In over my head??

Good choice, That’s exactly what I would do,once you’re back in the seat, it will all come back, now you’re just understandably anxious, Take your time, be safe.Take things slow. Make sure your Truck is legal, paperwork etc. And that you understand the new eld logging rules.You don’t need any csa points against you. You’ve got more experience than a new Driver, just starting out. You should be fine. An update in a week or two would be nice. Good Luck.

 

Good luck

 

You're makin the right choice, imo.

All elds suck. But they really are brainless. Swift micromanages their drivers to extremes. I'll bet this guy doesn't. Just run your hours and use common sense. Not sure about something, ask. You'll figure out your favorite places to stop for fuel and food. Dont confine yourself to the mega stops and their terrible food.

Most importantly use this job to refine your skills and learn. Work the job, don't let the job work you.

 

You'd take I20 out of Tucson to I40 to Weatherford? Am I reading that right?

 

Once you have your CDL EVERY endorsement, other than HazMat, is just a test on the computer at the DMV. All of them, other than HazMat, never expire. Endorsements, other than HazMat, are maybe $20-30 each.

Make sue you get the Tanker endorsement, even if you never will or never want to haul the big round trailers full of liquid. A few years ago the rules changed. If you want to haul totes or tanks inside a dry van or a refrigerated trailer, and those containers hold 101 gallons each or the total volume of all of the containers in the trailer total 1001 gallons, IIRC, you need a Tanker endorsement.

IMO, Tanker should be an endorsement EVERY CDL driver gets. It's an easy computer test. Just remember baffles help reduce surge or slosh and thin liquids surge or slosh more than thick liquids. They ask those questions 2-4 times in about 20 questions. EVERYONE GET TANKER

 

If you weigh the truck, and it's legal, obey the speed limit EVERYWHERE you go, and learn to slide your trailer tandems, driving in one state is the same as another state. OH, VA, CA have bad a reputation for hassling truck drivers. I drove exactly the same way in every state and have never gotten a ticket. Keep right, obey the speed limit, don't drive like a donkey. No worries.

 

I ran TN to CA regularly for years. Yes, you can see snow on Flagstaff in June, but not likely. Just drive slightly slower than any other truck in bad weather until you know what you are doing. Make sure you stay back a minimum of 1-2 truck lengths from anyone you are following in bad weather. Flagstaff is not something to fear, just some place you are careful about too fast down hills and too close to other trucks going uphill.

One of the best restaurants is at the top of the hill Exit 198. The Little America Hotel/Truck Stop/ Gas Station. Made to order food 6m - 10pm local time. There are a ton of truck stops on I-40. It's the main route from CA to the East so assume any puddle at the truck stop is not to be stepped in.

 

Omnitrac and Qualcomm are the same thing from the driver's point of view. I think one name is the satellite/cell phone gear and the other name is the display unit in the truck. Most fleets use either Qualcomm, not QWELLcomm, or they use PeopleNet. DO NOT USE THE GPS IN THE QUALCOMM. It is barely able to locate states. As soon as you can afford it get a 5 inch truck GPS. They do everything the 7 inch units do but they are almost $200 cheaper. They both talk to you. If you are running the same route over and over, you probably won't need a GPS. Get a paper Motor Carrier Road Atlas. They cost $10 for the 2019 and about $20 for the 2020. It's perfectly OK to use the 2019 version. I only replace mine about every 2 years.