Quality of life while on the road?

An accurate description of life on the road huh? Well, once you get past the training part, and get your feet under you, it gets fairly routine and mundane. I start my day early (0300 usually), and I will normally run my 10 or 11 hours out before I stop for the night. After stopping, you have plenty of time for laundry, shower, meals, tv....whatever. Keep in mind here that you essentially will end up with 12-13 hours a day of "free time" on average, so you'll have time for "personal" stuff.
As for being hard pressed on your loads, some are and some aren't. You may get a load that's almost late before you ever hook to it, and then you'll get a load that has double the time that you actually need.
I hope this helps some...if not, feel free to ask away. I drove for SNI for a couple years, and went to their school in Fontana, and there are a couple of other posters on here who did/do drive for them.
Yo, Aftershock! You out there??

 

Call Schneider and ask why they have a turnover rate of over 100% . Regulations require 10 hours OFF DUTY after 14 hours on duty but sleep is not mentioned in regulations . You may get close to a receiver , stop for the night , take 10 hours off then deliver in the morning . You are then empty and 9 a.m. and told to go off duty then make a pickup at 7 p.m. . You have had 10 hours off duty and are expected to run all night and deliver 500 miles away at 7 a.m. . It's legal .

 

I have never worked for Schneider , J.B. , or any of the megacarriers with thousands of trucks . Almost everybody gets a crappy load now and then but the cheap rates the megacarriers offer get more of the lousy loads . Odd as it seems , the higher the rate paid the better the conditions for the driver .

 

If health and quality of life are important to you, then you will find the time for what you need. Many truckers get into the mindset of just going to one truck stop to the next and lining up their next buffet. But it is all in your mindset. My husband carries his bike with him. When he has extended downtime, he goes for a bike ride or takes a walk. He eats somewhat healthy by preparing all his meals in the truck. He is more healthy as a driver than he was when he was at home. He also now takes the time to call his family and friends on the phone, which he never did before. Put yourself first and the job second while you are on the road and you can still stay happy and healthy.

 

Please tell me more about preparing meals in his truck. I'm midway through school and carry sandwiches with me to school every day, while many of my classmates do fastfood/buffets. I don't mind those once in a while, but don't want to do them every day. As well as being too cheap, I just like what I can bring better. But I figured that when you're on the road, choices may be much more limited. What is easy to bring on the road that you can cook (or refrigrate) in your truck? I figure soup, lunchmeat (if you have a fridge), and some crackers.

 

The larger the carrier the less profit they have to make per truck and the lower they can set the rate . Look at Schneider , Werner , and others pulling trailers for WalMart , Dollar General , and other retailers . They got those contracts by bidding low . Better carriers like tankers and oversize get higher rates because the customer cares more about quality , dependable service and knows higher rates mean more experienced drivers , better equipment , and a better driver retention rate .
As for carrying food , get a real refrigerator , not one of those electric coolers in truck stops that only last a couple of months . There are microwaves made for trucks but you'll need an inverter. Get with your carrier's service department and have them install it .

 

Check around this forum, some guys have given some great ideas, including using a dehydrator to prep and store veggies to cook out on the road, that hadn't occured to us. He has things down to a science now, he is very efficient down to even using the melted ice from the drink cooler to wash dishes with.

He uses a 12v cooler and a butane burner mostly. He has a small BBQ, but rarely uses it. Peanut butter, jelly, cheese, salami, bread, bagels, chips, nuts, canned beans, canned soups, juice, soda, tortillas, condiments, and canned chicken breast are usually staples that he carries in the truck. He likes the frozen rolls of ground turkey because they travel well in the cooler. During his 4 weeks out, he might eat 2 meals out. When he has time, he will scout out a grocery store for the fixin's for a bigger meal. He has been known to fire up the BBQ in a rest stop and BBQ up a mean steak and baked potato. When time is shorter or he has supplies already, he will fix tacos or pasta with a salad. And when there is barely enough time for sleeping, a sandwich or bowl of soup will do the job. I try to send him with some home-cooked meals for his first couple of days out that he just reheats on his burner. There are lots more ideas that he hasn't even tried yet.