I am a female rokkie driver, have been on my own for about 3 months now. Theres been a lot of ups, downs, highs and lows and everything in between.
I work for Werner, not bad by any means, but wishing I was making more money, but in time I will. I am making decent money. the bills are getting paid Bring home about $2500 a month after taxes. Making about $3000-$3300 a month before taxes. I am doing ok.
I have made a few mistakes my first couple months. trailer was too high and jumped a kingpin over the 5th wheel and bent a faring on the truck my first week on my own. wasnt taught to look for that in cdl school or with trainer and i learned the hard way but I havent made that mistake again. Now I get my rear tractor wheels under the lip of the trailer and I get out and take a look. if i need to i lower the landing gear to bring the trailer down a little. and then back her in and do a tug test.
2 months after that I missed a turn thanks to werners navigo gps not telling me to turn until i was 500 feet past my street and got routed into a neighborhood and got my rear tandems stuck in a ditch and had to get towed out.
A fellow trucker and friend of mine told me about using google maps satellite view to check out the area and streets right around shippers, consignees, fuel stops and drop yards so you are familiar with the area and you have an in and an out.
Since that little mishap with, I havent had any more issues and its worked very well for me. I also check my route using a Federal Motor Carrier Rand McNally Road Atlas and trip plan throughly. It also helps that when I get off the highway at my main exit, I write the rest of my directions down on a sticky note and put it on the left side of windshield where its viewable so I can refer to it. Another thing I do is to check each states DOT websites to check for closures on roads that my gps and map books dont tell you about.
The worst thing I have encountered since then was a wal-mart entrance for trucks that was closed due to construction in West Virginia off I-77 and had no sign telling you from the main road and no sign in the drive just a bunch of construction equipment halfway down the drive but not viewable from the main road so you didnt know till it was too late and that doesnt show up on google satellite. Had to pull into an outback steakhouse parking lot which was on a hill and do a 90° back in the dark, no lights and no help to get turned around and get out of there but I kept my composure and got out and looked several times and got it turned around. A little nerve racking and had to make sure my tandem tires didnt go off the gravel on the shoulder of the road I was backing onto because there was a big hill past the gravel shoulder, but getting out and looking worked perfectly.
motor carrier road maps, google satellite and gps dont always show you everything and sometimes you cant see a road is closed until its too late. if you cant visually see where a road goes or if a road is open or closed..dont go down it!!! utilize your commercial grade gps (i.e. rand mcnally tnd 520 lm or 720 lm or similar), use google satellite, use your fmc road atlas and all the resources available to you...BUT always err on the side of caution.
hopefully some other rooks will benefit from my tips.
Also, being an OTR driver is pretty challenging for a rookie. every day is different, every stop is different, every shipper is different, every consignee is different. some places are simple and easy to get into and easy to get out of and easy to back into. Others are can be a real bear to maneuver around in, tight backing, difficult turns. You see new things constantly, you encounter new challenges and obstacles all the time. You also get a lot of impatient experienced drivers who are in a hurry and dont care if you are a rookie or not. some of them can be pretty rude too. just take your time and dont let them hurry you. But here is where google satellite comes in real handy because you have an aerial view of how their yard is setup, you can see what side of building their shipping/receiving areas are at so that you know which road to enter on and how to get in there and get out. You can get mentally prepared before you even get there because you already know what you are dealing with.
As for being an OTR driver with Werner...its been really tough for me to get the miles consistently. I been out for 11 weeks, and only once have I gotten more than 3000 miles (week before last), and I got 3,381 miles...my best week. Other than that I have been averaging about 2400-2600 miles a week. I love to run hard, stay out for 6-8 weeks at a time, and get my miles but with the way Werner is doing things nowadays, the days of the long haul OTR solo driver are pretty much over . Now long haul loads are run with teams and trainer/students and the rest is all regional and dedicated accounts.
But I recently took a dedicated run with Budweiser. same miles as what I have been averaging (2400-2600) .33 cpm, 5 days out, 2 days off at home. The benefit is more money, less work, 2 days in a row off every week, same miles.
less work and more money is always a winning combination right?
the other thing I can say for rooks regardless of who you work for...make a checklist and print it and laminate it and use it every day till you memorize it.
Develop a system that works for you, follow it every day and dont deviate from it.
for me
my day starts off with checking my qualcomm for messages and checking my hours.
then i get dressed/take meds/breakfast
get what I need for the day and put it in my passenger seat (snacks, sunglasses, gum, any phone numbers i might need to call, bluetooth headset, work gloves, notepad and pen, etc).
then I do my pre-trip and log it (30 mins)
then check my route, satellite aerials and dot closures and make sure i have my fuel stops amd my rest stops planned on a post it note stuck to the left side of the windshield (hwy, exit #, name of location)
activate my gps and make sure address is programmed
final mental check and off I go.
each night after I am done for the day
I go off-duty
dona quick walk around of the truck and submit my post-trip inspection.
plug in my phone to charge, charge my ipod
checck my hours again
program my gps if neccesary of locations I need to stop and figure out exactly how far I can go and where and when I need to stop.
since I have a scanner and a laptop I scan my tripaks in after the night and use my internet on my phone to tether to my laptop to submit it.
Take meds/organize my truck/take the trash out/fold clothes, put dirty clothes in laundry bag/wash bugs off my windshield if needed and prepare for the next day.
set my wakeup alarm
then i might grab a bite to eat and watch a movie or a tv show i downloaded on my laptop or read a book and head off to bed.
repeat the process again.
planning and being prepared will help you out tremendously on the road.
also always have a back up stop planned. sometimes you get somewhere and its full and no place to park. dont run up until you only got 15-20 mins left on your 14 hour clock. start looking for a place to stop at about 90 minutes before the end of your day.
if you run team, well it doesnt matter then.
if any one else wants to add to this feel free. experienced or rookies welcome.
My advice to rookies
Discussion in 'Experienced Truckers' Advice' started by X-Country, Jun 26, 2014.
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Listen to the lady!
Jumped fifth wheel so many times not even funny. Fellow company drivers are incompetent -.-X-Country Thanks this. -
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Sounds like you made a few rookie mistakes but you have not "hit" anything or dropped a trailer so you are still Golden !! Just make sure to NEVER trust a TUG test as too many drivers do, Get under that trailer and CHECK that safety bar
. I like your routine because that is exactly what it takes to get the job done. STAY-SAFE DRIVER
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