Profile For Davy A.

No valid DL in possession I think is a moving violation. If I'm not mistaken, it's Operating a motor vehicle without a valid DL in possession.

No insurance is a huge deal as well.

Honestly, I'd try everywhere and see what comes of it, but in the meantime, get your mvr accurate and if they are dropping off, do your homework to make sure they are indeed off.

Made it out of NM, then TX about 4 hours ahead of it. Then beat the freezing mess in IA and NE. I still have to deal with WY tomorrow which may shut me down at zelk Mtn and or Summit Park UT and then it's over to to Stockton CA and then down to the high winds and fires in LA.

I'd highly encourage you to start a diary of your own and read from those of us who went through Knight.

In general, there's definitely a trend for those of us that started our careers being part of the community here that seems to generate top tier drivers that find successful careers.

My Diary at Knight

This reply has been on my mind for a bit.

Zen asks the question why would anyone be against driver facing cameras. It's a fair question. But also a loaded question.

There are indeed many good points to inward facing cams, and there are many bad points to having them without being on control of them. For me, the negative aspects outweigh the possible benefits. But it's not the camera itself, rather who is in control of the camera that matters.

When a company places the camera, it encourages a surveillance state which is the antithesis of freedom and individual liberty and independent thought. Our youngsters have a massive deficit in this area and it shows in their weakening physical motor skills and mechanical aptitude. It also reinforces corporate lordship and subjugation of the individual to the group. Granted, these are philosophical issues, but they matter.

A critical issue is that corporations use the cameras and data as tools to devalue labor. The less responsibility labor has individually, the less skilled they become, and the less the labor costs. It's not the primary reason, but it's very high on the priority list.

Along those lines, the cameras allow corporations to use inferior grade drivers, which are cheaper. The cameras are used to mitigate their poor driving habits and lack of skills and still allow them to be employed.

It may seem counterintuitive, but the corporations use of the camera eliminates personal motivation and accountability. The driver that grows up under the eyes of the Corp via the camera doesn't learn to take responsibility for his decisions, they don't get the real world repercussions of not paying attention. In the same way that we've raised a generation that doesn't know how to loose and take a beating, we end up letting people drive who just simply don't have the skills and judgement to do so at a professional level.

I've maintained for a long time that not everyone makes the team, not everyone makes the cut. If you require your management to supervise and manage your driving, you probably shouldn't be driving.

As far as the benefits go in terms of proving your good habits, I agree completely. In PJs case, he owns the camera, it's his discretion on what footage he allows to be viewed, he's in complete control.

We have no cameras at my company, they trust us to drive as professionals. I have my own cameras, just as PJ does, they are there to protect me. I have that choice though, and my paychecks are not attached to the camera. It's critical that I make that choice, not that the company forces it upon me.

Glad you made it safe. I know we share similar backgrounds in construction, and staying put is something that wasn't done in that industry. It's one of the hardest things for me to do as well. I spent most of Sunday parked due to high winds.

A Friend of mine sent me a picture of one of our trucks on its side a while back. I always keep that picture in my mind.

I have had no accidents/incidents from day one. I have a personal take on the concept that differs in that I find even small accidents unacceptable and did so at the beginning. With that in mind, a personal plan of action might include thinking of some things.

I arrange and trip plan my day so that I'm not trying to find the last parking spots available. They're still available for a reason and its not a good one. I also rarely parked at the big name brand stops in the beginning. In fact I still usually park at hole in the wall old truck stops. There's usually a lot more room there.

I avoid blind side if I can help it, but practice in a safe empty lot. There should be a gut instinct telling you that the hole you're trying to back into is too tough or you don't have the skills yet, or you just plain don't like something about it. I listen to that voice.

Goal frequently, even, actually especially, if you think you have it.

I practiced backing whenever I could do so safely. I sometimes still do and particularly concentrate on areas that bug me. I always choose the safest spot I can find, with the most room available.

I consider striking another object with my vehicle a failure. Failure is not an option.

I started my career with Knight, I found them to be a great company to start with. They proved to be very flexible with home time and even flew me to home time at their expense on several occasions where I agreed to take loads that prevented me from getting home. They also have a free college tution program for drivers and their family members.

You can find my comprehensive diary of working with them from the ground up in our CDL diaries section.

Like any company, your attitude, performance and work ethic will ultimately decide your success.

Brett, I couldn't agree more. I fought for every inch of tarmac I raced over. I was just simply not one of those racers that was blessed with natural talent. It's definitely counterintuitive to place ones knee out and make contact with the ground, riding a motorcycle at triple didgit speeds. The only way I found to improve my performance and make myself reliably do things was to study, drill, do exercises, train physically and constantly get feedback if my riding position and skills were improving. It was essential to make sure to practice the movements and concepts correctly. Ultimately your lap times will show your results. The only way to buy speed is to purchase education.

Same with skiing. I can still comfortably teach and ski in any conditions and any terrain, but it over a decade of daily education, practices and training to attain and maintain that level.

In both sports, over time, performance with talent but a lack of discipline and training invariably leads to injury and default. It may not be noticeable at first, but solid fundamentals eventually win the day every time. It eventually became the core principle in teaching young ski racers. We found long term success if we forced them to develop strong fundamentals and practice habits rather than simply relying on inherent talent.

I too think about increasing efficiency in much of what I do on a daily basis. One of the things that I really enjoy about trucking is that there are so many nuances that we can tweak and adjust and then see the results real time.

You have built a habit of thinking, conscious or not, that a few mph faster will make your goal attainable. It shows in that you get angry that they slow down in front of you.

The anger is displaced fear that you're not going to deliver or pick up on time.

If you trip plan accurately, have realistic expectations of how slow Metropolitan areas travel at and examine your days projected performance analytically, you'll see that, short of being at a dead stop for 15 minutes or more, an average retarded driver cutting you off has absolutely zero effect on your performance. None.

You need to unlearn the concept that you can make up time on a load or day by traveling faster in traffic. Next you need to replace that concept with a more realistic idea of how long it's going to take you.

Also, you drive a governed slow ass truck. There's absolutely no expectation of speed in what we drive.

Lower your expectations, you'll be much happier.

Automaticity is the ability to perform a task or group of tasks without conscious thought or attention due to repeated practices.

Learning is defined as a sustained change in behavior.

Both can be beneficial or negative on our careers.

As I was adjusting my trip planning for the load tonight, which ended up not being preloaded as it was supposed to be, I automatically, without conscious thought, messaged my dispatch, changed my arrival times to the reciever, checked my weather, stopping points and adjusted my other preplans stacked on me.

I bring this up because automaticity is something I sought, be it backing, trip planning, driving, or just about any other facet of trucking, but knowing that I can learn bad behaviors or good behaviors, which in turn will morph into good habits or bad habits.

Obviously the goal is to develop good habits and then a state of automaticity of those habits.

I used other people's systems and developed my own systems for doing the tasks. Most of which, I wrote down and followed time and time again. Without a systemic approach of repeatable tasks, it's much more difficult to practice tasks. And without practices, automaticity is extremely difficult to achieve.

Just some thoughts rattling around the Ole noggin tonight.