Frustrating Logistics of Going Home

What on a map is only a two hour drive (from our apartment to the terminal) ends up being three hours of driving. That's a six hour round-trip. Not good. That ends up being twelve hours of driving (to be picked up at the terminal and then taken back). Getting routed to the Indianapolis terminal was a pain and then the logistics of being picked up.... mean I'm not going to be taking home-time again for a while.

Which sucks. Probably going to wait until I've earned enough home-time to take an entire week off before I try to come home again.

When my probationary period is done (and when I can afford the pet deposit), I'm going to look into having my cat in the truck. It would make life less lonely if I'm going to be gone from home for such long stretches of time.

Happy Christmas!

Unloaded this morning. It took me and the warehouse guy assigned to my truck over three hours to unload. It was a long morning.

I did a spot of shopping and then headed to the terminal in the afternoon. My sister and her boyfriend came to pick me up (she couldn't get there any earlier in the day today) and we got home around 10:30pm. I did make it home by Christmas after all.

Happy Christmas, everyone. Be warm and be safe.

Home for the Holidays.... barely.

So I was waiting near our North Carolina terminal all day Thursday. They didn't have a load for me, so I dropped my empty and I ran errands, went to McDonald's for wifi, etc. for most of the afternoon. I did go back to the truck about once per hour to turn it on and see if there were any new QualComm messages. There weren't. I'd gone to the terminal that morning to take a shower and to talk to one of the instructors.  He'd mentioned that there was a load going to the Indianapolis area, but it delivered the morning after Christmas. I wouldn't be able to make the delivery, but that load would have at least gotten me to the terminal by Saturday. The dispatcher wasn't at his desk, so I called and left him a voicemail saying that I'd take that load if I could leave the trailer at the terminal and another driver could deliver it the morning of the 26th. I never got a response to the voicemail.  The dispatcher for that area is really terrible about returning voicemails or QualComm messages.  Really frustrating.

When it got late, I went to Walmart to rent a movie from Redbox. About halfway through the movie (past midnight) load routing and fuel stops for a new load popped up in my Qualcomm. The message saying when/where it picked up and delivered wasn't there, so I responded and asked when the pick-up and deliveries were. It was really late at that point and I needed to sleep, so I went to bed (and forgot to return the Redbox movie).

There was a QualComm message waiting for me when I got up telling me that the load should have picked up yesterday (Thursday) afternoon and delivered Friday. I drove to the terminal and picked up the paperwork. There was no way I'd make it to either delivery on Friday (especially given the nasty winter weather I'd be driving through in West Virginia and Ohio) so I called the two consignees and made new delivery appointments. They both only had receiving hours from Monday through Friday, but the first one was going to be open on Saturday because of extra hours for the holiday. The second (and final) stop wouldn't receive any freight until Monday morning.

I delivered in Ohio at 8am on Saturday and am now just sitting around until Monday morning when I can make the last stop. My delivery appointment is at 7am (about half an hour's drive from where I'm parked now) and it isn't very far to the Indianapolis terminal from there. Unfortunately, my sister had plenty of time to come pick me up from the terminal (four hour round-trip) on Saturday, but no so much on Christmas Eve. She can't pick me up until late in the afternoon, so I'll be hanging out in my truck at the terminal until then. I called the Indy terminal when I first got the paperwork, hoping I could leave the trailer in the yard and that maybe a local driver would be available to deliver it on Monday. No local drivers are working on Monday because it's Christmas Eve.

So I do get to go home for Christmas after all. Just three days later than I'd hoped.

Uneventful (for once!)

Picked up a load in southern Kentucky yesterday morning. Drove until I was about an hour from the delivery (which wasn't until this morning) and then pulled into a rest stop for the night. I delivered first thing this morning and now I'm back in North Carolina and trying to get a load to Indianapolis. I did get to have a shower and turn in some trip envelopes, so that's good.

Nothing went spectacularly wrong on this last trip, so sorry for the boring post.

No Good Very Bad Day

Yesterday was a really bad day.

I had only about 30 miles to drive to my shipper for my noon appointment (just south of Las Vegas). I got loaded and everything was fine, but I had another incident. Not good. I'm not going to go into detail, but suffice it to say: it was my fault and totally preventable. I just didn't see the other truck. My truck was fine, but I messed up his headlight and bumper.  He just looked at the truck and said "You know, I hit a deer last year and it did about that much damage.  These things happen."  He was so nice about it though and far kinder to me than I deserved.

I have been told that if anything else happens, I will be let go. Honestly, I can't blame them. I'm not turning out to be such a great truck driver. I'm trying hard, but it just isn't going well.

Then I had a DOT inspection later in the day at a scale in California. And my load routing looked weird (there was a much more efficient way to get where I was going), but it's been mentioned to me several times lately that I have a lot of off-route miles and unscheduled fuel stops, so I followed the load routing. Any time I've missed a fuel stop or had to make one that wasn't in my routing (either due to a faulty fuel gauge or more commonly, not being sent my load routing or fuel routing until I was several hundred miles into my trip and had already passed the fuel stop), I've always called in and talked to the guy in the main office who handles all the fuel issues. That's what I was told to do. Apparently I need to be writing on the envelope that it's an out-of-route stop. So I've racked up quite a few fuel stop violations.

Anyway, those three things combined to make me late on this load. I was supposed to deliver at 10am, but there's no way I could get there. The shipper closes at 2, but they open again at 9pm so that is when they made my new delivery appointment for. On the bright side, it gives me plenty of time to get there.

Bowling Green and a Lovely Evening Off

I started the day in West Memphis, Arkansas... in an area which is basically like five huge truck stops all bundled together where I-40 and I-55 meet. You'd be hard-pressed not to find a place to park at one of them. I'd fueled up the night before so that I could leave first thing.

I was expecting rush hour traffic in Memphis... but there was hardly any at all. It was a brokered load of rubber tires and the bill of lading said that if it wasn't a drop and hook (which it wasn't) that I had to unload the tires to the rear of the trailer. Thankfully, that ended up not being true. I didn't have to help unload at all (nor were lumpers involved at any point). I was expecting to spend several hours unloading the tires by hand and to hit heavy traffic either in Memphis or Nashville, so I'd told dispatch that I wouldn't be ready for my next load until tomorrow morning. I sent my "empty and available" message, but they didn't have any other loads readily available and I didn't exactly mind having the evening off.

It was kind of nice to have an evening off and to find myself 20 minutes from Bowling Green, where I have friends. One of them drove down to the truck stop and kidnapped me for the evening. Dinner out was such a treat. And it was nice to see familiar faces.

I'm picking up a load about an hour away from here early tomorrow morning and heading down to North Carolina. I hope they can dispatch me right back north from there because I'm supposed to be home on Saturday. Here's hoping!

It Might Never Rain in Southern California, but Apparently It Snows!?

I picked up another load in Modesto (after dropping my empty at the terminal and reporting it for maintenance and grabbing another empty) and drove down to L.A. I stopped in the late afternoon so that I could get up around 2am and arrive at my delivery at 6am (and not worry about where the heck to park overnight in the city). It was snowing just north of L.A. Totally not expecting that.

Delivered on-time and then dropped my empty at the terminal and headed to the driver's lounge to do some much-needed laundry.

I got a load out yesterday. It's going to Tennessee, which is in the general area of home. Still very much hoping to get home for Christmas. I was told that if you worked Thanksgiving, you were promised hometime at Christmas. That is apparently total crap. I did put in for a few days off at Christmas (at the beginning of November). Very much hoping to get there.

I had to put chains on for the first time today. In Arizona. Totally not expecting that either. Was delayed about five hours by heavy snow and several wrecks ahead of me. So I spent my afternoon eating Gummi Bears in my truck with my rust-stained Oompa-Loompah hands, which I'm sure was somewhat less than sanitary. Baby wipes were no match for rust. They did eventually get traffic moving, but very few trucks bothered with chains (even though there were so many trucks either in the ditch or on the road, just spinning their tires and going nowhere). So every few hundred feet, another truck would get stuck or slide off the road and the traffic back-up would begin anew. There were signs coming up the mountain warning that chains and/or 4x4 were highly recommended. There weren't any places to pull off and chain up though. It was really hard to find a place to take the chains off once I got to a place where the road had been plowed and no new snow was falling. Any rest area or truck stop was full to the brim and the shoulders hadn't been plowed, and weren't generally wide enough for a truck anyway.

About the time I finally was able to get out of the mountains and find a truck stop (the first few were way overcrowded with people waiting out the storm), they closed the road. After I'd parked, but before I'd turned of the engine, we got a qualcomm message telling us that I-40 East in Arizona through the mountains was closed because of weather and a wreck. I'm surprised it took them that long to close the road.

About an hour before I stopped, I got this warning: headlight low beam right short circuit. It wasn't dark at that point, so I figured I'd check it as soon as I'd stopped. I have no idea whether that's a fuse or a bulb issue or what. I looked at the fuse panel, but I don't see anything labeled as headlights. There's no one in the shop on Saturday nights, but there should be somebody there in the morning that I can ask. I know absolutely nothing about headlights and I'm not driving it this way because the last thing I need (or can afford) is a ticket. And knowing my luck, the other headlight would decide to throw in with the first one. Mutiny!

And so here I sit. I could do a lot worse than a truck stop with hot showers, food and wifi. I could literally be stuck in a ditch somewhere. Very glad I'm not. It's snowing here and in New Mexico. I think I'm channeling the White Witch of Narnia. Winter seems to follow me wherever I go. Always winter and never Christmas. Sorry, folks!

I got to watch the news while I was eating dinner. The school shooting in Connecticut is just horrific. My heart goes out to them.

And I Lived to Tell the Tale

I went for a walk today (needed fresh air) because there's only so much time you can spend cooped up in a truck.  I think the walk did me good.

Going to talk to dispatch in the morning to see if I can just drive straight to one of the terminals in Montana to get my bunk heater fixed. It's mighty cold at night in these parts.

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Spent most of Thursday hanging out at Volvo repair shop in Spokane. They were looking into the bunk heater problem and they also put winter wiper blades back on my truck (when I was in Los Angeles, I asked told them that the blades were fine, but the wiper arms weren't pressing on the windshield hard enough... they just swapped out my winter blades for normal ones.... which would be fine if I were a local driver in southern California... but I'm not). It was after 5pm when they finished and so I drove a few blocks to a truck stop for the night.

My next load was picking up in Lewiston, Idaho and had to be picked up by 5am on Friday. I decided to take a nap and then drive over there really early in the morning. My bunk heater wouldn't come on.... so I tried to sleep for a while and then just gave up. I left at 1am local time and I'm glad I did, because it was icy out and I could take my time. I got lost in the town where I was dropping/hooking. It was dark and there were several huge factory/mill places on the same street along the river with multiple gates. One of the guys (the poor guy who had the on-call cell phone) stayed on the phone with me and gave me directions in. Once you get through the gate and past the guard shack, it's still about a mile until you get to the drop yard. The trailers were so close together that there was no way I was going to be able to drop mine in the empty row (not enough room to maneuver) so I flagged down a hostler and he gave me a different place to park it. Yay!

Hooked and did my pre-trip and was heading out right around 5am. I understood then why that was the latest I could pick up. That's when the early shift starts at the mill and there were tons of personal vehicles coming in. Makes sense.

It was snowing and visibility wasn't great. It was a lot easier to drive loaded than empty (driving an empy trailer in wind and ice is like trying to fly a kite in a wind tunnel, in my opinion). It was the first time I had to contemplate the to chain/ not to chain question (It was suggested, but not mandatory according to the signs). I was sitting in the chain up area (digging out my winter boots) and watching two cops help direct traffic around a truck that had slid/jacknifed off the road about 200 meters further on. Lucky for him, he'd slid into the ditch between the road and the mountainside and not off the cliff. He had passed me earlier going way to fast for the road conditions (in my opinion). It was snowing, but not much was accumulating on the road and it was above freezing, so the road was slushy and not icy. I chose not to chain. It was slow-going for a while, but only bad in the pass. After about half an hour, the road was fine, there was little snow and I could go at pretty much normal speed.

I made it as far as Boise (where I had a fuel stop). I had two hours left on my driving clock, but I was really tired from not having slept well, so I just stayed there for the night.

The next morning, the roads were terrible. There's a weigh station on the east side of Boise and some pick-up truck had slid off the road and flipped. He was actually blocking part of the left lane at the weigh station, so all the trucks had to go on the right.

The road was icy (and I saw three different plows driving around with their blades up. WHY!?) but about 30 miles west of Boise, the roads were fine. Either it was just a concentrated storm or the road maintenance just suddenly got a whole lot better.

I drove all day and made it to North Las Vegas (where I was doing a drop and hook). I had until midnight the following day to deliver (and I was tired), so I pulled into a truck stop for the night (where I had to stop for fuel anyway). I delivered this morning. WS doesn't have any loads out of the Vegas area until tomorrow, so here I am. I wasted a glorious amount of time in Walmart. I'm sitting in a McDonald's enjoying some free wifi. There's a Pilot nearby, but the lot is really small and I spent a good 20 minutes embarrassing myself earlier trying to maneuver into one of the two open spots. I gave up and called the Walmart and asked if they allowed trucks to park. Discretion is the better part of valor. Later, I'll probably drive back to the truckstop where I spent last night. I do so love showers and restrooms readily available.

I finally took the time to organize the cargo/tool compartment in my truck. We'll see how long that lasts. It might just be random truck housekeeping day. It's not like I have a whole lot else going on.

And so the bunk heater didn't work the first night after the repair, but it's worked for the past two nights. I'm just happy that it seems to be cooperating for now and I'm very warm at night.

Under the Weather in Idaho

My load out of Los Angeles had stops in Oregon and Washington, so I hooked early in the morning (so as not to be caught in rush hour traffic in L.A.) and drove as far north as I could and then found a Love's to pull into for Saturday night. It was only four hours to my first stop (which I couldn't make until Monday morning anyway), so I had an easy day of driving on Sunday.

My load routing on this trip made no sense at all. It had me making a stop in central Oregon, then backtracking 130 miles to a town I had just driven through to make another, then continuing up to Washington state. I shave six hours and a lot of miles off my trip by just switching around those two stops.

My third stop was our Vancouver, Washington terminal. I didn't get there until late afternoon, so I drove over to our drop yard to spend the night. There was a truck stop about ten miles away, but my back was killing me and I just couldn't drive any more that day. They unloaded me early in the morning and then I spent Tuesday driving to our Spokane terminal. I got there in the afternoon and they had me bump the dock so that they could unload the rolls of carpet, but left the furniture on the trailer and told me to drop it in the drop yard and take one of the empties.

At this point, I was feeling pretty ill. I'm 99% sure I have food poisoning from something I ate yesterday. I couldn't find the drop yard (had turned down the wrong street in the industrial park) and called a driver friend for help. He asked me to look around and tell him if I saw a water tower. I saw it. The drop yard is right next to the water tower. Why the heck didn't someone put that on the terminal map? That was really helpful.

I dropped and hooked and drove to the Love's I knew was about 10 miles away (just over the border in Idaho). I parked and made it into the bathroom just in time to be really sick. So I'm taking a day to just hydrate and sleep.

That was probably TMI. Sorry.

Going to California

This load had two stops, at our terminal in Phoenix, AZ and the terminal in Los Angeles.

After I dropped the trailer at the LA terminal, I drove over to our shop a few miles away to have a few things on my truck looked at. I somehow have a talent for getting trucks with dodgy fuel gauges. I also asked them to replace the radio. Mine broke a week ago. A week of no music at all..... I started developing a Tom Hanks/Wilson the Volleyball relationship with the truck. Not healthy. At all.

The new radio has an iPod input, which is awesome. I am loving it.

There were two women at the drivers' lounge that I had a lot of fun talking with. One rides with her husband and the other teams with hers. They were really fun. It's nice to get to know some of the other drivers.

I spent the night at the driver's lounge and ran errands the next morning. So much easier to go shopping when you're not pulling a trailer. That afternoon, the dispatcher asked for help dropping empty trailers at various customers, so that's what I did. My next load wasn't ready yet and I had nothing better to do, so why not? I took a load early the next morning up around Yosemite National Park. It had stops in a couple of small towns, the last of which was at the top of a mountain and it was a ski resort town. I was wearing a long-sleeve t-shirt, capri pants and loafers.... it was kinda funny to get out of my truck and see the looks on the faces of the people all geared up for snowboarding walking down the street. I was only going to be there long enough to drop off three pieces of furniture, so I thought it was pretty pointless to put on my winter gear. I don't mind the cold. The tiny little side street was really hard to maneuver into.... They wanted me to back up (about a meter away from the line of personal vehicles) to the door of their shop.... I parked on the other side of the street and said I'd happily dolly all the furniture (three pieces) into their building from there rather than risk hitting one of their cars. One of the guys who worked there had come out to direct me as I was backing so that I wouldn't hit anything as I turned the truck around (one block long dead-end street) so that I wouldn't hit anything, which was very nice of him.

Left there and was told to drive back to the Los Angeles terminal. It was a 6% grade for the first 8 miles down the mountain.... and it was windy as f*ck. Pulling an empty trailer down that road was like trying to fly a kite in a wind tunnel. I only had about three hours left on my clock for the day, so I drove as far as I could and then pulled into a rest stop for the night. I've still not made it back to the terminal. I had to find a truck stop with wifi so that I could make some bill payments online (that I can't do over the phone or through my phone's internet). I really need to get something worked out so that I can have internet in the truck.

Do any of you do the thing through Verizon where you can use your phone as a mobile hotspot? If so, how much data do you use? Do you stream video (I have Amazon Prime) or does that just eat up way too much data? I may have to get that set up when I'm home over Christmas.

Thanksgiving in Tupelo

So my load to Tupelo. It couldn't be delivered on Thanksgiving because they were closed. The last I spoke with my dispatcher was Wednesday morning (when I was finishing up the furniture load.... picked up the load bound for Tupelo in the afternoon) and she said she was trying to get me a delivery appointment. I called the place myself several times on Wednesday afternoon after I picked up the load... but no one answered the phone. I figured they'd just gotten off early for Thanksgiving or something so I didn't really pay it much mind.

I drove all the way to Tupelo on Thanksgiving and drove to the customer first thing the next morning (I got there about 15 minutes before they opened). I parked in a nearby parking lot and waited until 8am to call and ask about setting up a delivery time. Apparently they only unload from 8am to Noon and they were fully booked for the day. Crap. The office manager had me park on the side of their lot and wait and said they'd do their best to get me in. I called my dispatcher and asked (if the customer couldn't unload me until Monday) could I drop the trailer at our Mississippi terminal (about 30 miles away) and another driver could deliver it on Monday rather than me sitting around for three days. She said no other driver would be available to do it... and it really did look like I was going to be hanging out in Tupelo until Monday. They did finally manage to squeeze me into their unloading schedule after 11am. Yay!

My next load was dropping my empty trailer at our Mississippi terminal, hooking to an already loaded trailer and heading west. I'd never been to New Mexico or Arizona, so I was kinda excited about it. I still can't get over how much the scenery here makes me want to watch roadrunner cartoons.

It's Sunday night and I've pulled into a truck stop in Arizona for the night.

I had a guy tell me this morning that I should forget about truck driving and look into prostitution... because I'd make a lot more money. He used that as a segue into hitting on me and was genuinely surprised when I didn't go for it. I hadn't had enough coffee yet for that conversation to be even remotely funny. Most of the people I meet are really nice, but some of them are such creeps!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Finished up my series of stops in Texas. Had to backtrack to one of the stops. Very unpleasant customer and one I hope I don't have to deliver to again. Not a fun trip, all told. Glad to be moving on to other adventures.

I picked up another load in Houston and I'm sat in Tupelo, Mississippi ready to deliver first thing in the morning. Not sure where I'll be heading after this.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Be safe.

Deep in the Heart of Texas...

So I ended up waiting for more than 24 hours for a load out of North Carolina, which qualifies as a layover. I looked it up in the binder and layovers are $50 per 24 period. It's something, but nowhere near what you'd make driving.  That truck needs to be moving in order for you to make money. Sitting sucks.

I got my load Friday afternoon. It's a furniture load to Texas and there are ten stops. Eight are scheduled for Monday and two for Tuesday. I debated whether to wait at the North Carolina terminal another 10 hours (with the layover, that would be a 34-hour reset)... but I was so ready to go. I drove until almost 3am and ended up at a Love's in Alabama. I had tried several truck stops and rest stops during the hours leading up to when I finally did stop.... there were either no open spots or (in the case of the rest areas) signs posted everywhere saying "overnight parking prohibited". I'm not keen on getting a ticket... so I kept going. I'm glad I finally found a space because it was beginning to look like I'd have to park on an exit/entrance ramp and that can't possibly be safe (or legal) despite the fact that I see people doing it every day.

My first delivery is about half an hour over the border from Louisiana, which was (according to my phone gps) around 7.5 hours of driving from where I spent Friday night. I decided to drive most of it today (with minimal stopping so that I'd get to a truck stop early enough that I wouldn't have trouble finding an open spot). My fuel stop is near the border of Louisiana and Texas, so I hauled butt and got here just before 8pm (7pm local time). I fueled up and found a parking space close to the building (and well-lit!)

So I'm squeezing in a 34-hour reset and I'm less than an hour from my first delivery on Monday. Take that, time management!

I've just finished up my first month on the road. I'm going to go through my notes and figure out how many miles I've run so far. I bought a month's worth of wifi at Love's, so I should be online more in the next few weeks (and tomorrow, since there's noooooothing else to do off this exit and I'm sat here until Monday morning).

I don't like the radio in my truck. It doesn't have the input thing for an iPod and I tried playing a CD in it, but it scratched the brand new cd all to Hell.... so that's not an option. I just bought a set of "CB extension speakers" at the truck stop for about $15. They are designed to clip to the visor and have the right size input jack for my iPod (and don't require a power supply of their own). I wanted speakers for the iPod in the truck, but didn't want speakers and lots of cables plus an inverter clogging up my dash. This isn't a good solution, but it's better than nothing.  They aren't really loud enough to be hard over the sound of the diesel engine.

My CB radio doesn't work.  A friend's dad used to be a truck driver and he gave me some of his old stuff (the 12v cooler is awesome!). I had one of the shop guys check the wiring in the truck. All the wires and antennae are good (and hot).... but the radio isn't working. I thought maybe I had hooked it up wrong. The shop guy suggested that either the radio was dead or that some CB radios have internal fuses that can go bad. I'll look into that when I have time/money to throw at it. So still no CB.

The windshield mount I got for my phone is great. Makes it really easy to see it for navigation and much easier to make hands-free calls on. I have a cheap hands-free headset (I'm not big on talking on the phone in general, let alone while driving. one more distraction I don't need)... but it's not a bluetooth or cordless. The cord was so short that the phone had to be in my pocket (wouldn't reach to the dash) while I used it. Not convenient. So that mount kit was $6 well spent.

Too bad this truck stop doesn't have laundry facilities. I need to find a place to do laundry in the next few days.

And Away I Went...

I'm in North Carolina, near our terminal and enjoying some free wifi at a McDonald's. Iced coffee and free wifi... you can't beat that with a stick.

I finished my load from Montana to Pennsylvania, then took another load from there to South Carolina. I had another incident that is really embarrassing in retrospect. Did you know that some shippers actually anchor you to the dock when they load you? I didn't. There's a red/green light that tells you when you can go. I just thought it indicated when someone was still in the trailer. I had been called into the shipping office, given my Bill of Lading and a seal and told I was good to go.

So I went.

I thought the reason that the truck wasn't moving was because I had just been loaded with 44k lbs of cargo and there was an incline down to the loading dock. Not so. My bumper was anchored to the dock. The bumper itself is fine, but the part of the trailer where it is anchored is bent. It needs to be bent back and welded.

I called the main office and reported it to the Safety Department and then talked to the shop about when/where to fix it. I was told to continue to my consignee and then call them back to make arrangements to get it fixed. The bottom of the bumper was about a foot further out from the truck than it should be. Luckily, the design of the dock at the delivery place was such that it wasn't a problem.

I unloaded and then since I was almost out of hours, I drove 5 miles to a Flying J to park for the night and have dinner. There was a shop there, but the main office told me to talk to my dispatcher to see whether I should have it fixed there or drive the 3 hours to the North Carolina terminal and have them fix it. I was told to bring it to the terminal.

I arrived a little before noon yesterday (there isn't a shop at that terminal, but there is a local shop that does all the repair work). I had one of the shop guys (whom I passed coming in the gate) take a look and tell me whether I should bring the trailer to them or drop it in the terminal yard. He told me to drop it at the terminal. I called the shop to arrange for them to fix it.

It was such a dumb rookie mistake and now that I know that they anchor your bumper to the dock, I will not be making that mistake again.

And I'm still waiting for a load out. This is the longest I've had to sit waiting for a load. I think it's due to the fact that Thanksgiving is next week and a lot of drivers are taking home-time, so it makes dispatching more complicated because they're trying to make sure everyone ends up at home when they need to be. I didn't ask for time off at Thanksgiving, but I am going home at Christmas.

It's been a nice little break though. I bobtailed to Walmart to stock up on food. There's a skating rink about 2 miles from the terminal (I used to play roller derby and I've been dying to skate at a rink, but where do you park a giant truck?) I stopped in when they were closed yesterday just so that I could get their hours from the sign. The manager came out while I was taking a picture of their sign and I talked to her. She went into the office to get me a printed out schedule and told me that I was welcome to park my truck there anytime I wanted to skate. There's an empty gravel/grassy lot right next to their actual parking lot. She said I could park there even if I had a trailer (I wouldn't. This close to the terminal I'd just drop the trailer at the yard rather than try to maneuver it into that lot because there's not enough room to turn around, so I'd have to jack-knife back into it).

So I got to go skating and it was awesome. I've got outdoor skates and wheels (okay, but not as nice as my indoor skates. I don't want to wear my expensive skates outdoors), but skating in a parking lot is never as fun as skating on a rink floor in my derby skates. It was really great.

I just bought a window mount for my smart phone. I'm still using that not so much to navigate, but more to be able to see where my shippers/receivers are located. I can get to the general area, but I need the GPS to find the exact location. My receiver in South Carolina was a warehouse in a string of warehouses with no sign and no number on the building. That was fun. Stuck with just the phone GPS for a while longer because catching up on bills means I still haven't bought a trucking GPS. For those of you who are drivers, what kind of trucking GPS do you have and why did you choose that one? I'm trying to decide between Garmin and Rand McNally. Does the Rand McNally tell you which lane you need to be in ahead of time? I know that the Garmin does and that's an awesome feature.

I'm hoping to get a load going out west or to the southwest. I absolutely hated driving in Pennsylvania (so much road construction and I was routed on tiny highways with hills so steep I had to climb some of them in 3rd gear) or Maryland (where there are so few rest areas or truck stops that there was nowhere to park). You'd see like 80 trucks in a rest stop designed to hold like 30. Ridiculous.

I really like driving and I sincerely hope I don't have any more incidents. I like this company and I really want to keep working here.

Review: First Three Weeks on the Road

So I finished that trip from Myrtle, Mississippi to Lakewood, Washington. I stopped in Missoula on the way out (as good a place as any to shower and sleep), but my new truck wasn't ready. They got me a load going from Oregon to northern Montana, after which they routed me through Missoula to pick up a new truck.

It's a Volvo, just a few years newer than the one I had been driving. They had it detailed, so it was gloriously clean when I moved in. A few minor mechanical things (such as the driver's side utility compartment didn't latch shut) had to be fixed before I could leave. I had time anyway because they were replacing the front two super-single tires on my trailer that day anyway. I didn't leave Missoula until late afternoon (eastern time, which is where my home terminal is and what time zone my logbook kept in). It's clean and it is so maneuverable! And both doors open (and lock!), which is my favorite feature. The fuel tanks on this model are set much further back (just ahead of the drive axle) so that makes a difference when you're making sure your axles are legal. I'm loaded really heavy this trip, so I can't have more than 3/4 of a tank or it puts me overweight on my drive axles (and there's not much more weight I can put on my tandems before they're either overweight or so far forward that I am in danger of swinging my trailer into things when I turn).

It seems like I drove forever... and I still hadn't left Montana. t had been snowing when I left Missoula, but clear in eastern Montana. I was routed through North Dakota (straight through winter storm Brutus). The freezing rain made for some interesting driving. I had to stop every 30 to 45 minutes to beat the ice off my wipers and headlights. The road wasn't too bad if you drove slowly, but there were so many people who slid off the road because they were driving too fast. I kept going because a friend of mine who was giving me weather updates informed me that once I passed Jamestown, ND, it was all clear. I'm glad she let me know that. If she hadn't, I would have just pulled off at a rest stop and bedded down for the night. They were predicting 10 inches of snow overnight, so that wasn't going to be a fun drive the next day either. It was clear and dry immediately after passing through Jamestown. I made it well into Minnesota before my hours dictated had to stop for the night.

When I was leaving the last rest stop before Jamestown, the truck who left immediately ahead of me was an empty flatbed. He immediately floored it. I hung back at around 45 mph. Not ten miles down the road, he was tangled in a ditch with two grain trucks. Sometimes it pays to be a wimp about driving in bad weather!


I have been driving for three weeks now and I absolutely love it. Just this week, I got routed near home, so I can finally pick up my stuff! Katy brought my CB and my 12v cooler (courtesy of her dad, who was a truck driver once upon a time and never got rid of his stuff) when she picked me up at the truck stop. I plugged in the cooler (so it'll be nice and cold by the time I get back) and I am sat in our apartment. My laundry is almost done, I've filled my dvd book to capacity and I'm currently uploading music to my iTunes.

It's so nice to have my winter clothes and a lot of the little things that didn't fit into my suitcase for orientation. A lot of toiletries, extra clothes, my rollerskates, my Kindle, etc. Just things that'll make life cozier in the truck.

I'm going to borrow a friend's car and drive to Elkhart to visit Lola. She's the queen of Katy's mum's house. After 90 days, I can have her in the truck with me if I want. I really miss her, but I doubt I can ultimately justify taking her from having the run of an entire house to living in the cab of a truck. No matter how desperately I miss her, I don't think I can do that. She deserves better.

I need to run to Meijer or Walmart to get some storage containers for stuff in the truck, but other than that, I'm good to go. I'm going to leave late tonight and drive east. I have a delivery appointment in eastern Pennsylvania early Tuesday morning. If I drove most of the way tonight, I can have an easy day of it Monday.
 

First Week Solo

I've just finished up my first week of driving.  I've driven my butt off and am taking my first 34 hour reset.  Luckily, the delivery window for my current load is a few days wide, so I can take my reset and still deliver on-time.  My route took me through Kentucky near a friend's house, so I'll be able to get some much-needed time out of the truck and it'll be good so see a familiar face.

I've driven from North Carolina to Michigan to Georgia to Kentucky to Indiana and right now I'm in Kentucky on my way to Mississippi.  Sometime soon, I'm hoping to get a load going to the northwest. That's where the company headquarters are and the truck I'm in is going to be sold (and I have no idea which truck I'll be in next) whenever I can get it there. 

It's been a really good week.  The low point was at the end of my first day.  I was pulling into a Walmart parking lot and I hit a post (you know those 3' high yellow posts that protect the light poles?  I hit one of those).  It bent my tandem release arm into one of my tires.  So not only did I have to report an incident on my first day, I had to wait around the next morning until someone could come and change out the damaged tire. 

I haven't managed to get home yet (because we're trying to get this truck to the northwest as soon as possible).  I don't want to take hometime, but I would like to go by my house to pick up a few things (my 12v cooler and CB radio amongst others) for the truck.  I live near an interstate, so I'm hoping I can get a load going through that area sometime in the next few weeks.

Things I've learned:

Rest stops are much quieter (and less-crowded) than truck stops at night. Unless I specifically need a shower or laundry, I will always try to plan so that I can end my day at a rest stop. After dark, truck stops get full and it's difficult (and sometimes impossible) to find an open space. Also, if you're a newbie like me, there might be an open space.... but you and your primitive parking skills will never be able to get your truck into it. Much easier to get there earlier in the day (to beat the rush) or skip the truck stop altogether.  Keep in mind that fewer people at a rest stop means that if there's an emergency, there aren't as many people around to help. 

Also, if you wait until night time to take a shower, you'll have a long wait. If you stop at a truck stop in the middle of the day, there's lots of open parking and often no wait at all for the shower. So much easier.

Take along more than a week's worth of clothing. I've been on the road for a week and (and to three of our terminals after I left Conover) and this truck stop that I'm at now is the first place that I could do laundry. If I had a few more changes of clothes, it wouldn't have been such a pain. Again, plan ahead.

Oh, and a bit of advice: if you can't find your underarm deodorant, never EVER think "oh, I'll just use this spray dry shampoo... it's practically the same thing!" because you will chemically burn your armpits.

Learn from my mistakes, people. They're hilarious!

Hired!

I've just completed my two weeks of orientation at a new company.  I'll be leaving on my first trip tomorrow, taking a load from North Carolina to Michigan.  I'm supposed to switch trucks in Michigan and then take the new truck to a different terminal. I have no idea how long it will take them to put me in my permanent truck.

I've really enjoyed the last two weeks.  My recruiter was honest (no surprises) and the trainers here have been really great.  I'll be pulling a van trailer, but this company has a flatbed division I can apply to after I have six months of OTR experience.  I still want to do flatbed, but I have to survive my first six months on the road first.

Day One

Day One

We started out with just a lot of paperwork this morning. Normal stuff, making sure everyone's file is in order, direct deposit, etc. Then we started watching some of the training videos.

Around noon, they took us to the truck stop to cash our T-checks and have lunch. After that, we had our physical lifting test: lifting to waist height, to an overhead shelf, carrying the weight, etc. for weights from 10 to 60 pounds.  Lots of reps with the lower weights (15 reps of 10#) and fewer as it got heavier.  Had to lift 50# three times and then carry a 60# crate about 40 feet.  Nothing extremely difficult, but they do watch your heart rate with a monitor the whole time to see that you can not only perform the tasks, but do so in a safe heart rate range.  The really attractive physical therapist guy didn't do my heart rate any favors, I can tell you that ;o)

And then we had our drug test. By the time we were done with all of that, we had time to watch one more training video at the terminal before the day was over.

I brought all of my books back to the hotel with me with me because I want to get ahead on the reading (because I'm a nerd)... and also because I don't watch television and don't have a car here, so there's not a lot to do in the evening. I was still tired today from traveling all weekend, so I'm going to bed early.

Travel Day

After 29 hours of travel (Greyhound, unfortunately) I am arrived at my new company's orientation.  Or at least I'm checked into the hotel and the first day of orientation is tomorrow.

Smoking rooms were all that was available... which is kinda gross, to be honest. They've promised to move me to a non-smoking (aka breathing) room if one opens up. There's some kind of convention in town this week and the hotel is booked up.

So tired!  You can never really sleep on a bus... especially since every two or three hours, they make you disembark and hang out in some random bus station for 30 minutes or an hour. 

Picked up a salad from a restaurant across the street from the hotel.  A few gallons of water from the gas station and I'm good to go.  After a nice hot shower and a full night's sleep, I'll be right as rain.

Goodnight!

Disappointing

Sunday

Arrived in Des Moines for orientation. I'm the only female student, so I have a hotel room to myself. The hotel has two parts, one section that's open to the public (nicer rooms) and the part where the trucking students stay (not as nice, no fridge or microwave).

I get to stay in one of the nice rooms all by myself (unless/until another female student arrives. none scheduled). I went ahead an unpacked... so I can be all organized and stuff.

The first day is a lot of paperwork and a physical assessment (among other things, lifting a tarp that weighs 85 pounds up onto my shoulder from the floor).

This is a company with high standards. Most trucking companies allow you to have a DUI (or even several) so long as they're at least 3 years old. The company I'm with now only allows one and even then, only if you were 23 or younger when you got it and if TEN years have elapsed. If you've gotten a DUI age 24 or over, you're disqualified for life for working for this company.

Other trucking companies are more lenient on past misdemeanors and felonies as long as they're 3 or 5 years old. This company is more stringent and if you've ever been convicted of a sex crime or drug charge, you can't work here. Ever.

I like that.

The company invites 40 to 60 people for orientation (most are student drivers, some are experienced drivers who need flatbed training before they can work for this company) and only 15 or so make it through. Most fail for hiding something in their medical or criminal histories... or they fail the physical test (tarp!) The company runs a local/state (wherever you live) background check before they invite you to orientation. They run a full federal background check after you arrive.

Monday

I'm being sent home from day one of orientation.

Last Friday, I had a phone conversation with my recruiter.  I had been reading up on the orientation proceedings for this company and had reservations about part of the "essential job functions" test.  Among other things, we have to lift a tarp onto our shoulder from the ground, put it on the trailer, hoist ourselves onto the trailer from the side and then lift the tarp again, this time onto a coil.  I had read that some flatbedding tarps weigh well over a hundred pounds.  I asked the recruiter if we had to lift one of those tarps for the test (the orientation part of the website shows pictures of the test, but doesn't tell you how much the tarp weighs) because I was sure I'd never be able to lift something that heavy.  She told me that we would only be required to lift the 65 or 85 pound tarp and nothing heavier than that.

It really eased my mind.  The heavy tarp lifting was the only thing I had been worried about.

The first thing we did for the "essential job functions" test was to lift the tarp.  The 120 pound tarp.  The very tarp my recruiter told me that no one had to deal with in orientation.  That tarp.

I could not lift the 120 pound tarp at first. I did eventually lift the 120 pound tarp up to waist height, but could not for the life of me get it onto my shoulder.  It had taken me a minute or two of struggle to get the thing more than a foot off the ground. 







They have a physical therapist show you how to lift the tarp and then he analyzes how well (with proper form and control) you do it.  Once he realized that I was never going to get the 120 pound tarp up onto my shoulder, he pulled me aside and told me I could perform the test with the 85 pound tarp and then the company would decide whether that was good enough.



I managed to lift the 85 pound tarp onto my shoulder (so tired after struggling with the heavier one), onto the trailer and then on top of the coil. Afterward, we put the tarps away and did two more of the "essential job functions" tasks.  One of them was climbing a ladder onto a shipping container that was on a flatbed trailer.  We had to step off onto the trailer, walk to the edge of the container and hang our toes off the edge, stand there for a few seconds until the physical therapist gave us a thumbs-up and then climb back down.  Testing to see if we were afraid of heights.

Then we went to lunch.

I was called into the training head guy's office and told that they were sending me home.  I glanced at the paper on the desk (that the physical therapist had been taking notes on) and all it said next to my name was "TARP".  Nothing about being able to perform the test with the 85 pound tarp.  I didn't say anything to him about the false information (flat-out lie, if you will) the recruiter had told me about the tarps.  I told him where I needed a bus ticket to and then left.  I calmly walked back to the classroom and gathered up my stuff.  Made sure to wish another guy who had graduated from the same CDL school (a week after me) luck, since he was staying on.

They also sent home two of the guys who had trouble (but ultimately managed to lift and carry the 120 pound tarp). At least I'll have people to talk to on the way home since we're all heading back east.

So I'm going home. Will try to arrange orientation at another company for Monday.

They drove us to the hotel so we could grab our stuff and check out.... and we've been sitting in the lobby for an hour waiting for the guy to come back and drive us to the bus station. The company provides a bus ticket home if you get dismissed from orientation.

If we make it there in the next hour (and if there are seats) we can catch the 3:30 bus. If not, we'll be sitting at the bus station until 11:15... because that's the next bus going east. 

Tuesday

We did make the 3:30 bus out of Des Moines.  We finally gave up on the company guy who was supposed to take us to the hotel to pack up and check out (which he did) and then just wandered off to do stuff and said he'd be back "later".  We took the hotel shuttle to the bus station and hoped that our reservations would be in the computer somewhere.  They were.

Greyhound took what should have been an 8.5 hr bus ride and turned it into a 19 hr mess. Broke down on the side of the highway (bus driver ignored check engine light and instead of calling for service when we were stopped for dinner at the Iowa 80 "World's Biggest Truck Stop"... he tried to push it and we broke down and had to pull into a closed truck scale about five miles down the highway.

Nearly 4 hours of sitting (bus off, no lights) waiting for another bus. The other bus should have been there after 3 hours, but they missed the turn into the scale and it took them almost an hour to loop back around and find us.

So we missed the connection in Chicago and had to sit (on the floor... not enough seats) for seven hours in the Chicago terminal waiting for the next bus out. The next bus was leaving at 7:50am... but the driver had scheduled off and the company forgot... so there wasn't a bus. They got a replacement there (when they said it might be two more hours I literally started sobbing hysterically. It was Tuesday morning and I'd only had 3 hours of sleep since Saturday night... and I was just done) in about 45 minutes. I got home around 11am and got the biggest hug from my roommate.

Then we picked up some ice cream on the way home. After a shower, clean pyjamas and some ice cream, I almost felt human.

The nap was epic.



Wednesday

Still very upset about the flat-out lie the recruiter told me.  Why lie about that and have me go to orientation if it's a task she'd know that I would fail?  What's the point?  It wasted three days of my time (the orientation day itself and the day of travel each way) and the company's time and money (for the two bus tickets).  I wrote her an email (asking her why she had told me no one had to lift the 120 pound tarp) and left a voicemail.  It's been more than a day since and she hasn't responded to either.



I know that recruiters exaggerate their companies to make them sound appealing... but I'm still surprised at her tactics.  She has been recruiting for this company for 17 years so there is no reason for her not to know exactly what orientation entails.  If she had been new to recruiting for the company, I could see it as an honest mistake because perhaps she'd been misinformed.  She knew better.

Oh, and as an added bonus: my tuition reimbursement benefits are now null and void.  Only the very first company you work for does tuition reimbursement (if they offer it at all).  Having spent half of a day at this company's orientation means that no other company will reimburse my tuition. That's $6000 over the next few years that I am not going to be paid.  That really sucks.



I'm going to be writing letters to some of the upper-management of the company about this.  I'm just waiting for my temper to cool so I can write the letters without using inappropriate language.  I wish I had had the tarp conversation with the recruiter via email (instead of on the phone) because then I'd have written proof of her dishonesty.

I already have orientation scheduled with another company for Monday (and I'll have to start out with a box/van trailer, but can move to the flatbed division after I have experience). Not looking forward to the 28 hour Greyhound trip to get there though.




I'll be pulling a dry van (normal box-type) trailer.  This new company has a flatbed division that I can apply to once I have more experience, so that's still an option.  I've asked around and there is no other flatbed company that I can find that makes you lift such a heavy tarp.  Every other company realizes that it makes more sense to have the forklift driver lift the tarp on to the load for you (then you spread and secure the tarp).  Less physical exertion from the driver and they are less likely to sustain a back injury from unnecessary heavy lifting.




All I can do is hope that this next company is a better fit for me (and that my recruiter was honest when answering my questions).

Good things are on the horizon. I just have to keep on truckin'!

Travel Day

Today was just a very long bus ride.  9.5 hours on a Greyhound (not the longest, by any means).

I've just checked into the hotel and microwaved some soup for dinner.  Tomorrow is the first day of orientation and I want a good night's sleep.  I also need to make sure I don't miss the bus in the morning!

One nice thing already is that I have my own hotel room.  There are no other female students currently in orientation.  There are two parts to the hotel: the part where the trucking students stay and the part that is open to the public.  The public rooms are much nicer and I get to stay in one of those for all of orientation.  I'll have it to myself unless/until another female student arrives.

It's a non-smoking hotel (you can smoke outside on one specific side of the building only), which is nice.  People on the Greyhound bus today were smoking in the restroom and the whole bus reeked!

I brought some microwaveable soup and some Snack Pack pudding.  Enough to get me by until Tuesday night, when there's a shuttle to the local Walmart for provisions.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

It's been a quiet week.  Lots of tidying up, packing things away in storage and trying to pare down my orientation stuff to a duffel bag and my backpack. 

I've finally decided which company I want to work for.  I want to do flatbed (because I'm insane, according to one of my instructors).... and maybe I'll love it and maybe it'll be the end of me... but it's what I want.

It's hard to know what type of trucking you want to do... all you can do really is read up, talk to other drivers, pick the type that appeals to you and see how it goes.

I got a prepaid sim card for my friend's old phone (they gave me their old iPhone 3), so at least I'll be able to stay in contact.  It uses the AT&T network, which seems to work well enough in my town... but we'll see what reception is like when I'm OTR.

I leave for orientation on Sunday morning.  Nine and a half hours on a Greyhound Bus.

Stay tuned...

Final Test and Graduation

Just realized I haven't posted since Monday.  Oops!.

Tuesday, we went out driving in town and on the highways in the morning, then practiced on the range in the afternoon.  After being at school for fourteen hours on Monday, leaving a little after 5 on Tuesday was delightful.

Wednesday,  most of the seniors went out driving in the morning, but three of us were left behind.  One was a student who would not be testing this week because that student needed more time.  The other one and I were confused about why we were left on the range.  We assumed we'd be going out driving in the afternoon instead.  Nope.  We practiced parking and pre-trip inspections all day.  The other seniors joined us in the afternoon.

Thursday, we started testing.  I was given the very last testing spot in the afternoon because the head instructor thought I might want to go out driving in the morning, since I hadn't the day before.  I told him that I was ready to go and if anyone wanted to switch me timeslots, I was more than willing.  Waiting all day was giving me the worst nerves and stomach cramps.

In hindsight, I should have gone out driving in the morning.  It's not that I thought I didn't need the practice, I was simply hoping someone would switch me timeslots.  A lot of the guys wanted more time to work on their pre-trip inspections (they hadn't started practicing them until this week!).  I did end up switching with someone and getting the first timeslot after lunch.

I was so determined to get all 71 points on my pre-trip inspection.  I studied the hell out of that thing.  I got every single point of each part that I mentioned.... but I was so nervous that I skipped the coupling system entirely.  Oops!  So I missed those six points.  65 out of 71 was more than enough to pass.... but I am still kicking myself about it!

Parking was terrible.  I could not get the angle right on the parallel parking and I used every pull-up I could.  You get four free pull-ups (pulling forward to readjust the truck) for all of the parking maneuvers.  After four, you get docked a point for each one you get.  You also lose points for touching or knocking over cones (I think 2 and 3 points, respectively).  I did finally get the truck into the box for the parallel, but it wasn't pretty.  I really should have gone out driving in the morning.  It might have helped my nerves.

The driving could have gone better.  My instructors had been telling me that I leave too much space when I make right turns.  On the one hand, you want to swing out enough that your trailer doesn't hit the curb (hitting a curb is an automatic fail on the test).... but you don't want to "open a door" (leave enough space) for a car to sneak in between you and the curb.  Ideally, you want to keep your trailer close to the curb to "close the door" for any car wanting to sneak past.  I had been working all week on "closing the door".  I did not hit any of the curbs and I very deliberately left less than a foot of space between my trailer wheels and the curb.

I missed four points (there are four right turns on the test route) for being too close to the curb. 

The rest of the points I missed had to do with not watching my mirrors often enough (continuing to check my right mirror as I was merging instead of only glancing once or twice) and for once hitting the brakes kind of hard.  I was downshifting for a red light and was watching my tachometer (RPM) and had already taken the truck out of seventh gear and was going a little to fast to hit sixth, so I hit the brakes, and revved up to 1500 RPM and caught sixth gear.

It was an either/or situation.  I was either going to fail the test (automatic fail if you coast for more than the length of the truck without finding/being in gear or stopping) or brake hard to get my speed down to catch sixth.

I also didn't get the truck slowed enough in the final turn into the school's driveway.  I was supposed to be down to fifth gear for the turn and I only got it down to sixth.  I had been criticized earlier in the test for starting my downshifting/slowing way too soon for my turns.... and this time I clearly waited too long.

I was so nervous!  He doesn't tell you your points or whether you passed until after you park the truck back on the range at the school.  I passed, but I was so nervous.  If you do really horribly on the test (so much so that the tester fails you or feels unsafe with you driving), he makes you sit in the passenger seat and he drives the truck back to the school. 

He was really gruff and condescending during the test (it's not his job to be nice... I get that), but he was really pleasant on the way in.  One of his daughters went to the same university I did.  When we got to his office, he asked me for my license and permit.  I reminded him that I'd given them to him at the beginning of the test (and assumed they were on his clipboard).  He had left them in the copier!  He laughed and said that if we'd been pulled over, not having my license and permit would have been his fault.

I decided right then and there that I could not accept an orientation slot at the company where they put you into your own truck (alone) after orientation... no trainer.  I clearly need a few weeks with a trainer in the truck. I have pre-hires from every company I applied to (nothing on my driving or criminal record... spent too much time being a good girl and working to pay for college)... so now I'm spoiled for choice about where I want to go.  I've narrowed it down to two companies and I have a week to decide.

We were told to "saunter in around 9am" Friday morning.  We had a few additional (not on the state test) parking maneuvers to learn.  Mostly, it was the 90 degree ally docking and how to offset while going forward (if you have space, offsetting while going forward and then backing straight up is so much easier!)

Then we got our diplomas after lunch.  The first week (classroom) instructor asked me to talk to his class and give any advice.  I told them to make the most of their time on the range and get as much time in the driver's seat as possible.  It's really unstructured out there and you could easily sit at the break table most of the day and smoke... and no one is going to to remind you to actually practice your driving or pre-trip.  You're a grown-up and it's up to you to make the most of your time.  I also told them that if you break down the cost of the school per day, you're paying $400 per day to go there. 

Don't waste your money. Don't waste your time.  Get the job done.

Today was a really long day.

Because we're now seniors, we go driving on the roads in the morning and then we practice parking maneuvers and pre-trip inspections on the range in the afternoons.  This morning, I had my best day of driving yet.  I was catching most of the gears when I was downshifting, smooth and calm.  The instructor I had this morning was the same one I had my very first day.  It was nice to show him how much I've improved.

This afternoon, I finally got the off-set and parallel parking down solid. I feel very confident in my parking abilities now.  I might have to pull up once or twice to make sure I'm at the right angle... but I don't knock over any cones. 

We had a short break (maybe 20 minutes) around 5pm. Then we had our "night driving" session.  We were scheduled to be driving until 9:30, but again.... we were dismissed at 9pm (half hour early).  My driving tonight was horrible.  Part of the problem (and no, I'm not entirely blaming the equipment for my crappy driving) was that I couldn't get the seat to latch into place.  This meant that in addition to the usual up and down motion of the air-cushoined seat, it was also sliding forward and backward.  Any slight jerk meant that I was then bouncing all over the place and unable to control my foot on the clutch petal... so I was dumping the clutch and it all just escalated into a big mess.  By the time my turn came to an end, I was very close to tears.  I was disappointed in myself, especially after how well I'd one earlier in the day.  It sucked.

The instructor spent a good five minutes telling me that I could make all the excuses I wanted, but he hadn't had any problem with the seat and one of the other students (who later admitted that he'd managed to get the seat latched into place, so it wasn't sliding forward and backward) hadn't had an issue with the seat... so it wasn't the seat, it was me. 

Part of it was the seat. A lot of it was me getting flustered and not being able to recover from that.

When you're shifting, one of your feet is on the clutch and the other is on the accelerator.  This means that the only part touching the floor is the heel of your right foot.  That's not enough (for me at least) to counteract the bouncing sliding seat. 

Both of the other students had two turns of driving.  I only had the one. To make it worse, it was not dark yet when I had my turn... which means I have zero night driving experience.

Gah! Disappointed in myself.  Going to bed now.  I'll do better tomorrow.  Onward!

Week Two Recap

It seems like the second week just flew by.  It was really intensive, both for parking maneuvers and for driving practice.  We would spend the first hour of every morning practicing pre-trip inspections together.  It was the time to ask questions of the seniors and instructor and just make sure we not only knew the part and possible problems, but where the part was and what it looked like.  I didn't now anything about engines (other than how to check/fill fluids in a car) before I got here. 

I did end up recording the pre-trip inspection (71 things, each with a description of possible damage/defect to look out for), the four-point brake check and the parking brake check.  I learn better when I hear something... .also, it frees up my hands (no clipboard/paper to hold) so that I can literally have my hands on the truck parts I'm describing.  I will have it all memorized by the end of the week, no problem!  I listen to it last thing before I go to bed and first thing when I get up.  Kinda glad I'm single.... not sure listening to a twelve minute recording of truck parts would be the most romantic way to end an evening.

After our pre-trip inspection practice, juniors (my class) would spend the rest of the morning on the school range practicing parking maneuvers.  I'm much better at parallel parking than offset parking... but my off-set parking is coming along.  I'm more worried about hitting a cone on the parking part of the test than I am about messing up on the driving portion.  You have to pass the pre-trip, brake inspections and parking maneuvers to even get to the driving portion of the test. 

After lunch,  we would be divided into groups of three and then we'd go out on the road with an instructor.  At first, we were on a small loop of side streets out by the airport.  From Wednesday to Friday, we were driving in town.  I drove for 1.25 hours on Thursday in every type of road that comes up on the CDL driving test: highway (on/off ramps too), city, school zone, lots of stoplights, hills, S-curves, etc.  My downshifting still needs work, but I did okay.  I have yet to even hit a curb with my trailer!  It was a little unnerving.  My palms were so sweaty that I was stuck to the steering wheel like a gecko.

On Thursday afternoon, I signed all the paperwork for my school loan.  Since we had to each sit down with the head of the school individually, I thought it would be a good time to ask him about something that had been bothering me:

School is supposed to be from 7am to 5:30 pm every day (Seniors have an additional 4 hour night driving session on Monday of their final week).  We have never once stayed past 5pm.  On Thursday, my driving group got back to the school right around 5pm and no one was using the parking trucks on the practice range, so I climbed into one... thinking that I could squeeze in another half hour of parking practice.  I was told by an instructor to get out or the truck because it was time to go home. 

CDL training is three weeks long.  So if school costs about $6,000.  Fifteen days of class means that we are essentially paying $400 per day to go to school here. If the school is promising a certain amount of hours of training, I want those training hours. I paid for them. I took out a loan to pay for them. 

When I went in to sign the loan documents, I told the head guy about being asked to get out of the truck and he asked me for the name of the instructor.  I explained that all of the instructors dismissed us at 5pm.  He said that he knew that the instructors stayed until 5:30, but not that they were dismissing us early. 


I really like the instructors at my school.  I don't want to get anyone in trouble, but I want to get my money's worth.  And I'm not so confident in my driving and parking abilities that I don't think some additional practice time would go amiss.  Missing half an hour per day for the two weeks of driver training adds up to 5 additonal hours I could have had to practice. 

I'm glad I said something about it, at any rate. 

We haven't learned how to couple/uncouple the tractor and trailer yet.  Looking forward to learning how to do that. Also, just more time behind the wheel. 

Last weekend was so short (we had class on Saturday to make up for Labor Day) and it's so nice to have a full two days off.  Other than listening to the pre-trip and brake inspections on my iPod, I haven't done much school-wise.

I have been reading up on various trucking companies on TheTruckerReport.com.  So much valuable information.  I have pre-hires from eight companies, but there are two that I am especially interested in.  Sad to say, I will probably end up working for the company whose orientation starts the soonest after I obtain my CDL.  I've been unemployed for nearly two months now and money is tight.  I can't afford to sit around and wait. 

My poverty, but not my will, consents!

The guys in my class are really great.  I've made a buddy, whom I'll call Pete for the purposes of this blog.  He's really nice (and we have the same weird sense of humor) and since our driving abilities are about evenly matched, we make a good team.  He makes school a lot of fun.  I really hope we stay in touch after we graduate. 

The first day we did pre-trip inspections, I asked an instructor why we didn't inspect the trailer brakes (tandem axles).  He responded "we never talk about those".  As soon as he walked away, I turned to Pete and said "The first rule of trucking school is we do not talk about our tandem axles! The second rule of trucking school is WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT OUR TANDEM AXLES!"  It's now a running joke with us.

Monday is going to be a long day.  We're seniors now, so in addition to our normal 7 to 5:30 schedule, we have our night driving session 7am to 9:30pm is going to be a looooong day.

Going to relax tomorrow (Sunday) and listen and read through my pre-trip.  I need to get that down solid.

Off-set Parking and More Driving Practice

This morning, we were shown how to do off-set parking.  Off-set parking is when you pull forward and then back into the lane/space right next to the one you just occupied.  Like if you needed to back up one space over at a loading dock, for example.

I managed to do it once, then by the time I pulled back forward to do it again, I forgot which cone I was supposed to be looking for and out of which mirror.  I also got really frustrated with the other student in the cab.  I was looking for the instructor so I could ask him to show us off-set parking one more time, but instead he had me go in another truck where a senior student was doing laps around the entire compound to practice shifting.  We switched off and I managed to shift from three through fifth gears and downshift back again... and (after a little practice) could do it with no grinding whatsoever.

After lunch, we went back out to the sidestreets by the airport to practice in groups.  My newfound shifting/downshifting skills did not come with me for the trip.  I did much better at double-clutching today and shifting up in gear is going really well, but downshifting is still really hard.

Baby steps.

We worked on the four-point brake checks and pre-trip inspections again today.  I remember what/where all the parts were, now it's a matter of memorizing the list and what can go wrong with each piece.  I took some pictures with my phone in case I needed the reference, but I hope I don't need to refer to them.  Our instructor also uncoupled a truck and trailer so that we could look more closely at the coupling system.

Tomorrow, I need to get more practice in off-set parking.  Also, we are learning how to couple and uncouple tomorrow. 

Home on the Range

This morning, I finally got to climb inside a rig. First time. Ever.

We spent the morning alternating between pre-trip inspections and praciticing backing in the trucks.  I ran over four cones total... but over all, I think I've got it down.  In the late morning, most of the students were concentrating on pre-trip inspection stuff.  That meant that there was a truck not being used.  I spent about 90 minutes just backing down a lane of cones and slowly driving forward.  I've got it down solid now.

After lunch, we divided into teams of three.  Our instructor drove us out to the local airport (about ten minutes from the school) and we practiced driving on some side roads.  There's about a two mile loop of roads out near the airport.  Three stop signs and one long curve.  We all took turns driving, stopping and turning.

I did okay.  I had a lot of trouble going in and out of fifth gear and downshifting will take a lot of practice, but I did well enough that when it came time to drive back to the school, the instructor let me drive.  On the way back to the school, he told a story about a former student who made it through school and on the final day of CDL training, drove on the highway for the firsts time.  That student decided immediately that it trucking wasn't for him.  I did kinda wonder whether I was asked to drive back to the school because he thought I was ready or to give me the opportunity to decide now that trucking wasn't for me.

After I parked the truck back in the lot at school, the instructor gave me a fist-bump.

It was a good day.  No casualties (other than those four cones, which I'm sure have seen worse).

Tomorrow's adventure: off-side parking

CDL Training - Week One Wrap-Up

First week of CDL training is in the bag.

I can't help but think that, like so many other things in life, you get out of CDL training what you put into it.  I could see how someone could learn just enough to pass the tests... or you can make sure you know as much as possible about driving a truck.  I took out a big loan to pay for school and I intend to get as much out of it as possible.  I don't do anything half-assed... if I'm going to be a trucker, I will be the best possible trucker I can be. 

We had to go to school today (Saturday) because Monday was Labor Day.  Today, we learned about map reading and did a lot of review.  We also took our last written tests.  The last three guys who needed to pass their permit exam all passed today, so we can all hit the range on Monday.  Our "homework" for the weekend (whatever's left of it) is to read through the Pre-Trip Inspection and try to commit as much of it to memory as possible.

Excited to actually be in the trucks next week.  I've never even been in the cab of a semi before.

Going to record me reading the "pre-trip inspection" and "brake test" pages on my iPod.  I learn better with audio than with visual stuff.  I'm nauseated by the sound of my own voice though.  It's always so much higher than I expect it to be.  Could Jeremy Irons read my homework for me please?  That's be lovely.

Class A Permit Exam

The morning started out with a recruiter from Averitt.  I was a few minutes late (which I hated... I think it's so rude to be late and I usually show up very early for anything. Disappointed in myself for sleeping through both of my morning alarms)  I'll do better tomorrow.

Today we reviewed for our Class A permit exam.  We had a lot of fun.  The guys in my class are really sharp and the review went fast.  Then our instructor handed out cookies (but I couldn't have any because I can't eat wheat).

We broke for lunch at noon and we all went our separate ways to forage for food and then make our way to the Bureau of Motor Vehicles.  The wait time was less than five minutes, which was unexpected and really nice.  I was sent to a computer to take the "general knowledge" portion of the exam. Then I waited a few minutes, then another person sent me to the computer kiosks to take the "air brakes" part of the test.  Then waited a few minutes, then a third person sent me to the computers again to take the "combination vehicles" portion of the exam.  The wait wasn't long, I just found all the shuffling around to be quite silly.  Why not have the other two portions of the test follow the main section?  Just my two cents.

The only snag came when I had had finished the final part of the test, waited my turn and then was sent to yet a fourth person to get the actual permit.  She photocopied my DOT physical exam paperwork (which the first clerk who handled me had already copied) and then took my license.  She looked at the computer and then told me that I had to take the "operator exam" (which is the general test you have to pass in order to have a driving license in the state of Indiana).  I told her that her computer was wrong.  Her supervisor came over to "help".  She said that I had to take the "operator exam" if I wanted to transfer my license to Indiana (I already have an Indiana license). Then she said that my license must be expired (it wasn't... two more years before it expires).  The she said that I must "have some points" on my license (again, not true.  There are no points on my license).  Eventually, the clerk figured it out.  She'd checked the wrong box and the computer thought I wanted to be a chauffeur or something. 

One of the guys in my class, instead of having him wait a few minutes for an open computer (or even giving him that option), they had him take a paper test. Then he had to wait for someone to grade the paper test and officially enter his score. He must have been stuck there all afternoon doing all three sections of the test. Poor guy!

My entire visit to the BMV took less than 45 minutes.  Except for the crazy woman who almost rammed into my car as I left (she was driving on the wrong side of the road), it was actually kinda fun.

Yeah, I just had fun at the BMV.... maybe I need to get out more!?

Why I chose my CDL program

I looked at a number of different trucking schools and at company training programs (where the company itself teaches you how to drive instead of you attending an independent CDL school). There was a school about 50 miles away, but the only financing they offered was through a specific transport company that required you to sign a one year contract and to spend the first six months of that contract as a team driver.

 No, thank you.

I know I'll have to share a cab with another driver during the initial training phase, but I have no desire to be a team driver. The school I chose is actually just outside South Bend, Indiana. Their financing process is that you take out a loan and then (hopefully) whichever trucking company you work for agrees to make a specified loan payment (not deducted from your salary, in addition to it) each month that you work for them.

Not all companies offer loan reimbursement, but a lot of them do.  It's a good incentive.

No contract. I like the freedom of choice.

Early Days

Yesterday (Tuesday) was my first day of CDL training.  The morning was a lot of welcoming and paperwork.  There are a dozen people in my class and I am the only female.  I am the only female student in the entire school.

By the second day, most of the class was relaxed enough to joke and tease each other (nothing inappropriate).  The instructor is really great.  He's clearly very knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He engages everyone in class and he's always willing to review anything you didn't understand or try to explain it more clearly if you are having trouble.  All you have to do is ask.

I've gotten some weird looks from the guys in the other classes, but everyone at the school has been very respectful.  On the first day, I was sitting in the reception area waiting to ask my recruiter about something, and the guy next to me asked me if I was a recruiter for one of the trucking companies.  I told him that I was a student at the school.  His response?  "What does your husband think of you driving a truck?"  He didn't say it rudely and I think it was an honest question.  He seemed surprised to learn that I wasn't married.  And that pretty much sums up the conversation. 

For the record, I am single.  I've never been married.  I don't have children.

That give me a lot of freedom of choice when it comes to trucking jobs (no family means that "home time" is not really a very high priority) in that I don't really have other opinions to take into account.  I have six pre-hire offers so far and I'm really weighing my options.  I'm reading as much as I can about each company and reading through online trucker forums in search of firsthand reviews from people who have worked for them.  Knowledge is power.

I printed out the 2012 CDL file from the website for the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles.  I glanced through it over the weekend, but didn't get a chance to read much of it in-depth until Monday night.  Today, we received a binder containing the pertinent parts of the CDL manual (not all sections apply to tractor-trailers, some are for buses, etc.) and I was surprised that it was the Tennessee CDL manual from 2006.  Most of the information is the same, but a few bits of information was different.  The headquarters for this family of trucking schools is in Tennessee, but why have a manual that is 6 years out of date?  The .pdf for the current Indiana CDL manual is online, free and available to anyone.

We are scheduled to take our CDL permit test on Thursday afternoon.  I think I'm ready.  We played a trivia review game in class today and I beat everyone else by quite a margin.  Sometimes being a nerd and bookworm really comes in handy.  I wanted to make it clear that I am serious about becoming a trucker and being the best student I can be is my way of showing my dedication.  I was aware going in that some of the guys probably wouldn't want me there and I think I am just trying to prove that I deserve, as much as anyone, to be sitting in that classroom.  Also, I just plain like to win!

Here is what the schedule for the few days of class looks like:

Day One 
Welcome, lots of paperwork, filling out applications and starting on CDL knowledge for permit test.

Day Two
CDL handbook and test prep.  Information about air brakes.  "Fieldtrip" out to a truck in the training yard to see brakes in action.

Day Three
Morning - CDL review. Afternoon, all students to license branch to take CDL permit test. 

The rest of the first week (and the following weeks) of school is driving practice on the test range, highway and in the city.  We will be doing the driving test toward the end of the third week of class.

Second Graders and Truck Drivers

I have been doing a lot of reading.... the internet is such a wealth of information (both good and bad). There are so many stories of sexual harassment and sexual assault in the trucking industry. Horror stories of women being assaulted by their trainers (during the training period when you are a student driver just after CDL school) or having trainers fail them if they refuse to perform sexual favors.

It's horrifying. I desperately hope that I can find a company that will pair me with a female trainer. I want to be safe (doesn't everyone?) and contemplating bringing mace along when I start as a student driver.  I am almost six feet tall and I have a background in martial arts, but a girl can't be too careful.

I accidentally came across something really lovely. A story about a really cute interaction between a busload of second graders and a truck driver. Click here to read. It's heartwarming and lovely and you should check it out.

CDL school process

Stopped by the school today to drop off some pre-hire applications. Basically, as soon as you start school (or in my overacheiving case, even before then) you send what is called a "pre-hire application" to any number of trucking companies. They'll look at your background and references and if they like what they see, they'll send you a conditional job offer. Conditional on obtaining your CDL (commercial driving license) of course. That means there's a job waiting for you as soon as you finish school.

Once you obtain your CDL and go to work for a trucking company, you are a student driver.

Sometimes, you'll go through orientation at your new company and then you are paired with an experienced driver for a few weeks of additional training and mentoring.  Some companies require you to drive as a team (maybe with another student or with an experienced driver) for your first six months. Others give you your own truck as soon as you finish your orientation.  Each company is different and you need to read up on companies you're interested in so that you now what you're signing up for.

I have no interest in driving as part of a team, so I have not filled out any applications for companies with a mandatory team driving phase.  To each her own.

Introduction

Welcome to my blog. I've been reading other blogs of women truckers and thought it might be fun to post about my trucking career from the beginning. I have a college degree, but our economy is broken. I've had some entry-level jobs since college, but nothing I'd call a career. I've been unemployed now for a month and it seems like there were so many job advertisements for truck driving.

Could I really be a truck driver?

Why the hell not!?

I'm single and I don't have family, so I am not tied to one place. I like the idea of being a bit of a gypsy. I've signed up for a training course and it starts on Tuesday (because Monday is Labor Day). I'm really excited. I'm looking forward to seeing as many of the US states as possible. Stay tuned for: First Day of CDL Training