Help a trucker wannabe out!

So that's the way it is, eah?
Now that you're in training, you concentrate the majority of your efforts toward learning and achieving the best grade(s) that you can, and get around to us when you have a moment to spare?
Good for you!
It appears you have your priorities in order.
First things first in order of importance.

I thought I knew how to read a map before I attended trucker trainin', too. And, to a certain point, I could. But I learned there's a lot more beneficial information on those map pages in a Motor Carriers' Road Atlas than first meets the eye. I prefer Rand McNalley's over the others, especially the spiral bound, laminated edition because they last longer, resist spills, and the pages open to lay flat. The bound edition is fine 'till the details of your destination are in the area where the book is bound, making it difficult to read, which may be the reason why it's not uncommon to see a ripped-up atlas in the trash, or on the ground.
Frustration.

I do?
I mean, I do.

It seems there's a method to their repetitious, repetitive madness.
It seems there's a method to their repetitious, repetitive madness.
Ok, now repeat after me, ..................

Seven-tenths of a percent shy of perfection pleases you?
I'm pleased to know that.
Please continue.

WoW!
Flash Back!
Amazing!
I can still recall the thoughts that went through my head and the emotions I was feelin' the day before I began the hands-on portion of truckin' trainin'.

If this will be your first time ever even sitting in a Big truck, I don't know how to tell you this, but ....................................
I predict you're gonna love it. There's nothin' like the feelin' felt up thar in a Big truck. It's like sittin' on top of the world. If it were possible to put a picture frame around the inside of the windshield, the images would be worthy of hangin' on a wall. 'Spectacular', as a word, describes the sights awaiting you, rather well.

It can take awhile for the reality of it all to soak in. When walkin' back to your Big truck at a truck stop, gazing at all the Big trucks parked there, you may have to pinch yourself.
You'll probably ask yourself the same question many of us did, and some still do. The answer to that question is 'YeS' ---- you are now a member of the Big truck truckin' industry.

As for shifting a Big truck when parked, engine off --- ?
It's not the same as when in motion, but there must be a reason why your instructors have y'all do that. I'm not gonna second guess their methods, or question their reasoning.

Your instructors are correct. Shifting with two fingers is all it takes, especially when floating the gears.
(Not using the clutch to up and/or down shift.)
Finesse, caress, not force.
For want of a better analogy, treat shifting, and the whole Big truck in general, as though you're makin' love.
That's the way it was described to me when I wore the clothes of a newBee trainee. I haven't been able to top that description.
Respect for your Big truck is very important as well.
YOU can get upset with your Big truck, and even call her names, but you'll be offended if another person calls her a name, especially within your Big truck's ear shot. Big trucks are big on the outside, but they're really sensitive.

Big trucks need a pet name. I named mine Christine --- after the movie of the same name.
We had an understanding though.
I have a cuttin' torch, ........ and I know how to use it.
Once that was understood, I had more fun than a human being should be allowed to have.
And I did so on a regular basis.
Thanx Christine.
Y'all were the best.

Did they warn y'all in time to get some hip-boots?
It can get pretty deep.

Automated presentations are a good indication that the deliverer of that presentation obviously hasn't had any OTR experience at all, and has probably never driven a Big truck. And, believe it or else, there are recruiters who've never even sat in a Big truck, static or in motion. Yet they, in essence, are selling something they've never tried themselves. They're just salespersons. And some are so good at what they do that they could probably sell porn to a nun.
Listen to what they say, and more importantly, listen for what they don't say. Sometimes they say it best when they say nothing at all.

Any truckin' company that considers training is possible when the trainer is sleepin' behind a trainee instead of sitting in the jump seat, wide awake, actually instructing and observing, shouldn't be on a short list of potential employers. That's my opinion. Others might agree.

Having been a driver trainer for a large (orange) Big truck truckin' company, I know it's impossible to properly instruct anyone while I'm asleep. If anyone knows how to sleep and train at the same time, I'm willing to listen.
Even, and perhaps especially, those trainees with a LOT on the ball, --- like yourself, who are bound and determined to learn all they can to be the best they can be, it's a dis-service and a shame to limit the amount they could learn from a trainer who remains awake and alert, anxious to do whatever necessary to aid a trainee's progress.

One of the first things I told my trainees was to ask questions.
ANY question(s). If I didn't know the answer(s), by golly, I'd find the answer(s) and let them know what I learned as a result of their question(s).

I think, some driver trainers form the notion that, as a trainer, it all begins and ends with them, --- that they're the final authority.
They're offended by questions they're unable to answer right off the top of their head, often deploying some form of diversionary tactic meant to discourage a trainee from asking the wrong questions again.
Not good, IMO.

Yet, that same driver trainer is likely to tell a trainee that when they think they know it all, it's time to get out of a Big truck. Pointing out that there's something new to learn everyday.

One of the things I learned real quick as a driver trainer was that some of those new things that are possible to learn everyday, are lessons taught by the trainees themselves, without even trying, or even aware that they're teaching, too.
YuP!
Y'all read that right.

There isn't a single trainee that was assigned to me that I didn't learn SOMEthing from, ..... be it Big truck related, or about things in general. Many of the things I learned from them, I still use in my daily routine. And considering that probably 80 to 85% of my trainees were female, I was blessed with insights from a different perspective I myself wouldn't otherwise have considered.
That there are driver trainers who refused to take women trainees, just because they're women, is a shame all-around.
But the biggest shame is a driver trainer with a closed, narrow mind who's learned how not to learn, while stressing the importance of learning.

So far, what haven't they told y'all?

If that's true, it's a huge plus.
You may not be aware of all the new NO-IDLE laws and company rules discouraging idling. The law is implemented to save the planet from the environmentally destructive Big trucks, at the expense of those who drive 'em.

When it's 80 or 85 degrees here in SoCal, the parking area at the truck stops absorbs enough heat that it can easily add 10 degrees, or more, to the ambient temperature, and eliminate most of the breezes for those not parked at the row ends.

That means that the interior temperatures hover around 90+ degrees, and higher, without air conditioning. (some states have night time temperatures in the high 90 degrees and high humidity, and flyin' bugs that enter open windows and leave a welt when they bite that itches for days after) And without the Big motor idling, or an APU, there's no A/C.
Sweet dreams become sweat dreams.

And, when it's freezing weather?
Add a blanket or two.
OH!
And be sure not to leave any liquid in cups when you're tryin' to sleep. It'll freeze and crack the cup before your break is over.
You might freeze too. Just a sacrificial casualty to save the planet, and us from ourselves, in the minds of tree huggers and those who write and/or enforce those laws. Who, by the way, write said laws and live in houses with air conditioning and heat.
Big truck truck drivers aren't worthy enough to be entitled to such luxuries.

Sounds good on the surface. But I'm havin' trouble gettin' past the word "control". "More" control?

It's sooo much nicer when they provide the aspirin to lessen the pain in the buttox caused by them in the first place.
New and Improved Same-0l' -- Same-0l'.
Bait-N'-Switch.
I know you heard what I said, I'm just not sure I said what you heard.
Our policy of constantly changing policies is to continually improve on policies designed to enhance policies that failed to live up to our policy standards.
Join our team of individuals today and we'll teach y'all how to follow a leader, no questions asked, instinctively. Our Big trucks are as automated as necessary, requiring less skill to operate, enabling this company to hire from the bottom of the barrel, --- folks that the other, mean-sprited truckin' companies rejected for petty reasons, like too many citations for wreckless drivin', speedin', DWI, or drug use.
Not this truckin' company though.
Here, if y'all have a faint pulse, and are able to fog a mirror when held under y'all's nose, y'all are on your way to warming a seat and holding a steering wheel in a Big truck we've kept running for years past it's prime.
Longevity, is our key to success that opens the door into the future.
Let us show y'all how to help the team reach the future ---
at the expense of yours. Never let it be said that that bothers us one bit. This company considers it a privilege to be one of our many stepping-stones that we use to reach our zenith.
And, as an added bonus, if it becomes necessary to know what y'all think, we'll tell you what to think, and hold y'all accountable for thinkin' it only when it turns out to be incorrect thinkin'. No need to worry about receivin' credit or recognition, we'll do all of that for y'all.
No need to thank us.
It's our pleasure, I'm sure.

Just sign here ------------>X

In some cases, those inclined to consider electronic logs to be of any advantage, are as smart as a bump on a log and just as easily taken advantage of.
Again, it's a matter of what they're NOT sayin'.

It's sorta like attending an event where the announcer continually reminds us what a great performance the audience is witnessing.
If it's all that great, are reminders necessary?
Shouldn't it be obvious to the observers?

Ahhhhhh , ....... the powah of suggestion.
Mind over matter doesn't matter if y'all don't have a mind.
Ergo, I think.

Last one to leave, please turn off the lights. :smt039

 

Openroadguy-so very cool for you and so great to hear your enthusiasm!! Some will read this and remember their first time behind the wheel in the big rig! Never mind the nay sayers!! You will have bad days and good days and days in between. Maybe on those bad days think back to today and how you felt! So excited so psyched!
Keep up the posts (when you can!) they are great to read!

Enjoy the 3 day weekend well deserved and Happy 4th of July to you and your family!!!

 

Actually, you should read the beginning of this post. I'm a student, not a trucker. I own a house in the Poconos, I'm not in a motel. I own a nice house actually, and I know my neighbors. Also, I'm excited about trucking.

 

I'm glad your enjoying my post. Right now I have to read from a text book provided to me by the college. I'll get my hands on experience every week day in the yard for a month, and then I'll get to go out on the road for real (with a "trainer" unfortunately).

 

I'm thinking I might name mine Carrie. Because if anybody laughs at Carrie, she'll bring the house down.

 

(Goose down comforters.)
Love is telling your better half she can lay in the bunk an extra 5 minutes before she needs to crank the truck when its 22 degrees inside.
(I80 in PA) This thread has inispired me to write a couple of blog posts when I get a chance this week. 1. Do things the same way every time so it becomes habit and 2. Trucking is like joining the Marines (with a worse retirement plan)

 

Comparing trucking to a government job isn't exactly fair. Only the government is dumb enough to provide lifetime benefits and pay for non-work.

 

What A coincidence! I will be starting out in 2 weeks with a (orange) truck myself! I just hope my trainer is a good as you!