Taking my wife along.

I go out with my Fiance all the time and we stay out around six weeks, when I got reallllllllllly bored I would pick 6 different trucking companies and count the trucks. The only time I hate it is when i need to pee and there is no restroom in sight.
Seeing different parts of the country is great, shippers and receivers BORRRRRRRRRING.
I always try to have a good book with me and my computer.

 

I plan on taking my wife after training and she cant wait to go.......

 

I've gone with my husband many times since the beginning of last year and enjoyed it. Although, sometimes we were too far from a bathroom and I had nowhere to go and that is very frustrating. Finally, I picked up one of those geriatric over-the-toilet seat things and pulled the seat off and took that along with the bucket and plastic garbage bags and kept it under the bed in the sleeper.
Other than that, I had no complaints. I also kept the camera in the truck so I had something to do if I got bored.

 

the language barrier can be overcome. Not showering regularly, sorry - not acceptable. I just spent two weeks training with a different company - my trainer always made sure we stopped at least once a day near a shower.

No line 4? so. no pre trips, no fueling, no loading/unloading (or dropping/hooking)? Werner should be on his case like VD at a prostitute convention. I think that if he gets DOT audited, he'll be in for a rough time. I'm not sure you are ALLOWED to log those things as 'off duty'. I need to dig up my FMSCR.

Sadly, he's not alone in this

His right. It's his truck, after all. Doesn't mean he's not a complete alimentory oriface, but he can do that if he wants. Me, I kept everything but my briefecase on my bunk.

Wish there was a way to bring that to the attention of the safety department - with corroboration

It's not illegal to suck at downshifting. But yeah, if you can't shift cleanly, you should not be a trainer.

As for down shifting on a downgrade, it's perfectly doable. Dangerous, yes, but doable. You have to make a judgment call: Will the risk be greater if I do or do not down shift? They didn't teach it to us in school, but did show that it can be done. Some companies actively train you how to do it. Doesn't sound like Werner is one of those, but they are out there.

That definitely sounds like a safety issue. The company should have been after him. In my opinion if they company tells a driver to bring his truck in for ANY reason, he should be headed to that terminal effectively immediately. I don't know how long it had been since the company told him to bring it in, but if it had been more than a week or so, lawyers could have fun with them in court. Yes, he'd be burned if something happened as a result, but the company could take it in the shorts, too, for not keeping after him to get it fixed.

Sounds like an awful experience. As if being a Marine for 26 years wasn't bad enough! (sorry, just yanking your chain a bit)

I would recommend you try the smaller companies who hire newbies. My personal recommendations are Watkins & Shephard out of Missoula, MT, and May Trucking, out of Salem Or. I'm in training with May at the moment. ZERO complaints about my trainer, his truck, or the company so far. (well, one, but Idle time is Idle time, and all companies are freaking out about it. Not at all a serious complaint). I suggest you take a look at companies with 1000 trucks or fewer - but those are MY preferences, and may not suit you (but I think they will)

 

I know that CRST use to.

 

When I drove OTR...my wife used to go with me all the time. She loved it and for the most part was my trip planner/navigator/official happy face to other drivers and picture taker.

We went everywhere and would still be dong so if it weren't for her arthritis that has kept her off a truck for about 10 years now.

When her disease(Arthritis) got too bad...I came off the road and took a regional and now a local job.

My wife is my best friend first and my wife second. It's been a difficult adjustment...but you do what you have to do to survive.

You'll have to come to the agreement that the truck and the load are first priority when it comes to stopping to have a bit of fun...but that aside...

My advise to you is simply this.....Do it.....you won't be sorry.