6 years later and I am ready to try driving again.

I started with Prime in early 2022 and did a year with them...it was a good experience for me because they kept me moving and I was able to pick things up relatively quickly.

I got lucky and had a good trainer for TNT, but it still wasn't what I'd call fun. Just remember it's temporary and just gut it out...you'll learn even more once you're out on your own.

 

Schneider's training was simply too brief for me to honestly recommend them.

Swift's training is about right.

Prime's training window may prove to be too long -- for some drivers.

Also -- Prime & Schneider trucks seem to be veeeer-ry sloooooooooooowwww.....

-- L

 

The "ride with trainer" time is when you are taught the 95% of the job they cannot teach in school, even community college.

You definitely are strong enough to do this job for a year. The big stumbling block is expecting a day will go as expected & then feeling like the world will fall apart if it's not an ordinary day. A hundred thousand drivers are not having the day they expected and they also don't know precisely how the rest of the day will go, but they're on day #300 or 3,000 so they know they & company will figure out what to do and you get through the day/night. As long as you treat not letting the truck touch ANYTHING except a loading dock & always pay attention so you don't scrape a trailer or building or vehicle then it's just a matter of getting through the day over and over until you retire. Most newbies bring very poor driving habits & inattentive focus into trucking and that will kick you out of some companies quickly. Then they blame everyone but themselves for losing a job & starting a downward spiral. You must keep your record clean. It's not easy & all cars will be trying to cause a wreck every day. Most newbies seem to think explaining why they backed into something they shouldn’t or they damaged someone's vehicle is nearly as good as not doing those things. THAT'S NOT AT ALL HOW THIS WORKS. We all make mistakes but you're better to work very hard to be a perfect driver as your passing score every day than to think damaging stuff isn't that big of a deal. Big trucks do big damage if you are not very very careful. You don't have to be perfect, none of us are, but you should almost be perfect about your truck & trailer touching other things if you want your life to be easy. You will be held responsible.

 

Okay, let me say 3 words we old timers never had, The Truckers Report. This site is literally a gold mine for those starting out, we had to learn the hard way, except penalties for screwups weren't near as strict. We'd have almost killed for a site like this back then. Don't worry about what states you've been in, they are all the same, with subtle differences, like the mountains or desert. Tandems? Doors? Being a woman, guys will be jumping over themselves to help. Just be careful with that, a woman to a lonely truck driver is an oasis in the desert. THAT'S where you have to be careful. Far as will you make it? Absolutely, it's not the "old days" and you have so much help at your disposal, and most of it will come from right here. Nice equipment, help a push of a button away,,food,,okay, that one still sucks, I suggest a plug in refrigerator and get stuff at a grocery store. Don't be shy, no question is off limits, we've heard it all.

 

Be careful of the misogyny going on in the industry as well. I've heard some disrespectful invective shouted at women drivers. Even though "words don't hurt the ones that don't mind", it's still a darn shame that some men choose to pass aggression in that manner. I know for a fact that you'll be fine from the looks of your profile picture alone, Amy... sometimes you gotta make like Spidey and "swing on em". I'm kidding.

 

40 minutes of exercise a day will help you maintain the figure. Just lay out a yoga mat at the end of the day and get to it

 

I have the built in truck fridge (basically a dorm fridge) and got a separate travel freezer that I put in the empty top bunk, it plugs into the cigarette lighter. I find that as long as I can make it through a Walmart once a week I'm always set for food.

Lots of good info on these boards for food/cooking ideas in the truck.

 

I strongly recommend some sort of pepper spray, or even starting fluid works in a pinch( does pepper spray work for trucks?) I never felt the need to arm myself in any way, and I think a gun may be a bit overkill, but a blast in the face will surely give you the break you need. I'm not painting a horrible picture out there, I think for the most part, it works fine, it's just we hear of every infraction that comes along today. I don't think it's that bad universally, but just in case. Trucking, at least for me, was trying to foretell what might happen. You have to be alert, because it's 37 hours where nothing happens, but that 38th hour could be a doozy. Common sense usually dictates and the lack of is why so many mishaps today.