Seriously looking into driving but have a few questions, mostly medical

Ok, will do. Diet huh?

 

All that doesn't matter if your body can't withstand all the other work associated with driving.Also during a physical you may have to do a few exercises to make sure you are physically fit.

 

Oh dear Lord, I'm not a cripple, I can lift and bench press, run, bend and everything I've seen a truck driver do(within reason). I have had a spine fusion so that part is fine. I just have a badly pinched nerve that with one med make it completely goes away. Besides the doc telling me my sugar level is high, there should be no problem. I was a gym rat for years. I simply don't wish to do anymore damage to my body.

 

Well it could very well happen.Sometimes trailers are hard to dollyup and down u have to use all your strength.Sometimes tandems rust and freeze which makes them near impossible to slide them.Trailer doors and can be hard to open and close especially on a real windy day ect ect.

 

I know you dont wish to do more damage. The physical acts related to trucking is of itself damaging. Which is why it's generally a young man's game. You don't see too many old bulls doing that. When you do, that is a special thing.

 

so besides lack of a decent diet and some kind of exercise, what so hard on a truck driver's body? Maybe I can't do and maybe I could do a stellar job. I have about 30 days to make a choice. Guys, speak up, I need to know, this isn't just for x1heavy.

 

I did my DOT medical exam earlier this week. I didn’t have to do any excercises all he asked me to do was resist him when he pulled and pushed on on parts of body like arms hands wrists legs etc. it was easy he didn’t use much force at all.

You will have to be able to hear him whisper words with one ear plugged at a time. An eye exam of course. And a few other routine things.

 

You will have to bend over and touch your toes, walk on your heels and on your toes, balance on one foot with the other raised

 

I was able to pass the hearing even being totally deaf in my right ear. The DOT exam isn’t anything to worry about really.

 

The HOS demands a cycle of sleep that flips every part of night and day. You will spend one day sleeping 10 hours through the night, wake up at sunrise, go to trucking. Within two days you are going to be sleeping by day if it all possible and then driving through the night.

Humans are not wired to endure a life doing something like that. We are supposed to go to sleep every night according to the sunrise and sunset because our bodies, minds require this rest. We thrive on that. Trucking takes it away in many ways.

I have spent some of my trucking years in a state of no sleep long enough to generate a situation worse than being simply drunk. I don't know how I managed not to kill myself or someone or many someones doing that stupid stuff. Why? Dispatch says you will be there at 4 am or you do not have a job and we will black list so you will not be hireable. Threats piled on threats.

Ultimately going Team solved the sleep problem to a certain degree. And solved the appointment time versus distance problem. Turned it around to our advantage. Dispatch cannot keep up with us. They created a monster. We have literally spent time waiting on dispatchers to wake up, leave home commute to work, settle in and make a decsion on the load. That takes half a day sometimes if you are on one coast or another 3 or 4 hours ahead or behind.

Being awake has a price. Sometimes you will be up when you cannot be up. It is not up to you to go to bed and rest. You are up unloading or something.

Food. In my time truckstops were fairly good and somewhat decent in food. I am living proof of that by staying pretty fit and strong for the work I have done. No complaints there. Fast forward to 2001 when we discovered new truckstops built with NO way to sit down, order food to cook and deliver to the table. That's gone, Replaced by walk up self pay fast food C R A P. Fast food is not food, it will make you nasty. Oh sure it's fun, enjoy once a month or something it's fast food, street food (Now this I developed a taste for... philly cheesesteak onions and so forth come to mind out of the food truck or roach coach...) You can buy a bunch for 10 bucks wrapped in newspaper for several days, especially if you know you will not be parking in any truckstops on the new run.

So I offered several more challenges against being healthy to truckers in general.

I prefer the old time gauges, the recent new trucks being using technology with screens emitting a light that resets your body clock, just posting here over 10 minutes is enough to keep me awake from the monitor here for about 2 more hours it's 1 am now. There is no sleep possible until about 3 am. Since I have nothing to do for work outside of my home, it's not a problem. But it will be if you still have 60 miles to be somewhere with lumpers who will begin to pound on your sleeper asking for cash work at 5 am prior to appointment time. Sleep? HA. Forget it.

I actually started sleeping on quiet mountains 50 to 100 miles from target city with appointment time waking up rested so that I will complete the drive to appt and plow through the lumpers. (If you ever went to the South central LA produce market, you will find about 500 people surrounding the walled gates trying to climb aboard your rig for a 70 dollar cash job loading you. Gaurds pull people down to the street so you can get in and not run anyone over (Knock on wood.)

Such problems might cost you your freedom.

I appreciate your being vocal asking for others to speak up. Im pretty certain there are dozens who will speak up. I cannot do it all. (And will not...)

I will add to your call for others to speak up. There are millions of truckers out there who has to know better than I do. Let's hear em.