So You Wat to be a Truck Driver?

Let me start by stating that I like my job. The life that I lead is meant for me. I do what I provide for lots of factors, however the most essential one is that I enjoy what I do! So if this sounds like I am complaining, I am not, this is simply the method it is.

On a night like this I will sit back and listen to the rhythm of the tires on the road, solve a couple of problems in my mind, write a song, and actually simply enjoy what I do. To me this is why I drive a truck, and nothing more!

My average time out on the roadway is 6 weeks. I will take a week off and then go back out again when I do come home. Now not all drivers drive by doing this, some are home when a week. The common practice is to be out about three weeks and then get back for a number of days. The industry standard is that you get one day off for each week out on the roadway. A workweek consists of seventy hours. There is no overtime, and once you figure in all the hours that you do not earn money for, or handle to hide, your typical workweek is more like ninety to one hundred hours a week! This is simply working time, however remember you do not get to go house every night, you get to consume, sleep, and be trucking! The hours are long and extremely irregular. One day you will be trucking through the day, the next the night. You may provide at 3:00 AM or 10:00 PM. There is no such thing as a set schedule when you are a cross-country truck chauffeur.

There have been times where I have actually gone from LA to North Carolina in 42 hours. That leaves no time for sleep, and before you ask-- NO I do not take drugs to stay awake !!! I drink a lot of coffee, smoke too much and take 15-minute power naps to keep going! Time worked that is not paid, plus the time invested away from house brings your average method down.

Attempt pulling an 18 wheeler into a nationwide park, and see what you are told, or try taking a truck into downtown and find a program to park at, in the majority of cases it ain't going to take place. Unless you have friends that are willing to come choose you up, many of your time off is invested in your truck at a truck stop, or terminal. You would believe that we might drop our trailer and take the truck just to get around.

If you can believe of one thing that is not provided by a truck chauffeur please let me know, however I question that you can. At some point a piece of everything ends up on a truck, and people like me are there to get it where it needs to go. In 1997 I invested Christmas day driving through Utah and Colorado, and Christmas supper was at a truck stop.

Being out on the highway is generally the very best part about this job. Once the freight is on the trailer, and you have actually made your way out of the city into open country, you can unwind and delight in what you do. There are times when you have to fight simply to keep rolling. Last November I got captured up in a Midwest winter storm. I just had 10,000 lbs. in the trailer (I can carry 47,000 pounds.) After spending an excellent part of the night combating snow and ice, attempting my finest to keep the trailer behind me, I decided to call it a night. After about 4 hours of sleep I returned up and pointed west. The winds had gotten. Blowing out of the north at about 70mph. I played Hell attempting to keep the truck on the roadway. About 40 miles from Cedar Rapids, Iowa the wind gusts where close to 100mph, with a 70mph consistent. There where 4 of us running together for some support if nothing else. As we all occurred a sweeping corner to the right, a gust struck us all hard. The truck in front of me was blown over, the 2 trucks behind me where blown over, I went up on 9 wheels and returned down on all 18 just in time to swerve and miss out on the truck that remained in front of me. I pulled over and ensured everyone was OK, and called the police officers, then made my way to the next truck stop. I called my dispatcher and told him what had actually happened which I was shutting down. I sat for 13 hours till the wind died enough to go once again. The consumer had pled me to attempt and make it on time, or their assembly line would come to a stop. It is difficult to comprise 13 hours of driving time, and all I will admit to is that I made my consultation time with 5 minutes to spare! This is one of numerous stories that can be told about fighting and beating the components. The other trucks that I was keeping up were not so fortunate! There have actually also been times when I wasn't so fortunate myself, one night an intoxicated driver caused me to roll my truck. I was fortunate in the sense that I am here to inform you about it, and I must not have been!

If you are 5 minutes late for an appointment, you are informed to come back the next day. If you are on time, you will end up waiting for a couple of hours simply to get a door to back into. Again this is more typical than not, and the entire time you are there you have to keep a smile on your face and put up with it.

You are also a target for a lot of states. You are a great earnings source. So you are most likely to get a fake ticket if you get a ticket you are not likely to come back and battle it. Tickets for truck chauffeurs are 3 times as much as for other drivers. The typical speeding ticket starts around $200.00 and they increase from there. They begin at around $1500.00 if you happen to be in California. Truck scales in some states can be the very same way. That is not to state that there are not great cops out there. I have actually gotten out of more tickets then I would care to confess.

Must you still choose that you wish to drive a truck, truck-driving schools have to do with the only way to discover. There was a time when the only method you could discover was from another driver, and to be sincere with you, I wish it where still that method. Trucking business will not hire unskilled motorists unless they have some kind of school behind them. I do not advise schools, I have never ever needed to handle them, just their item, and in most cases I do not get close enough to discover where they went to school. So let me rather provide you some recommendations. You can not learn what you need to know in a week, two weeks, and even 3 weeks. The longer you remain in school, the better. Search for a school that offers you as much driving time as they do book time. The book knowledge is great to understand, but a book does not drive a truck, and in many cases the writer of the book never ever has either. And get employed on with a business you will end up with a fitness instructor for a month or so when you have actually completed school. After that you are on your own. At that point I recommend that you open up your eyes and shut your mouth. When you do not understand something, confess; then ask. If you believe it is a foolish concern, ask anyways. If the driver you asked thinks it a stupid concern, ask another motorist. If you cant back up a trailer excellent, have somebody spot you. I was enjoying a chauffeur who was new try to back into a very tight dock at a Safeway Warehouse in Portland. After nearly an hour at it, he still was not backed into the dock. If he would like me to put it in there for him, I asked him. His Answer "I have to learn sometime, may also be now." Fantastic Answer; I spotted him to make certain he would not hit anything, and he eventually got it in the dock. In the winter season never drive above your comfort zone. Let them pass if other motorists are passing you. They either know what they are doing, or will end up in a ditch. If the motorists on the CB are informing you to go faster, and the only factor they provide you is that they need to go, shut off the CB. There is constantly some story being told when you are in a truck stop. As I stated, shut up and listen. Do not tell your own, you will appear like a fool. I have actually been at this game for 22 years. The stories remain the same, just the people informing them change. There are some excellent lessons in those stories, but there is a great deal of crap also. You need a great ear to sort it out. I can't know everything. I learn something brand-new all the time; I'm just not as stupid as I as soon as was.

You can play the part of a truck driver actually simple-- get a chain drive wallet, some cowboy boots, western shirts, and a huge buckle that says Peterbilt or something like that, and a stetson or ball cap. To be a truck driver is a lot various then what you see in the movies. It is effort that takes a great deal of commitment, with extremely little regard.

Why do I drive a truck? It was a dream. Why do I stick with it? I like what I do! Do I advise it? Hmmm, I would have to talk with you to find out what makes you tick. It takes an unique breed of person to be out here. Part Nomad, part Gypsy, and primarily Loner. You have method too much time to think, so you need to be comfy with your ideas. You have very little time to do, so once again you require to be comfy with your thoughts. What I do out on the road is not a game, nor is it a big adventure. What I do is my life, my highway, and most of all, my Dream! I drive for no other factor cdl training schools then that!

Unless you have friends that are willing to come pick you up, most of your time off is spent in your truck at a truck stop, or terminal. The truck in front of me was blown over, the two trucks behind me where blown over, I went up on 9 wheels and came back down on all 18 just in time to swerve and miss the truck that was in front of me. There have likewise been times when I wasn't so lucky myself, one night a drunk driver triggered me to roll my truck. Tickets for truck motorists are 3 times as much as for other motorists. You can play the part of a truck motorist truly easy-- get a chain drive wallet, some cowboy boots, western shirts, and a huge buckle that states Peterbilt or something like that, and a cowboy hat or ball cap.