snap and post pics of my trips. Which I never did just because it seemed like a great idea but crazy bad idea to do.

 

Of course if you find places you can pull over then you can get some great pics, I have gotten some awesome pics out there when I was otr. I have the new note 4 with the UHD 16MP camera and I dont even drive anywhere to really use it these days. Some of my best pics were travelling Oregon a lot.

 

Most of the views that really seem "special" are on the tricky two lane coming into a curve while the sun is popping the colors of the season so perfectly that your mind has a hard time grasping the image. Better to experience it with out the added risk.
I like those moments when the sun comes out directly after rain, the light seems to magnify everything almost to an earlier time in the world. Every thing shines like a new born baby's innocence.

 

Always keep a safe distance behind traffic. You never know what people are gonna do.