The start of a new life

Thanks for the info bbb keep it coming and good luck

 

I was reading a post, guys were talking about GPS. They seemed to have positives about, PCMiler....., Tom-tom evidently has a truck version?......., Nuvi600. Have not checked on these, but it might be a starting place.
good luck

 

I'm in the same boat man. I thought I had a solid career until I was ran over on a motorcycle. I found out the hard way that even if you're doing what you love money talks and ######## walks. The accident set me back so far that my family will be homeless if I don't do something in a years time. I was going to college and working two jobs only to go backwards every month in bills. So, I quit the second job, dropped out of college and now I'm in a truck driver training program. My goal is to "bail out" my family in the next 6-8 months with the pay I'll receive going OTR.

Keep on Keeping On..............

 

Nothing worth doing is ever easy.

 

You've got to remember most trainers are that in name only. They have had very little if any instruction on how to teach people. Bug them for seat time. As for route planing, get you a copy of the truck atlas with truck routes highlighted. Then lay a ruler from where u pick up to where u are going on the map of the entire US. Right down the Interstates and/or US highways closest to the ruler then go state by state to check to make sure they are truck routes if they are US highways. Most of the time it shouldn't be more then 2 or 3, but some routes can be a little more difficult(i.e. Dallas/Fort Worth to Salt lake City)

 

Hey BBB, hang in there! Just like RP said, this is certainly not easy. But you will find a good trainer, and you will get moving right along. The tip about using a ruler was something like what I was going to suggest- the map in the front of the atlas (which shows the entire US) is where you want to start. You will get the hang of that too. If you can stay positive (which is hard to do) then you can make it. Good luck!

 

It seems to me that if you figured your route the old fashioned way (truckers atlas) you would be better off. you can then plot the route in the GPS so you don't have to memorize the route (or take the chance of a mistake). It would also pay off with the auto-reroute feature for detours or heavy traffic that can be bypassed.

 

If you want GPS, I Just read in a Landline Magazine, they have this screen (it's not really a GPS, but like a monitor) and it sits on your dash, and you have to mount a camera to the top of your cab, and it lights up the road at night. You can see where the road is, if there is an on-coming car, and deer all at night. It's pretty cool, and if you are going to drive at night, I would reccomend it. It should help a lot for at night, espissally you, driving in Michigan, it would make it less easy not to hit a deer.. So you would be more on the safe side.

 

Sooo how's it going?

Whenever I see the "yell, scream and threaten" stuff I start getting concerned. IMO no company should be throwing someone out there to train that is not equipped to train another person properly. Some people are just not cut out for it.