Millis OTR journal

Amen

 

Got news for ya. Your biases and prejudices will change and it's not only natural, it's guaranteed. I was determined to be the guy who went from company to O/O and never became biased against company drivers. That ish went out the window a few months in. Still got love for you guys, but everyone else can suck it.

 

Nope. Come one, come all. I'm gonna do a deep dive this week on benefits and discounts for tires. My next trip in to the shop (not counting today's trip) is gonna hurt a little. Need 2 steers, an alignment, and two drives. Possibly three.

 

Sorry for responding a little late to this, but I've been thinking about your post and my original response to it. I will stick by my first response, don't watch the videos. I will once again quote the immortal Bill Smith and tell you that it'll take you a year to get good at backing. All you need to do is be good enough to make it to a trainer truck. Your skills will improve with time. I've been out here for over 2 years and I'm still learning new tricks on backing. I have seen some backing maneuvers from other truckers that I wish I had filmed. They make it look like the easiest thing in the world for some pretty tricky moves, and they pull it off on the first shot. When you see those things happen, pay attention to what they did. You will learn more about backing in a truck stop than anywhere else. And I don't mean trying to back yourself in. I mean people watching. Once you park, sit and watch, because school is about to start. If you see a horrible back, remember what you saw. If you see a vet come in and slide his ride in a tricky spot, remember what he did. Truck stops and docks are a classroom, use them as such. I learned a trick about a month ago that I never would have thought of on my own and it has become a staple in how I move around in tight places. It's awesome and I'm grateful to have seen it. Also, don't be afraid to refuse help. You'll feel like a jerk, but so be it. I see comments all the time on Trucker Path saying "why don't you get out and help the guys who are struggling instead of sitting in your truck and complaining?". That person is correct. If I see someone who is struggling, I'll get out and help. However... I wait, and I have a reason. That reason is my trainer. Once I was away from him, I didn't really want outside help. I wanted to figure it out on my own. So I will always give a struggling driver 3 attempts because he may very well be in that mindset. Then I'll ask if they need help, and I won't leave them until they're parked. My trainer barked at me like an insane person from sunup to sundown. I rarely got backing practice. So when I was on my own that's all I did. I would practice every time I hit a terminal or a truck stop or whatever. And I'm still not a "super trucker"in regards to backing after 2.5 years. Hope that helps

 

I don't want to f up your mindset right now, but try to remember this... small corrections on the wheel will snowball into giant movements on the trailer. It just takes a minute for her big ### to catch up. Subtle movements on the steering wheel are better than big ones. We all had to test out before going to a trainer. Jamie has a heart of gold and he's one of the greatest people I've met so far in trucking. He wants you to succeed just as much as you do. Believe that. He'll get you there.