Hello

That sounds about right for truck drivers.

It's a crap shoot asking for opinions. Some hate this and love that, vise versa. "I dont like long stretches of open road", "I don't like city traffic"

Whatever, just go for it.

 

I didn't notice the thread being closed, but it may have happened after I read what was posted. Yes they will close threads sometimes, esp if there is a lot of bickering and bad-mouthing going on. There have been occasions in the past where people have been banned from the site forever because they were just looking for trouble all the time. Using symbols for bad words is a no-no also, even though since they changed to this new format, I have noticed a lot more of it going on and the bickering. It seemed like when Bullhaulers Wife was on more, this wasn't allowed. I think most people have preferred this website to others just for the reason of it being kept clean of stuff.

 

Yes, you will need a Nevada address on your drivers license.
Couple of good benefits to having a Nevada address is there are no personal income taxes or food taxes.

 

I road with my husband for a year in 2008, the market was getting bad by 2009 and he left, and then started back in 2011.

The trucks now are really too small to go with him. He had a 2005 Volvo Condo with a sunroof. I had half the house in that truck, plus would sneak in a few rocks if we stopped somewhere that had them.

If you like the solitary existence and can enjoy your own company, then you will do fine I think. The traffic and putting up with crazies is one of the worst parts. Shippers and receivers are a pain, even back then trucks would be bumped ahead of you for loading or unloading, etc. More rules and regulations now also.

He started back out with CR England as lease, which would be ok, but they like to have you train which he didn't mind that much, but if you didn't train they would starve you out on miles. He quit after about 2 yrs and went with Prime as company for a year and then back to lease. Both were reefer. Original company was US Xpress where he was company and dry van.

Dry van does not require things to be kept cold or frozen. Possibly could still require trailer washouts though, according to what was hauled. Trailers on reefers though will most generally need to be washed out, esp after a meat load. A good battery operated leaf blower can be used if it just needs to be blown out. Meat loads you will end up sitting and waiting a lot for the load to be processed and loaded.

Hardest thing maybe the cranking up the legs on the trailer.

Make sure that a company has APU's on the truck so you have AC and heat without having to run the truck. Also you can have the Igloo or Coleman Cooler or small refrig if there is room for it. I had our crockpot and dishes, George Foreman, microwave, and coffee pot. He has a refrig with freezer installed in the truck and his Igloo. Keurig coffee pot, and icemaker, and microwave. He has TV with Direct Tv on it or his CD's, he doesn't watch a lot of TV though. Sirius Radio. Get a good headset if you plan on using the phone, Blue Parrot, Plantronics are good.

Having the best tools will help to go where you need to go. If you have a laptop to Google map locations it is better than just having a map and the Rand McNally or other truck friendly GPS. You will need an internet hotspot of some sort to use with the laptop. Paying attention to things like railroad tracks, creeks, lakes is a good idea. You can zoom in and find the loading docks or if you have to go in on a different street even. Stay out of residential areas.

Hubby prefers to drive at night through some areas if possible like Atlanta, Baltimore, Philadelphia. This may not be possible all the time though. Your hours will always vary, so you will never be 100% one time frame driver.

Hubby has trained 3 women in the past that are still with it now, one who works for Prime now and 3 men. He doesn't train anymore, but always thought women were easier to work with and train vs men and they weren't as hard on the truck with shifting. He believed in training them for as long as it was needed for them to learn and be safe.

Don't want to get this to long.

 

Yeah, that happens. It shows the frustration many people have. When people run out of options, many turn to trucking, like I said before, "how hard can it be?", totally unprepared for what the job actually entails, and become bitter at some employers attitudes. Who knows what the reasons are, but clearly, that employer had a bad experience with women, now all women are banned. Sounds like something my grandfather would do. You already have an in, because of trucking in your family, you're no stranger to it, and it's important to show the world, yes, women can do it. That's how things change, not by suing an employer for not hiring them. That person doesn't have much chance, and will most likely move on. Some people want trucking on THEIR terms, and it's not that kind of job. I think you'll do fine, and you've seen 1st hand the ups and downs, AND,,,you have the luxury of having this site. Can you imagine, like you say, working for that person? How would you know?
NavigatorWife pretty much summed it up, can't go wrong, except, she failed to mention, get a dash cam!!!

 

There are some great places and others that you want to shoot. Lazy lumpers, more paperwork on you.

Lack of parking when you have to get off the clock is the next deal. TA, Petro's and some other stations now have paid parking and it does help to have it, esp if you try later in the day to get a home for the night. After about 5pm the stations are already loaded up, and rest areas also. I use www/findfuelstops.com to hunt down odd ball places or name brand stations. I am having problems with their website wanting to load, not sure if it is my computer, or their program; it works but is not displaying the google map the right way. There are some stations on it, that perhaps you could get fuel at if an emergency, but they are no way a truckstop that a truck should be in and have no parking.

The next worst thing is the condition of roads. There are so many bad roads out there now that shake you to death daily.

You might want to practice pretending like you have a load that has to be delivered. Pick someplace on the map and deliver it in no man's land. Google map though is car speeds, not truck speeds, so it will take longer to get there. Check the route out, zoom in on local roads, check for no truck allowed streets areas, low bridges and train trestles. Figure out your fuelstop, most generally Petro, Flying J, TA, Pilot or Love's, though if you are company they use route solution to send this to you, but it still is something you might need to use along the way for parking or emergencies and if you have time a shower and food. Locate Blue Beacons, sometimes there are other small places offering washouts.

It will take a period of time to build up stamina to drive 11 hrs a day or even 9 to 10. It is wearing at first.

Study HOS, all carriers and private trucks are supposed to have the electronic log device installed now. You still need to know how to log on paper logs in case the eld has a problem, a copy of the paper log will have to be sent in to the company then also. My husband doesn't usually take a 34 hr off, he runs off recap hours. We have run 8hr/2hr splits, but most generally try to make sure he is off for a 10 the next round. They are trying to get this rule relaxed some in the future where a driver could drive 7hr and take 3hr off and start over, but who knows what year. You can only drive 11 hrs out of a 14 hour window. Once your clock is open, you time is started for your day. You have to have a 1/2 meal break before the 1st 8 hrs on duty. This time comes off of the 3hrs out of the 14hr window, also fueling and pre-trip truck inspections come out of this time.
Summary of Hours of Service Regulations

 

it can be hard at the docks but you will learn what helps the process.. some just need you to be nicer to em others want $20.. it takes all kinds.. woman have it hard cause all the pervs out here.. some men havent seen a woman in mo.. but it could come in handy being a woman with workers dot and others.. its an amazing life for some.. and look this way.. if u get in and dont like it now worrys u may even like the local gigs too.. your cdl has more things you can do than one would even think.. best of luck and keep us posted