n()()b with n()()b questions

I am browsing through this message board and would like to ask a couple of questions:

How do you fight boredom?

What is the likelihood of getting a gym at a truck stop?

How do you make sure you don't get back problems or hemorrhoids?

Is it reasonable to plan to truck for a couple of years and then try to get a promotion to an office job, where you basically become a blue collar worker?

Being out on the roads for several weeks at once, how do you pay your credit card and rental bills on time? And how do you make sure that your car is being run and not just sitting there with no starting it? I live alone and have no life, so these apply to me.

If these have already been asked and answered million times, I'm sorry, I am still all the way back on page 70 reading as much new stuff as possible. In the meanwhile, I'd appreciate these questions answered.

Many thanks.

 

Hope that helps

 

Well I'm not a driver so you might not want my advice, but since no one else was giving you any I thought I'd throw my $0.02 in. Good luck with your research.

 

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Others have mentioned a number of things for use while stopped. I read, use the computer, pop the hood and see if I can break things. Simple stuff like that.

While driving, I play little head games.. check mile markers and calculate arrival time (or time before you have to stop anyway). Pay attention to the drag of the load - the heavier loads drag more. try to guess if the shipper's weight assessment is high or low before you scale.

Search for tolerable radio stations (nope, too cheap for XM/Sirius)

Take bets with yourself on what that idiot in the 4-wheeler is going to do next. I'm at about the break-even point.

Some stops have them - but the advice tendered by others is where the world is. At every stop, I walk around the truck at least once. When I stop for the night, so long as it's not a bazzilion degrees outside, I walk a mile or so.

Lift properly. Configure your driving seat properly. Don't drive too fast on rough roads.

EVERY driver has hemorrhoids - known variously as "dispatcher", "Driver Manager", "log auditing", "safety", and a host of other names.

Blue collar or white? Office are typically white collar.

I don't see a problem with it. From my limited experience, the better terminal managers are ex drivers - though that's a tendency, not an absolute, even in a mid-sized company.

Personally, I'm not at all interested in moving back to an office. Did that for 30+ years in one form or another. For now, at least, being on the road is much more to my liking. Still, I'm not averse to taking a slot in safety or logs, if such a spot comes open.

Others have answered the bills question.

It won't hurt your car to sit for 4-6 weeks unused. Really. Especially if you park it in a sheltered location.

Actually - I've been reading this board for something like 6 months, and while some of your questions are more common, others are less so.

Either way, though, we'll send you the bill

 

Two more question.

which company as far as you are concerned has the most load reliability?

Most companies provide paid CDL and Tractor Trailer drving courses. The catch is, of course, that they obligate you in either returning the money back or being under a contract for a fixed period of time. Do you know of any charities/government agencies/people who ache under the load of extra $$ etc. who can pay for the training for me?

Another thing. If I like it so much that eventually I end up being self employed and all that, how do truckers have personal lives? How does one who is constantly on the road find a wife/husband, boy/girlfriend? Is that even possible?

 

Every company will have thin times. As a COMPANY, the big ones probably have the least issue getting loads.. however, that doesn't mean that a driver won't sit for days on end waiting for his share of the pie.

That's another reason, though, I prefer a small to mid-sized company. They have a more intense interest in keeping their trucks running - they feel the crunch of not making money more severely than a ConGlomCo.

Um.. no, SOME provide the courses. Many will pay for it. In either event, the result is the same, of course - indentured servitude (to my way of thinking)

I got my CDL by using Workforce Investment Act grant - check with your local unemployment office for grants and loans.

I dunno - I came into this field already married with kids... I would assume that you do the things you normally do on your days off.

 

Its definitly up to you to find "THE" one. Love comes from strange places, just don't go for the LLs! Just make sure she understands the life of a truck driver and your needs before moving in to close. Also, I think all will say the same, its all about TRUST, HONESTY, and COMMITMENT. There ain't no room for jealousy out there, so if she can't deal with it, throw her back and catch another one. You would be surprised at the people(women in your case) that would give up their current life to go on the road for a while. Most trucker's wives at one point and time have spent a bit of time on the road with their hubby. You may even luck up and find one that already drives or wants to drive......that's a plus! You end up team driving and can earn some good money especially since its a hubby/wife team!

 

I thought i was weird for thinking about living out of the truck lol. I live in CO but was here for another type of school, originally from NY, and also have family in chicago and florida. figured I'd wait a few months and then just pay to get out of my lease (its 2 months rent to get out of it, my rents only $590) and then just take home time either somewhere i have family or go somewhere I'd like to visit and just stay in a hotel for a few days. good questions, i was also wondering about the gym thing.. im not much of an athletic person but I definitely don't want to just sit on my butt for weeks at a time. the shopping list keeps getting bigger lol

 

For myself the only real issue is the entertainment I am not one for doing nothing so it gets wired at times. I have my better half with me but she reads a lot so sometimes it is like driving alone. I just do whatever I can to entertain myself safely. Mindgames have been mentioned and are a lot of fun, I do like to drive though so that makes it easier. For exercise there are a lot of things you can do just don't worry about what other people think, half the time the ones that think your an idiot are pushing 400lbs. Back problems and what not I dunno about. Bills and what not depend on age. In our case we are 20 and 21 so all we own is the truck and trailer we sold our vehicles and didn't own a home. We just work and live in the truck in 5yrs or so we will look into settling down. Credit cards and whatnot can be paid by phone or internet and in this day and age that is not hard to have in the truck. Hope this helps.