How common is it to get lost?

Got LOST or just on a RECON of new territory, all depends on how you tell the STORY

 

No, not really. But backing practice is kind of like landing. You are getting the rate of change in the trailer to match your position in relation to the stripes beside the dock/parking spot.

But I do treat driving like I was taught for flying. "Stay ahead of the truck." That means you are thinking what are your next couple of moves needed and how should you being do the "now" to set your self up for those moves. I also adopt the best practices that you have to show on road tests and when the cops are around and make those my normal routine. "Drive like the boss and the cops are watching, then it doesn't matter when they watch."

Solo driving is similar to flying in many ways but most drivers I know treat driving like a teenager out of the house for the first time and only "straighten up" if they are warned about a cop somewhere.

I also am dependent on weather radar on my phone while many drivers just ask some clueless goober "hey eastbound when do we run out of this rain." If you've ever seen storms move across the TV you'd know why it's a waste of time to ask that question. The other driver was at the edge of the weather X time in the past. You won't be where the edge of weather WAS for some time. The weather is moving. By the time you get where the other driver was there is no reason to think you will have the weather he had.

Trucking is very frustrating at times because there is almost zero training. You can teach a monkey to fly a spaceship if you break each task into small steps and practice. In trucking all of the important information should already be known even though nobody tells you. With regard to transmitting information, flying is more like medicine or NASA, and trucking is like being around witchdoctors. Everybody has their own superstition and their is no culture of getting things right, just getting through the day.

 

The number of times I get lost seems to be directly proportional to the number of gray hairs I have upon my fat lil' head!


...and a few months back, I actually put my key into the drivers door of the wrong truck! My rig was a couple of spots over...now THERE'S a lost feeling!

 

Lost? I'm still lost.

I have been lost in Denver and down residental streets. Not so much outside of a big city. GPS is a last resort for me. I have a map and I usually look up on google earth what the area should look like or what it did look like the night before. I map everything out and write down a short direction list. Something I can glance at to get a very breif description of where I need to go. This has helped me out more times than I can think of.

 

I'm a pilot too. I started trucking before flying. I often think how beneficial many of the techniques and habits that are taught in aviation would be to the trucking industry. The two that would offer the highest reward would be stay at least two steps ahead of the truck and situational awareness. These two properly practiced would decrease the accident rate by 50-75%. Many professional drivers practice some self-taught version of these without even being aware.

On the subject of getting lost in a truck. It will happen. How you deal with it will keep it from being noteworthy. It often snowballs. That's when a cool head and a stop to regroup will insure a successful outcome.

 

Battle Creek MI, is the worst one for me, followed by Muncie IN. Getting lost in those two towns used to be a regular occurence in my life.
Chicago? No problems! Detroit, Indy? Bring it on! But those two places? I'll be gone all day.......

 

Na, we just continue on our own little adventure.

 

If I've got fuel I'm not lost, just exploring new territory. Really everybody has done it, embarassing as it is it's happened to all of us, I've gone 20 to 30 miles before finding a place to get turned before. It's very hard to mash the throttle and kick your ### at the same time.

 

ive been both temp. missplaced and lost, at the same time...

to answer the OP though, yep, it happens... Its in the nature of what we do, no matter how many times you double or triple check directions and routing. Maybe a detour forces you off your intended route or the shipper moved a mile up the road... Or in the case of Wv or upsate NY, they dont even have an address, just a route number

 

I usually call ahead to get directions directly from the shipper or consignee. That keeps me from getting lost most of the time. I am also a good planner. I check my map and sometimes will use mapquest to find the most direct route from point "a" to point "b". I often write my directions down on a piece of paper or composition book that I keep on my dash.