Diary of a New Swift Driver

I use my laptop in the truck all the time. Others watch TV in the truck more than in the lounge at the terminal. Some TVs come with the 12 V plug others don't. I plug my laptop into a plug in inverter with no problems at all. I cook light meals, well I should say I heat canned goods in my lunch box oven. All of this can be done using the plug in type of inverter. Been using the laptop over 2 years with no problems. I may have to idle the truck 30 minutes before bed to charge the batteries to be sure I can start the truck the next morning. And when it gets warm here in Texas, I idle all night long in my company truck!

 

so do I, installed my tv the other day, its just more of a case of why should we have to worry about it, why live in a constant state of fear, why not just be good guys about it instead of having to remember to "hide" the inverters

 

Got in touch with him today. Yes, he went with Werner and is real happy. You'll be amazed at why. Remind me when we bump into each other again.
Frank

 

So I read the whole post and have a couple of comments:

I drove for swift over 2 years ago for 9 months and haven't driven after that. I quit because I wasn't making enough money to even get a place to live. When I went home I slept in the truck for the 4 days. (I always stayed out for at least 4 weeks.) But now my needs have changed and I'm going back to driving, which I actually love doing. I have to wait until one of my tickets is older than a year. I deliver newspapers now and got a ticket for not using my blinker at 3AM in a residential area.

I had a great DM, Ramona Robinson, out of the Edwardsville, KS terminal. I also had a great mentor, Ed Griggs, he was retired navy like me and we got along well enough. He never yelled, let me drive right off the bat, and tried to help me at the beginning with backing but I was stubborn and would just stare at him until he let me do it myself. The only thing that bothered me was when he'd sing with the radio. He couldn't sing for ####. I could call him anytime if I had a question after I was on my own.

I started a blog back then, truckingwithruss.com, and I really enjoyed seeing things around the country. They did keep me east of the mississippi A LOT. I once had to drive I95 south of Washington DC to NYC on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. That was absolutely ridiculous. I also once made a wrong turn and started heading into one of the NYC airports' terminal area. Fortunately, there was a place to turn around and I got out of there real quick. I could just see me going to a terminal in a big rig and immediately being surrounded by swat.

My road rage quickly went away once I realized I couldn't pass anyone so there was no need to hurry.

The recruiter I have now says that the 9 months experience counts and as long as I pass the driving test I shouldn't have to go out with a mentor. I wouldn't mind having some refresher driving time. Trying to find somewhere around St. Louis that would let me drive a truck a bit. Thought about going to one of the truck stops in Illinois and seeing if I gave someone $50 if they'd let me drive around the lot and maybe down the street. I'm pretty sure they'd be surprised that someone banging on their cab door was offering money instead of begging for money. If anyone is interested let me know. There's a flying j just north of St. Louis, I'll buy breakfast.

I brought my own generator so I could run my electronics, including my DirectTV equipment. Wasn't too bad. But, I did get lots of grief for idling but I don't know how they expect you to sit in the truck in 90+ degree weather without the A/C. I have been thinking about bringing a small window A/C and setting that up after parking. But then I think about all the grief I'd get from the other truckers at the truck stops.

And last someone mentioned a back scratcher. Here is one I carry with me everywhere. I have one in each car, at home next to my recliner and one in my pocket. It is awesome. It is less than $4 with free shipping.

http://www.amazon.com/Telescopic-Ba...7JO8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1338635834&sr=8-2

Thanks for all the info.