Modifying a Company Truck?

yeah ok arnold. im from the internet and i believe you.

 

They don’t have gyms due to liability issues and or workmans comp cases.

 

Keep in mind some of us have been doing this for 30+ years. We’re not trying to discourage or be negative. Really hope you can find a way to keep lifting. Me I just walk, do modified pushups etc. But after you have been up 16 to 20 hours dealing with a problem load. Your 5 hours into a break and you haven’t been to bed yet. You have 5 more hours until you have to roll. Keep in mind dispatcher and load planners Don’t give a #### about what you want to do. When your 10 is up you better be ready to roll.
Stay away from Reefers you will spend hours upon hours at meat plants surrounded by mid and dirt and no restroom facilities.
Sitting at grocery warehouses. While on your “break” your up waiting for a phone call. While logging sleeper. Same goes for dry van.
so your off time while technically yours, it really isn’t. You babysit that load and truck while your out 24/7.
Don’t bet on having the time for a couple hour workout.
Even on your 10 hour break
By the time you find a place to work out
A few hours off duty to work out then relocate truck to a safe parking spot. If you can Use personal conveyance. If not you just screwed up your log book. You will have to reposition truck from the gym.
I admire your optimism but you SIR are in for one hell of a slap in reality.
Hope you find a company that’s accommodating. Look for small companies.
Keep in mind they are in the business of hauling freight and your personal needs snd wants don’t factor in. As a company driver your just meat in the seat.
Eat, Sleep, drive, shower and repeat.

Even as a owner operator like myself with own truck and trailer. I have deadlines to meet and
I generally Don have time to be stopping in gyms or screwing off. It go, go , go to get home snd then relax otherwise it’s a 24/7 business and industry that will chew you up and spit you out.
Lot of unwritten rules and such in this industry
Not saying they are right or wrong.
But you will learn them and hope not be one of the statistics. I forget the % of new drivers who don’t make it a year in this industry.
Good luck

 

You can install that gear on the "catwalk" area between the back of the sleeper and front of the trailer. You could also do it without the company's permission if you understand you CANNOT drill any hole or weld anything you don't own. Of course you will always be outside in whatever area/weather you happen to experience.

My advice is don't ask the company permission to modify anything. They will say "no" before you finish the question. The person you are asking isn't responsible for those questions, doesn't know who can answer those questions, and that person cannot get in trouble saying no to every question from a driver. ONCE YOU SEE THE TRUCK then decide if you can install something using only the original nuts, bolts, screw locations. Maybe you only have to substitute longer bolts or screws to attach the hardware you have in mind. You can visit a truck stop and you can visit a truck dealership to look at trucks as much as you want.

Other than the working out, I think I have some of the same personality traits I think I see in you. You want to have a solid plan, if not airtight plan, before you get within a 100 miles of this potential new world of trucking. You cannot know all of the important details, or you will be 90 years old before you learn those details before you get in the truck. You can avoid 8 years of question with about 2 hours of observing the truck.

Frankly, I think almost all of the "working out" questions posted on this board can be answered with "a pair of running/walking shoes" and "heavy duty resistance bands" but I understand many or most serious workout people consider both of those the same as a suggestion to become a terrorist. They will not consider it no matter what. There just isn't room in a truck for bikes, weights, racks, and your day has maybe 10% of the time off as you think it will have. MANY days you will drive and sleep and squeeze in a snack here or there. The customers and office types will waste so much of your typical day you will be lucky to have more than a couple of minutes to spend on personal matters. No customer or dispatcher can dispute you have to drive and you have to sleep. They will question EVERY OTHER THING YOU DO if you are late for a customer. The fact the customer or your company wasted 9 hours on some trivial issue will not be considered relevant. The 30 minutes you spend working out will be seen as an outrageous waste of time in their mind. Your workout will be subtracted from your sleep.

 

some of the companies have put small workout rooms at terminals. No trucking company has come up with the time machine that puts more than 24 hours in a day or gotten the regs changed so as to stop time while workouts happen. I anticipate many, many more posts that ALWAYS turn into people trying to recruit drivers into working out when they started out as "how can I work out?" questions. You are asking about the reality of the day, job, conditions. We are explaining the day, job, conditions. Even if you get each of us to promise to start working out the day, job, conditions are what we are trying to tell you about.

 

Another "gym is life" guy getting into trucking. I think this topic is brought up roughly as often as split sleeper, right turns, and company to start with.

You can be reasonably fit in trucking, but if you think your style of fitness will be kept up you're either (a) lying about how fit you are (b) lack reading comprehension or (c) going to be out of trucking in less than 6 months.

By the way this comes from somebody who TRIES to get in at least an hour of cardio daily, used to work corrections, and spent a minimum of 20 hours a week in the gym while working in the oilfield.

 

What's the 10-20 on this long layover? Most of those I've ever had have been waiting for 15 minutes, over and over for hours or days. Nobody respects the driver enough to say "this broker usually won't return my call until after lunch in a day or two". Instead you will be told "let me call and ask. I'll call you right back". The industry treats drivers as the lowest rank, least knowledgeable, respect not needed, cog in the machine. Customers and dispatchers have no guilt asking you to wait 3 days or go drive 200 miles just to ask a question because they are too important to make one phone call and get the issue solved. All the determination in the world doesn't give you one second more time than even the laziest slob on a couch. Your determination can decide you can give up sleep to workout, shower, eat, trip plan, etc. God help you if you wind up in court and need to explain why you didn't get sleep before some drunk in an SUV causes a crash. Your the employe working for a company with a million dollars of insurance.

BTW lost of places with the 24 hours gyms don't necessarily have the pavement to park trucks and many of their properties have driveways built to exclude trucks. When your truck is booted while you work out, or you knock down a light pole, you will have plenty of time for workouts.

 

Well over 90%