Bringing a dog along for the ride

There's going to be many times you just won't have the time to do all that stopping.Many of the loads in trucking are time sensitive.No time to diddle dally around.You'll find that out soon enough when you're with your trainer.

 

Thats good.Whats the penny a mile?

 

Conway does not have apu. U can idle above 70 degree

 

Conway loads are generally dispatched at 45mph so you have time to stop and take breaks. 20 min every 3 hours might be asking a bit much though. And occassionally you will get a load that needs to run straight through, but thats the exception.

Personally I think German Shepards (& working breeds in general) are too high strung to subject to the confines of a truck for 21-22 hours/day, though individual temperments vary.

As for parking, if you try you can usually find places to park outside of truck stops. I'm currently parked in the dirt overflow lot of an old-school diner without another truck in sight...

 

I took my yellow lab with me for a week and #### never again. It took me 3 hours to vacuum all the hair out of my truck when we got home. Just keep in mind the hairy mess you will have to deal with. I love the company having my best friend but never again.

 

I personally take a "leg shaker" every 2-3 hours, so if I had a dog along for the ride it would be their "tree marker" time as well. I've seen many dogs and cats on the road, but most dogs were smaller breeds. I've seen a few larger breeds.

If I were an owner operator I would think long and hard about whether to take a pet on the road. While an APU can reduce the cost of air conditioning the cab, that still amounts to about $120-$200 per month. If you don't have an APU then the cost of air conditioning the cab is about $32-96 per day if you are parked for 24 hours. I've had the unfortunate experience of being parked in Barstow between two pet lovers that didn't have APU's and ran their trucks continuously for 34 hours, when the temperature was a perfect 70º high and 45º low. They were inside the T/S watching movies or dining, etc. for much of the time.

If you are prepared to spend that kind of money for keeping Fido or Felix comfortable, have at it. Some of the happiest truckers I've met on the road have pets with them, which is why some companies allow pets.