Essential Information for New Drivers

California changed the wording for right turns. It used to read, keep you trailer tires close to the curb for right turns but it says something else now. I believe they changed the language due to our epic thread on the subject and so many overwhelming wrong responses from the truckers here lol. I will have to swing by the DMV and pick up an updated copy of the commercial drivers handbook.

 

So... OUR EXPERTISE changed laws?!?!? I don't even LIVE there.. Man, I'd really like to know. TWO OUT OF 200 ppl had it right (no pun intended) you and I.

 

PS: bounce me a copy of that.. or scan it and email it to me.. just that part, @scottied67 ... we are LEGENDS perhaps.....


ps: DANG YA, @Thull ... LMAO.. j/k.

 

Is a jug handle turn different from a button hook turn?

That said, I don't particularly care what the words are, I base what I do in a turn on the geometry and obstacles at an intersection.

 

My understanding is button hooks are illegal. But there's a rare occasion I found that I need to split the lane to make a right-hand turn, and by the time I realize that I am pinned in the right turn lane. So all I can do is wait for traffic to clear then try to drag my trailer out a little as much as possible by button hook before turning.

The CDL manual said that the benefits of button hook are not worth the effort "space" it takes up. But also my driving instructor kept telling me "inches matter", "every inch you can get." So who the hell knows.

 

There are many places where I have been where button hooks are absolutely required.

For example, try getting into the Mars facility in Oak Point, Chicago without doing at least one button hook. There is only one truck-legal access route.

 

Never reuse your emergency piss jug! Its not worth it, just get a new one

 

# 1 most important tip is take care of your body, yourself, it is the most important piece of equipment you have and the one you have no choice on, to take with you from one employer to the next. Diet, exercise, sleep habits, thought habits, etc.. Can't stress that enough. Having enough vitamins swimming around in your system makes all the difference fighting off fatigue and pays off big time so you can think clearly and churn out 550+ miles in a day whereas if you were eating fast food and greasy #### from the truck stops you'd nod off at 375 miles. # 2 most important is personal finance. Keep tabs on your money. learn how to do a spreadsheet and use that journal to fix bad habits with regard to money. Everyone needs an exit strategy because no one is superhuman; the North American freight hauling industry will churn along just fine without you participating in it, and if you try to stay in it forever it will eventually kill you, slow or fast, but kill you it will, because it was not designed to be a sustainable career, it is a free market thing that evolved over 100 years

 

Schneider National Carriers based in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin. They do right by the driver. They rented a car for me to go home when I quit after three months and I regret quitting. The others are dog #### companies by comparison. Go with Schneider. They also have a bulk division where you do nothing but tanker loads, very few or none haz-mat loads; it is a separate company called Schneider National Bulk Carriers. The SNBC tanker training is 2-1/2+ weeks long at their expense either in Texas or in Coraopolis near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Don't go to Coraopolis this time of year; it is brutal weather and lots of the tanker training is outside in the wind and the cold. Opt to do it at their Texas facility

 

So, Currently living in FL, Doing CSR work, 52 years old. I'm planning on doing the CDL School here in the Tampa area. My next thought is to see about joining Swift. They have a Terminal in Winter Haven, FL. But ultimately want to be living in OK before the end of the year. What is the likelihood of Swift moving me from Winter Haven, FL to OK City, OK in less than a year's time. Any suggestions?