After Six Months to a Year: Would You do it Again?

Yes I would, I knew what I wanted and I went for it. I knew I did not want to drive OTR for ever but was willing to put in however much time it took to get a local job, contary to popular beleif you can make well above 10hr as some have stated, mayby it depends on what part of the US you are in IDK. Anyway IMHO most of the newbies fail at this ( yes that includes me to ), because they look at numbers and say hey thats good money. 3000 miles a week at 32 cents a mile cool, guess what you ain't gettin 3000 a week fresh out of runnin with a trainer, recruitor tells you you can be home every 10 days , wrong not if you want to make any kind of money, they can't deal with being away for at least 3 weeks at a time. There is alot more to this job than pointing it down the highway, that is the easy part ,what you do with the rest of your time is what will make you or break you. Have a plan, stick with it, and be ready to change on the fly and you might have a chance. ust my 2 cents

 

I drive for Maverick. They have been excellent! No Regrets!

 

I would do it again. Only thing I regret is paying the cdl training cost. such a ripoff for the price.

 

of course i'd do it over!




American Trucker

 

Okay please forgive me but I feel a need to expand on this tangent.

I totally agree with making the extra effort needed to preserve your health by avoiding truck stop food as much as possible. Get to Wal-Mart during offpeak hours and load up on fresh fruits and vegetables. Apples, oranges, grapes, bannanas, baby carrots, celery stalks can all be eaten safely while driving on the interstate. Avoid prepackaged foods and if you buy canned goods rinse well before cooking as they are laced with sodium that will lead to hypertension. If you eat tomatoes buy fresh, the acidic tomato juice causes heart disease promoting chemicals to be leached out of cans. Totally eliminate soda and avoid any product that has high fructose corn syrup listed in the ingredients. HFCS has been proven to lead to insulin resistance which is the primary factor in the onset of diabetes. Instead drink lots of water or if you like, tea which you brew yourself. Cabbage, spinach, dark leafy greens such as collards, kale swiss chard are highest in nutrients and have lots of fiber for low calorie satiety.

Walking 10 laps around the truck stop after every driving shift will help maintain good circulation, healthy metabolism, restful sleep and energize you throughout your day. All these factors aid in maintaining a healthy weight and guard against diabetes and heart disease. Taking a 10 minute break in a rest area every 3-4 hours to stretch will guard against DVT (potentially fatal blood clots)

Lastly I must point out that regardless of exercise or eating habits drivers and/or anyone who sits for long periods of time has double the risk of developing heart disease. Most people's body manufacture a gene that burns the fat that is in the bloodstream. Seated drivers and people that sit for long periods of time do not manufacture this gene and thus automatically have a much higher fat content in their blood. And as I said this fact is independent of other activities such as exercise or eating habits.

Just some information to consider as you embark on this career...

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

 

Well if i did everthing that post says too do i would be healther , thats is true, however i really dont care , your gonna go anyway, he decides upstairs when hes gonna flip your swicth off, so i never worry about too much, i do my fair shair of walking tho, i always get stuck at door 123 and the office is way down by door 23 , dats a long walk , and if it raining , its a bummer, and for walking the truckstop's , i never do that , too many crazy too shaft u and rob u, and besides the cops might think im a male lot lizard

 

No sane person thinks they'll live forever.

But you can increase the likelihood of hitting 75 while decreasing your chance of dying or becoming disabled at an early age.

Prescription drugs, ER visits, lost time at work, medical discharge are all very expensive.

And of course there's the quality of life issue, being physically able to play with your children or grandchildren, being mobile enough to enjoy active vacations.

If you're single you have a much greater chance of being laid by the hottie 10 years your junior than if you resemble a blimp with feet or have to take a breath from your inhaler every few minutes. Not to mention what happens to the equipment below the belt should nutrition and exercise not be a concern for you.

But we all have priorities and have to live with the consequences of our decisions. So if you like hitting the buffet, eating convenience food and your idea of exercise is playing World of Warcraft on your computer all I can say is good luck with that.