Kinda worried about starting

Lol been there done that several times

 

when I drove otr, I always tried to do what I could to save time throughout the day. Pick up/deliver load early (without telling dispatcher), limit number of rest stops during the day, etc. the more you drive, you will find little ways to save a bit of time here and there. Then at the end of the day, you may find that you have enough time to turn your ten hour break into an eleven or twelve hour break without anyone noticing. Of course remember the more you sit, the less money you make. But again, as you gain experience you will develop a system that works for you.

Hopefully, you will get a competent trainer who will help you with these little tricks. A competent trainer will also understand that you are new and may need some time to get used to the trucker schedule. They will work with you on that.

And please don't pay attention to the negative replies. I have seen some of your other posts and you seem like a very well informed, intelligent person. You will do fine. This industry needs more people like you and fewer whining negative nancies. Good luck and happy trucking!

 

As an over the road driver I have had to pickup and run sometime with as little as 30 minutes sleep. You will be surprised at what you can do with little or no sleep for a limited time ONLY! Once I get a restful sleep I can go close to 30 hours with little or no sleep. This is critical if you pull a reefer because a lot of grocery warehouses only unload after midnight. As an OTR driver unless you are running dedicated you will not have regular hours. 8 hours for most OTR drivers is something they get on home time or dream about.

 

BS. unless you were an EMT, there is no excuse for 30 minutes sleep in an OTR situation.

NOT one excuse that justifies it.

We get a 10 hour break, and if you can't fit in sleep in that 10 hours, then you shouldn't be in the truck.

What some may miss is that this is an adjustment to a lifestyle, it is something that you have to get used to but also there is another issue that you are all fooled into thinking - that this person they call a trainer is in charge of YOU. They are not. The law and regulations don't make slaves out of you guys, you are in charge of your time and your requirement to sleep needs to be first and foremost understood by everyone involved from the company to the idiot you call a trainer. If you can not get a restful night's sleep, then you need to look at what's going on and how to fix it. If it is someone telling you that you need to screw with the logs and have to drive, tell him/her no.

See what many miss is that this is your chosen career, you already earned that right to drive and there isn't a lot more you can "learn" from someone else, most of the stuff is more or less experience driven. I can't stand the term "trainer" because most of them can't train themselves out of a wet paper bag let alone pass on knowledge. There is no uniformed training method that they have to learn, even company training of trainers seems to be lacking - take someone with 1 year on the road and make them a trainer? Seriously 5 years maybe but not a year.

So it is simple, you are in charge, no one else. Protect your CDL and worry about it when things happen, not before, you got a lot to do.

 

Not strange at all, just rarely get that much a night.

 

Find a company that doesn't waste your time with with a worthless trainer, it's not needed. If you need one, find another job, this is too easy.

 

First of all I don't appreciate the tone of your posting. 2nd i don't need to be reminded of something I have said many many times in these forums, I know I'm the captain of that truck. I'm also well aware of my fricking 10 hour break and what it is for. The point of my post since you seem to have difficulty understanding it was that sometimes your schedules get jerked around and it is hard to sleep. Is it safe? hell no, but because of operational requirements it is sometime unavoidable. You make a habit of telling a fleet manager or load planner that you can't run because you did not sleep and you won't be driving for that company very long. Thankfully this is something you can work around with experience. This is why I took the time to point out I could go sometimes up to 30 hours provided I got a restful sleep before. I have gotten up many times drove 8 or 9 hours to a midnight delivery go to bed and try (most of the time without success) to get some sleep then finish out a 10 then drive another 8 or 9 hours before I shut it down. I as stated have did this with as little as 30 minutes sleep. It can be done because I have did it, I just can't do it everyday. Dry van don't quite get this schedule jerking like reefer does.

 

The people that can sleep in a moving truck are already driving team. Most others don't sleep well in a moving truck. There is hardly anyone you can't wake up by shaking them. Shaking is what happens while you try to sleep in a moving truck.

When I was with my trainer I didn't sleep well too often. And Murphy's Law states you will be sleepy while behind the wheel and once you get in the bunk you will perk right up. You and your trainer just have to work out how to split the time. My trainer said "we will try to drive 5 and sleep 5 and switch. HOWEVER, if you are sleepy behind the wheel, we will switch driver or stop. If you can't sleep, get up and drive."

You don't get a guarantee you can sleep well at home, there is no guarantee in the truck either. I don't really consider team driving for this reason. But you won't know until you try.