Just take a deep breath and try to relax before you take the test again. If you think about the questions, they are mostly common sense. As far as layovers and truck stops are concerned. I would try to park in well lit areas and be aware of your surroundings. Some truck stops have nice TV or movie rooms to kill some time. Most drivers are decent hard working individuals, but there are some jerks.
Well, I went today and took my combo test and passed with flying colors...Go Me So now reality sets in. I'm actually gonna be driving a rig. After all I've been through these last few weeks, I hope day one goes by with no problems. Im pretty sure I have all I need. No criminal background, no driving issues, and in good health according to my Dr. Just hope I can not be nervous when I take swifts physical. I dont have a blood pressure problem, unless I'm nervous. So other than that I cant see any issues getting in my way. Can anyone tell me what to expect on day One? Physical, paperwork, drug screen and such. I know alot of people get sent home on day one and I dont want to be one of them. I havent come this far to fail now. So any advice from my future team members? Thanks alot for all the support. Lilbit
(giggles here) I am 5'3...you will be fine..and I dont use ANY air in my seat...good luck...and be safe..it is a lot more common to see a woman drive nowadays than it was when I started 20 yrs ago...but they still look at me like I am a 2 headed alien sometimes when I am backin up or pull in a parking lot..lol ..when in doubt ,GET OUT AND LOOK...even if its for the 100th TIME...TAKE your time...dont let someone on the c.b sway your common sense...dont let another "push" you down a hill...by that I mean, if someone climbs up your butt going down a grade...dont let them intimidate you and cause you to speed up...stay in your comfort zone...you are behind the wheel and responsible for what happens...stay that way, by not letting others push you...be ready to deal with some who feel women shoud be barefoot and pregnant....(yeah they are still out here) be the best you can be, take pride in yourself and your job...and being a female truck driver and becoming #### good at what you do!!!
Here's a quick Blood Pressure tip. Your B/P will be taken by the nurse after you are weighed. Oh, yeah, baby...everybody crosses the scale. Take a deep breath, hold it for a count of five, then ssllllooooowwwwllllyyyyy exhale through pursed lips until your lungs are completely empty. Do this about three times over a period of a couple of minutes. Breathe normally between deeper inhalations. With each deep breath, relax your muscles a little more. When the cuff is on your arm, let the muscles go completely lax. The nurse will be just fine without you holding tension on your arm muscles. Let your belly muscles go lax as well. No reason to try to impress the nurse. She's not interested in you anyway. And besides, when your belly is tense, it places pressure on the aorta and, thereby, increases your B/P. Doing these maneuvers can decrease your B/P by as much as 10 points.
You'll do fine. Don't drink coffee or smoke cigarettes close to your test. Take you an aspirin the morning of your BP check. It'll lower it a few points.
Good job on passing Lilbit! And the B/P things, just do what Injun and Condo said. They both have great ideas that should help you lower it.
Thats what I'm looking forward too. And as for a cb, mine will probably only be on if stuck in traffic.. I dont know the first thing about talking on those things. And I agree that it can cause problems. thanks for the advice.
Thanks much Injun, I will probably listen to my ipod, to relaxing music to get my mind off it. Just so scared that something will get messed up. But got my 2 yr DOT Certific. I'm on meds but letters from my doctors clearing me to drive. I just hope that is gonna be ok. Also what scares me most is I was taking xanax for a while to help sleep due to stress. and I'm scared I will fail the drug test. I dont take it anymore, but may still have traces in my system. But I do have the script bottle, and my doctors hafe writtne letters confirming my good health. I havent taken any in ofer a week. I just hopes its enough time to be out of my system. But it was only 1 mg at night. But I a good sleeper anyway. Just hope that it wont s%^$# me, ya know. Cause that would sux major
Make sure that you tell whomever takes your drug test about any prescriptions that you have been on recently. It will cover you in case something shows up in the test.
Xanax has a half-life of 11-12 hours. That means that's how long it takes your body to eliminate half of the medication from your blood. So, let's do the math. (I'm going to use a large number to illustrate this...this is not a reflection on how much Xanax to take. The amount I'm using for this example is enough to kill a herd of elephants.) Now:.1,000mg 12 hrs: 500mg 24 hrs: 250mg 36 hrs: 125mg 48 hrs: 62.5mg 60 hrs: 31.25mg 72 hrs: 15.625mg 84 hrs: 7.8125mg 96 hrs: 3.91mg 108 hrs: 1.95mg 120 hrs: 1mg So: Five days after taking a single dose, there is 1/1,000 trace amount in your body. Another five days, one-one millionth....virtually gone. I don't think you'll need to worry about it. Beside that, FMCSR 40.85 states: "As a laboratory, you must test for the following five drugs or classes of drugs in a DOT drug test. You must not test 'DOT specimens' for any other drugs. (a) Marijuana metabolites. (b) Cocaine metabolites. (c) Amphetamines. (d) Opiate metabolites. (e) Phencyclidine (PCP)." Xanax is in the diazepine family of drugs and is not included in any of the above drug groups. Don't sweat it. Just don't take any more. If you need help sleeping, get diphenhydramine. (Benadryl)
