driven2drive

[driven2drive]

12 Year Anniversary

September 26 marks 12 years since I got my CDL. It's a proud moment for me. I've learned a lot over the years and I've compiled 12 life lessons, compliments of my trucking experience.

Perseverance. There are times in life when you have to keep going when you know quitting would be worse. I was under a load and the truck broke down. It was not drivable and I had to find a place where I could take the load, like a cross-dock, so someone else could deliver it. I needed a repair shop that could fix everything and a tow truck that could take me to both. I was in West Virginia and there was no cross dock, no suitable repair shop and no tow truck that would "cross state lines." The only option I had was to order a tow truck 200 miles away in North Carolina close to where I picked up the load so I could tow it back to the shipper. I found a shop in NC that could fix everything. I was exhausted trying to coordinate all of this, but I had to keep going. I was faced with the task of finding a decent pet-friendly hotel, finding a taxi ride there, and getting a rental car. There was no Uber or Lyft. By the grace of God I found a taxi company that could transport me and my dog and it was cash only. That 2 weeks I spent in the hotel was a transformative time for me; I turned something "bad" into something good. I ended up missing a Hank concert but I was able to resell the ticket online. I had been losing weight for several months then and I bought some new clothes, including a few bathing suits. I spent time at the pool getting sun. It was fun driving the rental car around and going to places I normally couldn't access in the truck. I took care of myself, taking bubble baths in the evening. My truck left the repair shop better than ever; those guys even got to fix a few things that were already not working great like the air conditioning. Just because circumstances seem dire does not mean they have to stay that way... make it work for you and you will come out on top.

2. See beyond the surface; don't take things at face value; remain curious. What you see is not always reality. This applies to what the broker tells me about a load. A load was recently posted on the load board and it was requesting 24' of space, and/or a lift gate. My box is 22' without a lift gate. I called on it anyway to see if it really needed 24’. The broker said, "well, the customer is requesting 24', but we don't know the actual dimensions, but I'll call you if it's something that would fit on your truck.' Then an hour later they reposted it saying it's 20' long, so I called them and was able to book it. I get to the shipper, and the freight ended up being 2 standard size 4' pallets, lol. You can miss out on opportunities if you believe what you see is written in stone and 100% truth. 

There are also so many times when my truck is in the dock to load or unload and I walk into the door while passing numerous signs that say "Safety vest required beyond this point" or "Safety glasses and earplugs required" or "No drivers allowed on the dock" and the pleasant people there will invite me in to the dock on their floor without abiding by all of the posted "requirements." There are times when the signs mean what they say, but many times employees don’t seem to enforce them. 

3. You can’t be everything to everybody. I meet a lot of people who insist I should spend $10,000 on a lift gate, or spend however much money on a second axle so I can “haul more weight” and “get more loads.” I’ve driven a straight truck with a lift gate, tag axle, and reefer box- as spec’d out as you can get- but it had one huge drawback. The inside width of the box was too narrow to have 2 standard size pallets side-by-side. So I  was limited on the number of pallets I could haul. Even with a 53’ dry van trailer, you still cannot haul anything requiring refrigeration. Even if you do have a reefer trailer, you can’t haul anything that requires a flatbed. It doesn’t matter how much weight you can haul or the dimensions of your trailer, you will never be everything to everybody. So maximize what you have with the customers that can use you the most.

4. Resourcefulness. This includes shopping at truck-friendly Walmarts and stocking up on groceries and gallons of water that don't cost $4+ like they do at the truck stops. It’s repurposing old clothes into rags. It means washing clothes before my hamper looks like Santa’s pack. It’s fun cooking in the truck, and convenient when it would take too much time to stop and buy something. I can pull into a rest area to take my federally-mandated 30 minute break and cook a couple eggs and sausage links in my microwave and have time to do other things.

5. It's not really a load until it's on the truck. The only sure thing is what is currently happening. Trucking can be very in-the-moment. In my corner of trucking, most loads happen without much notice. I’ve booked a load and the broker calls back and says it canceled or the customer changed their mind and wanted a team. It doesn't happen often, but it may be hours later after I've started planning out the load and said no to anything else that came my way. I may have even already started driving in that direction. There's really nothing I can do about those situations except control my attitude. I say to myself, "That's ok, something better will come along." 

6. Taking care of my equipment. I've driven for many people who bought a truck, but they had very little interest in maintaining the truck or repairing what was wrong or what was about to go wrong. You either pay now or you pay later. If you want your truck to slowly look like crap, just stop fixing the little things. Pretty soon they will compile into one huge expense of time and money. Your truck will tell you when something is not right. It may be subtle, but it's up to you to notice it and to do something about it. 

7. Have an open mind regarding the things that “seem impossible/probably cost too much/are too difficult/would take too much time.” Some things in life, or on the truck, haven't worked in a long time or ever, but I’ve given up on them because my belief is they are gonna be so dramatic and complicated to repair. Once I get out of my own head and allow someone smart, knowledgeable, and with the right “can-do” attitude to look at it, and it doesn’t take years or all my money to fix, I feel silly about how much stress it caused me. 

One time my truck had a cold coolant leak. It was only leaking coolant when the engine was shut off, like overnight. It was coming from the back of the engine. A mechanically-knowledgable friend advised me that the engine would have to be taken out for them to get back there, which would be really costly. This fear-mongering was coming from someone I trusted. I believed him, and for months I would continue to add coolant every morning. I made sure to stock up on plenty of coolant when I went to Walmart. However, after some nudging from another friend, I finally took it in to my trusted shop and it ended up needing 2 new quick connect fittings and cost just over $300. All that worry for nothing! 

8. No deal is better than a bad deal. Do you feel like you are taking yourself hostage because you don’t believe there will be anything better? If you say yes to a bad deal, you say no to everything else you could have had. The perception of loss stings twice as much as an equivalent gain. If you aren't going to make a profit, you will resent yourself. Never be so sure of what you want that you wouldn't take something better. 

9. It's a good deal if you think it's a good deal. Price isn't the only factor that goes into a deal. It's important to think about the long-term relationship with that broker and how much we can collaborate in the future. There may be money left on the table, but if the other side feels like I beat them up in order to get every last penny, they aren't gonna want to work with me again. Location is important; if the load keeps me in a good freight lane, that is valuable. If I like the rate, the freight, the area where it’s going, and I know I can get a load out of there, then it’s a good deal. 

10. Believe in your potential and your value. I only want to work with people who see the value in what I offer. There are brokers who get excellent rates and brokers who get very low rates. Not everyone believes you should run at the rate you want. It is all dependent on their beliefs and experiences. I don't need to explain my rate. Ronald Reagan said "If you're explaining, you're losing." 

11. Have a calm confidence. When I’m driving, I have a certain confidence and assertiveness about me. I don’t get upset easily if people are driving offensively. I’m able to stay calm regardless of what is happening around me. Because of the truck’s size and slow acceleration, people often get impatient and want to pass. I don’t ever let myself feel like I need to hurry up for the people behind me, especially on 2-lane roads where I may have to go slower than the posted speed limit. 

12. Anything can happen; success is closer than you think. That next load or opportunity is right around the corner. Sometimes my phone is quiet and the load board doesn't have anything good. Freight can seem slow because nothing is popping. It can be easy to feel down as a result. But then something good will hit and it turns everything around. I prepare myself with the belief that I'm gonna get that call and it's going to happen. And if I’m in an area for a few days and don’t wanna end up there all weekend, I will just drive to a better location. You can’t always wait around, you gotta set yourself up to be successful.

[driven2drive]

Scales in truckstops'...restrooms. Is it just me or does the concept of a scale in a restroom seem outdated? I am surprised it still only costs a quarter. Who really profits from these machines? Who actually uses these scales? It's hard enough to avoid the real truck weigh stations.. much less a scale in every truckstop restroom. Maybe subconsciously I've conditioned myself to want to avoid any type of 'weigh station.' lol

[driven2drive]

California sunrise

[driven2drive]

The real reasons for "driver shortage"

So you have probably heard about the so-called “driver shortage” in the trucking industry. That these trucking companies are paying really well to new drivers with no experience. And you can get all these sign-on bonuses and medical benefits. And you can be guaranteed certain amount of days of hometime. Yada yada. You ever wonder *why* there’s a driver shortage? I mean, it’s not like trucking companies have a hard time recruiting new drivers straight out of trucking school. Heck, they’ll even help you get your CDL through their schooling if you need it. So it’s not like they have difficulties bringing in new faces- it’s just keeping those new faces around.

There are so many things a driver can complain about, but there are also some good reasons to reconsider this field. My biggest concern, not so much a complaint is that companies bring on brand new drivers to run time-sensitive loads. The companies realize you just got your CDL so you are a “student.” Therefore they assign you a trainer to drive with for 10,000 miles, a month, etc. Then all of a sudden you are free to be a solo driver or team up with somebody. But the whole time during training, you operate as a team running team freight. Team freight simply implies that the truck never stops except to obey traffic devices and for fuel. So in my case, we get 2-3,000 mile loads that need to be there in 2-3 days. Sounds so easy, right? After one person drives their 10-11 hours, they switch out with their co-driver so that person can drive their hours. Meanwhile you rest in the sleeper and 10 hours later it’s your turn to drive again. Simple simple, right? Wrong. Oh so wrong.

The first big assumption about that whole scenario actually working out is that both drivers have the stamina to drive 10-11 hours. Doesn’t have to be straight through, but you better not stop for more than 15 minutes. And there’s no reason you should feel tired since you just had 8-10 hours of rest in the sleeper, right? Wrong. It’s hard to get full rest in the truck because it is always moving, so you naturally will be waking up periodically. For some reason I wake up when I sense the truck slowing down, like when the driver downshifts off the interstate. But you see how “easy” this team freight can work.

Lack of experience is another major factor in how trucking companies’ expectations of new drivers is unrealistic. It does not make sense how companies can expect new drivers to deliver freight on time when new drivers naturally lack experience and control over the vehicle. Like I’ve said before, the process of obtaining your CDL is just that- a process. It does not do much to prepare you for actual trucking. The trucking schools drill into your head the steps of the pre-trip inspections, brainwashing you to think they are so vital, and they are, but drivers don’t do them. Trucking school spends so much emphasis on rules and doing things by the book versus actual preparation for trucking. The schools have to do things the “FMSCR-way” to keep the boys in charge happy, but no one really knows what trucking is like. You have people making rules for an industry they can’t relate to.

But anyway, I feel that these companies think that just because you are in possession of a CDL that you are already completely familiar with basic vehicle control. They assume you are better than average at shifting, turning, driving in traffic, parking, backing, using mirrors, etc. They don’t consider the student who is really struggling at trying to control the truck. There is just no way these companies can realistically expect students to be knowledgable enough to go solo after one month, much less make deliveries on time! There is so much more to trucking than driving. It seems so simple to have to get to your destination in 2 days when you have a co-driver to share the driving with. But that accounts for nothing else. It doesn’t take into account that maybe you really are struggling with shifting enough so you feel uncomfortable driving in bumper to bumper traffic so you’d rather have the other person drive… But it’s their time to rest and they’re tired. It doesn’t take into account that you both are just exhausted and both don’t feel like driving. It doesn’t allow extra time for traffic or bad weather. They *tell* you to shut down if the weather gets bad, but they don’t think about the times when you’re driving and it’s starting to snow and you’re running into roads that are already slick… Not to mention they put you on a 2-lane back road and you can’t just pull over.

With team freight you don’t ever get a break, you may go several days without a shower or have a hard time figuring out when you can do laundry. You’re basically a slave to the truck stop and the truck stop’s amenities, including food options. You can’t just drive anywhere you want to drive or shop anywhere you want to shop. Not everyone is going to be ok with you parking on their property, weighing up to 80,000 lbs and being such an “eyesore.” It is a lifestyle, but no real life.

And these companies wonder why freight is late and their drivers have accidents. We will get fleetwide messages over the Qualcomm regarding accident report quotas and even get messages about some drivers being killed due to accidents. Why in the world would or should any company continue operations if their employees are dying due to truck errors? It’s disgusting… Shouldn’t that be a clue that maybe you are not doing something right? And the best they can do is use these drivers’ deaths as examples to “shut down when you feel unsafe” and “don’t try to be a hero.” How many times are you allowed to shut down before the freight becomes unacceptably late and you stop getting loads? Every time the truck stops, your paycheck stops. You don’t get compensated for pulling over because you are too tired or don’t want to drive in the snow. It just slows everything down.

Trucking companies need to understand that in order for students to feel comfortable driving, they need to be confident in their ability to maneuver the vehicle and in their shifting skills, gear recovery, and knowing what to do in emergency situations like if the trailer starts to jackknife. Like my trainer says, trucking is more mental than anything. In order to properly and safely drive, you need to be focused on what you are doing and everything around you. There is little to no room for error in this industry. So the fact that new drivers can easily enter this industry and that companies can hold them to expectations reserved for experienced drivers is ridiculous.

Has anyone forgot, or does nobody know that driving a tractor trailer is nothing like driving a personal car? It requires so much more than one might think. It encompasses such a huge responsibility- maintaining control over your vehicle and watching out for the public- motorists AND pedestrians. And also avoiding hitting anything with the huge trailer behind you. It’s such a serious thing and you definitely need to have a good idea about what you’re doing when you’re in the driver’s seat. And the funny part about all of this is that you don’t get holiday pay, and the average pay per mile is .25-.30/mile for new drivers. You aren’t getting compensated for the amount of responsibility required of you. You only get paid by the MILE. That implies that the wheels are turning. Crazy part is that you do not get paid for anything other than that, but you are always “on the clock.” For example, waiting on your truck to finished getting serviced may take several hours…yet you don’t make a dime. Yet you’re still on their time.

Want the “shortage” to end? Start paying truck drivers what they’re worth. You pay the cost to ship your important and desired freight but it isn’t going to drive itself. If there is such a shortage of drivers, that would mean they are in high demand with low supply, so why are they only getting paid pennies? Drivers are what moves freight, they are what enables you to buy stuff in the store because a truck brought it there. But until the driver is seen as valuable as the freight he or she ships, nothing will change. The freight cannot get to its destination without a driver, now start acting like it!

[driven2drive]

I'm wondering what driving hands-free has to do with wireless headsets? If only we could shift using our minds... Oh wait, those are called automatics. lol

[driven2drive]

2013

Happy New Year everyone!

[driven2drive]

Maximum occupancy...FIVE people? Seen on the wall in the women’s restroom at a shipper in California. Must be some kinda crazy California law to post max capacity for anything larger than a standard closet. lol

[driven2drive]

Washington on I-90

[driven2drive]

I-94 in Montana

[driven2drive]

Reflections on trucking

First off I want to thank all the truck drivers who were on the road yesterday and away from their families. We were in that category of drivers yesterday and it was really lousy being away from all the traditional family Christmas events. There were hardly any trucks on the road, much less at any of the truck stops. Freight keeps rolling though, deliveries don't stop. I just don't think any truck driver should have to be away from their families on Christmas. When it comes down to it, it is hard for anybody to be away from their families on Christmas. There are a lot of occupations that require people to work through the holidays, but there's nothing like being in person. It's funny to think of all my past Christmases with my family and how they all kind of blend together, but this one time I am away from them on Christmas and the absence certainly makes itself known. I didn't even eat a decent meal yesterday, but you can't dwell on those details too much... if you do, it will just make you sad. All you really can do is count your blessings and be thankful for what you do have and really ask yourself, is this trucking thing worth missing out on holidays for? It is certainly not worth it; nothing could ever be more important than being home for Christmas. I didn't think it would affect me that much but once you experience being away from home for the holidays it just puts a bad taste in your mouth.

Anyway, trucking is very interesting. Interesting in that it is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING LIKE TRUCKING SCHOOL. For those of you who went to trucking school to get your CDL, or are currently in trucking school, or are contemplating going to trucking school- learning how to drive a truck is completely different than learning how to get your CDL. I am a person who is very 'by-the-book' so when I read or learn information, I retain it. When I feel it is appropriate to apply that book knowledge to a real life situation, it is not always the case. Everything in trucking is on such a case-by-case basis. There is no strict rules for anything- it is mostly judgment based. I mean, it is good to learn all the textbook stuff they teach you in trucking school to keep it in the back of your mind, but learning it and actually DOING it are two completely different things. For example... the textbooks tell you not to use your jake brake in bad weather. Not always the case. You can use it intermittently in bad weather as long as you are going straight and your tires are on the pavement. And downshifting is overrated- I was taught to downshift to 2nd or 3rd gear when coming to a stop. You don't really have to do that. You can keep it in 4th or 5th when coming to a stop. And also, going up and down mountain grades can be done in top gear, without downshifting!... as long as you are empty/really light. Everything in trucking is all about:

-each situation

-weight of the trailer

-road conditions

-traffic

-your experience/comfort level

-looking ahead as far as you can, and

-READING ALL TRAFFIC SIGNS!!

It is imperative that a truck driver pay attention while out on the road. There is constant stimuli that a driver must be receptive to. For example, when downshifting on an exit ramp to go to the fuel station, as soon as you get on the exit ramp you need to be looking around at which direction the fuel stop is at. You can't be paying 100% attention to your gears because you have cars around you and you will be coming to a stop and you need to figure out which lane to get into.  Some exit ramps do not list which direction different gas stations/restaurants are located; it will not tell you that the TA is to the right .5 mile down the road. You also need to be on the lookout for 'no truck' signs. NEVER turn down those streets. If you end up missing your turn and keep going, you could end up in a residential area or an area that you cannot turn around in. In trucking, it really is best to stay on the beaten path and not take the road less traveled!!

In my short time of trucking I am learning that the whole gender thing with trucking is not relevant. The most important thing in trucking is having control over the vehicle at all times and being constantly aware of your ever-changing surroundings. Physical strength is secondary. Being out here has not even called my attention to me being a female and doing the whole trucking thing. My major concern is learning how the truck is and being one with it and driving it and not letting it drive me. I am still double clutching even though I have been demonstrated how to float gears, but I am not entirely comfortable with gear floating yet. I don't know if it's just because I feel overwhelmed with trying to learn something a different way- and it probably is easier than double clutching.

I find that I am pretty hard on myself as far as expectations go; in other words I expected myself to be good at this right off the bat. I mean, I did go to school and earned my CDL. I did all those pre-trip tests, backing tests and road tests, right? I know how to upshift, downshift, turn and stop, so that makes me qualified to drive for real, right? Wrong. So so wrong. It really doesn't help you in school when you're learning how to drive the truck on the same route day after day, especially if you live in a region where it is only one kind of terrain. I learned on all flat roads so driving on inclines/declines kind of scare me. I learned in sunny weather, maybe rained once so the thought of driving on snow or ice scares me. All you really have to prepare yourself is what you read in your trucking books, which really doesn't do much. You hear "ice and snow, take it slow" but what does "slow" really mean?? I was driving through Montana yesterday on I-94 and only the right-hand lane was dry pavement for travelers. The left-hand lane was covered in snow and tire marks from passing cars. And all those passing cars travel at 70mph in the passing lane! Quite shocking to a non-seasoned driver. Also, all the exit ramps were covered with snow and ice. When I took off from a rest area, the rest area parking lot was covered in snow. I put it in 1st gear and slowly let off the clutch so I wouldn't spin the drive tires, and I kept it at an idle all the way out of the rest area. Even while on the road to get back onto the interstate, I was crawling along in 2nd gear barely on the accelerator. YES, it IS important to go that slow, all the while trying to keep in the designated tread areas that other vehicles have taken. At that time there were no other cars at all on the road, but even if they were you HAVE to go that slow. Keep in mind my trailer was filled with only 3,000 lbs so that makes you have a lot less traction!!

I can't imagine learning the whole trucking thing with a complete stranger or someone that I did not get along with. First of all, you hardly get any privacy in the truck unless you use the curtains in the middle behind the 2 front seats which blocks off the area with the bunk beds and drawers/cabinets. Just because you are in training mode with your trainer does not mean you can handle all of the driving or drive the full 11 hours... Everybody is going to be at a different level, and I really thought I was okay until I realized I didn't have clutch control; I was having trouble taking off from a stop WITHOUT stalling out because I didn't understand the point at which the clutch was engaged. As you are coming off the clutch, it needs to be done SO slowly, ever so slowly, and even as you feel and hear and see the truck moving, do not let up quickly on the clutch, it has to be done so gently. It definitely helps to have an understanding of the clutch and how it works, in order to get a "feel" for it. 

I wish my trucking school had taught gear recovery better. It's almost like, you are taught how to shift gears, double clutch, etc but you are not taught how to handle many troublesome scenarios... like what if you are downshifting, and try to go into 5th gear but it grinds and won't go in... do you keep trying to rev it and shove it into 5th or do you rev it and go back to 6th...? We were taught in school that if it won't go in once, put it back in the gear it was last in. Learning accelerator control is another big thing, learning how much to press the accelerator in order to rev up the RPMs to put it in the next gear, whether upshifting or downshifting. Every truck is different. In the Pete that I learned on, you really had to mash the accelerator. In other trucks, just a little "tap" will do. If you over-rev the engine, in other words putting it past the top of the shifting range, it is NOT good and it will let you know because more than likely your gear will not go in... So do yourself a favor and learn how the gears work and what happens when you move the shifter and press the clutch, etc. For all of you who said in order to learn how to drive a 18 wheeler you didn't ever need to have experience driving a manual transmission, that is BALONEY! It definitely helps you grasp the concept of what you are supposed to do. I'd rather already have an idea of how a manual transmission works and tweak the way I do it than learning for the first time in this huge Class A tractor trailer combination vehicle. It's KIND OF a lot of pressure for the first timer!! Like, in order to learn how to paint, one first needs to learn how to draw. Being out of gear is nothing to joke about, and totally uncool... you can't just give up when the gears are grinding and it won't go where you want it to... any time you are in Neutral you are pretty much telling the truck "I'm tired of driving right now, why don't you drive for me?" It seems like downshifting is a lot more complicated than upshifting because every exit ramp will be different and you also have to take into consideration outside factors like how far ahead you realized you needed to slow down, what time of day it is, the weather, traffic, etc.

Also, for those of you who say you want to get into trucking because you like to drive... THINK AGAIN! It is SO much more than driving. I wish everybody drove like they were driving an 18 wheeler... constantly being aware of your surroundings, watching out for other cars around you that they don't do anything stupid, having to look in your side mirrors every few seconds, keeping an eye on your road signs, watching the trailer behind you in your mirrors and making sure it's in your lane, etc. You know, it really isn't as bad as one might think when they tell you to look in your mirrors every 5-7 seconds. That is something that is NECESSARY in order to drive the big trucks. You HAVE to know what is around you. It's part of the whole driving process. You can't just have tunnel vision and daydream while looking straight ahead and at nothing else. Trucking requires 500% of your attention. The great thing about that is that everything you need to know is right in front of you, on both sides and behind you. Signs will tell you what mile marker you are at, what town you are approaching, what lane you need to be in, etc. Using your hood mirrors helps check your blind spots especially on your passenger's side. Rear view plane & convex mirrors help you to see who is behind you and in the lanes further out to the sides. You can also check both side mirrors to see who is behind you, because you may see them better in one mirror than the other depending on which side of the lane they are positioned on. Looking ahead will tell you the traffic conditions, if there are any brake lights, if people are slowing down, merging, etc. 

As a truck driver you are responsible and accountable for the way you handle your vehicle but you also need to look out for others... for example, when a whole line of cars are merging ahead of you onto the interstate and you are in the right-most lane, it is wise to let off the accelerator instead of speeding up or maintaining your speed, EVEN THOUGH the mergers are supposed to yield to you, most of them won't, and will expect YOU to get out of the way. So it is always best to let the crazies go ahead of you than trying to keep up with them and trying to prove who's bigger, even though you are by default! 

And for anybody driving a regular car with 4 wheels- DO NOT EVER GET IN FRONT OF A TRUCK!!! Who ever thought it was a good idea for you to cut in front of a tractor trailer? Yes, trucks generally gain speed much slower than a car, but they take so much more room to stop!! It is such a foolish thing every time I see a car get right in front of the truck like nothing will hurt them and they are in their own little world. And also, it is funny how every 4 wheeler looks so TINY when sitting up in the big truck. Like all the 4 wheelers are a bunch of matchbox cars. You have no idea what any truck is hauling (unless it's hazmat- that just means stay further away), how many pounds it is hauling, whether it is top heavy, whether or not the driver is paying full attention, so it is best to stay away from any big truck on the road, back off and give them room. And for pete's sake, DO NOT RIDE ALONGSIDE THE PASSENGER'S SIDE OF A TRUCK!!! That is the biggest blind spot on the truck. I don't care how many mirrors a truck has, it is very dangerous to be in that zone. It is called the "blind side" for a reason, and no I'm not talking about the movie! 

Venting complete. lol

[driven2drive]

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from driven2drive!

[driven2drive]

I ❤ the Jake

First time driving on hills and small mountains today… I love using the jake brake because it slows the entire truck down instead of using the airbrakes and makes you feel more in control of your speed.

That is all…for now.

[driven2drive]

"If you bought it, a truck brought it." Featured as a mural painted on the side of a trailer at Iowa 80 truck stop. Time to give the transportation industry some credit.

[driven2drive]

My first few days at my new job

We finally got on up out of the terminal and had our first load. Unfortunately I couldn’t drive that first day because the Qualcomm would not let me login- my password was incorrect. So I just rode along and observed what was happening. However, when we did get to the loading docks I practiced backing up to them, opening the doors and then bumping the dock. Doing those small tasks gave me confidence.

On the second day the Qualcomm issue was resolved and I drove for a couple hours, mostly on the interstate. The trailer was fully loaded with pallets, double stacked so it made it top-heavy. It was light though at 20,000 lbs. So I just got used to lane control and reading signs, definitely paying attention to signs. I drove until my eyes felt tired, then my trainer took over from there.

The day after that was my first real day of driving. I drove for 8 hours, about 400 miles. We went on some back roads that were two-lane roads which helped me go through my gearshift pattern and practice lots of downshifting. There is so much to pay attention to when driving-

lane control,

keeping enough empty space between you and passing cars/trucks,

maintaining your speed,

paying attention to road signs,

scanning approaching intersections,

looking ahead as far as you can see,

looking in each of your side mirrors every few seconds,

knowing which cars are around you at all times, keeping an eye on who is lingering in your blind spot/"no-zone" along your passenger side door,

looking ahead for changes in road terrain- are there any curves/hills coming up, etc.,

watching for cars merging onto the road, watching your mirrors to know if you can get over or not,

being aware of when major roads/intersections intersect with your road,

paying attention to speed limits- truck-specific speed limits as well as any major drop in speed which would indicate you are approaching a busy town,

paying attention to the space above your vehicle- not running into any tree branches, etc.,

timing your slowdowns so you do not need to come to a complete stop when approaching intersections,

and always knowing your stuff! By that I mean knowing your driver ID#, truck #, trailer #, trip #, DOT #, customer/PO #, what you are hauling or going to pickup, knowing your route and your exit numbers, and your current mileage. 

I got to fuel up for the first time too. It's a lot like fueling up your regular car but there's more steps to it. There is a fuel pump on each side, but the main one is on the driver's side. You have to swipe your Comdata card and any other discount/reward cards depending on what truck stop it is. It may ask for the current mileage, and sometimes it will need to know exactly what that number is! So it's a good idea to write that down before you shut off the truck for fuel. Once that pump is turned on, you don't have very long to actually start pumping the fuel so if you haven't already opened the fuel caps, just lift up the lever under the handle to turn it on but you haven't actually administered any fuel yet. Once the fuel cap is opened, place the fuel nozzle inside the fuel tank and lock the handle on a high setting so it will pump the fuel quickly. Then go to the other side, open the fuel cap there and do the exact same thing with that pump. Either nozzle may stop before the other one does, but don't hang the nozzles back up yet- you need to top off each tank and besides, you do not want to shut off the pump if one of the tanks hasn't finished fueling yet. You can always tell if there is fuel going to the fuel tanks if you place your hand on the hose that runs from the pump; you will be able to feel the fuel flowing through. So on both tanks, you need to top off the fuel level so manually press the handle rather firmly until you start to see spray/bubbling which means the fuel is close to the top of the tank. Once you can actually SEE the level in the tank, you know you are good to go. Only hang up the fuel nozzles when both tanks are topped off. I was surprised how much more fuel each tank took to top it off, it was at least 10 gallons. 

The important thing to remember when fueling is to not spill it and not have it spray all over yourself! I can see how easily that could happen. Oh and I had no idea that diesel was a yellowish color. lol

One of the big things I learned in this new truck here is clutch control... I finally understand how to take off on a hill or from a stop without stalling out. I know I was having some trouble with it when I was in trucking school, but I finally solved the problem thanks to my trainer. See, when you are stopped on a hill or even on flat ground, you never ever want to roll back, so you want to put your foot on the brake to hold you there. Keep in mind you do not want to put a lot of pressure on that brake! It doesn't take much brake pressure to keep the truck from rolling. You also need to press in the clutch, but the clutch doesn't need to be pressed in all the way either. The only reason you press in the clutch when coming to a stop is that it prevents the truck from stalling out because it's a manual transmission. Alright so one foot is on the brake, the other on the clutch. Slowly come up off the clutch but don't remove your foot- you will feel/hear the point at which the clutch engages- aka it's telling you, "Ok let's go, I'm ready to go!" Sometimes it is hard to notice but the way I can tell is when the engine starts sounding a little more aggressive. So at this point you can actually remove your foot from the brake, slowly though, and as long as your foot holds that position on the clutch, the truck will NOT move. Amazing!! I was never taught this way before. I had always been so afraid of rolling back on somebody that I didn't quite understand how NOT to stall out. But listen here... when you are getting ready to roll, ever so and I mean EVER SO SLOWLY let up on that clutch, but do NOT remove your foot from it. Keep your foot on that clutch even when the truck starts to move forward, do NOT let your foot pop off of it. The truck will slowly move forward, and when it does, you can let up off the clutch all the way and it will not stall. This is when you can press the accelerator and start your shifting. Whew! Pretty intense, huh? It is just so important to know and feel that point at which the clutch is engaged. I compare it to walking a dog on a leash. At some point that dog will want to pull you with it if it wants to run or sees a squirrel or something in the distance, and the whole while you have your hands around the leash holding the dog back. The point at which the dog is pulling is your "engage" point. So if you let go of the leash when the dog is pulling, the dog will take off running. But if the dog is not pulling, and just walking slowly, or is even sitting, and you let go of the leash, the dog will stay put...aka, a stalled engine. It's just knowing the feeling of the truck wanting to go, and you allowing it by letting go slowly. Kind of an interesting analogy.

One thing I need to work on is really knowing where my gears are at all times and how to access them... I am having trouble with going at slow speeds and having to downshift in order to not lug the engine. Like if you are in 3rd, and you brake past the point of the road speed at 3rd, knowing that it needs to go in 1st. It's just a feel thing, really, and knowing what road speed matches each gear. So if you are in 8th gear going 60mph, and you brake down to 30mph, it will not go into 7th gear because that is too high of a gear for that speed. It would probably fall into 6th gear. Get what I mean?

I really need to give props to my trainer... he's been really good with me and really patient if I don't understand something entirely. Good communication between the trainer and the student is crucial... it is crucial that the two understand what is expected of each other and that they are on the same page. 

So anyway, this is trucking. It's always going to be different every single day. You will always have to adjust your driving habits to fit the load you are hauling as well as the road and traffic conditions. You just gotta be ready for anything. One thing I realized is that when you are driving, everything around you is everything you need to know- it is all right there in plain English. It is a very visual thing but also very mental- keeping yourself on track in your mind about what is going on around you and what you need to be doing, not daydreaming or thinking about random stuff. You may be able to do that in a car, but not in a truck because you have 53 feet of trailer behind you and who knows how many thousands of pounds in the box. 

[driven2drive]

Got the truck!

We finally got the truck! For reals this time. Right now I'm sitting in the truck at Wal Mart munching on a sandwich I made while waiting for some laundry to get done. Our truck has some great features like a built-in fridge which will be so useful. I can get creative and start making my own meals instead of always buying them from place to place. It has lots of storage space too. 10-4 over n out!

[driven2drive]

Big yellow Pete at Iowa 80 truck stop

[driven2drive]

Fighting stallion hood ornament on big yellow Pete @ Iowa 80 truckstop