Profile For Tammy A.

Well I'm just thinking. If I go through the school and go to the federal or whatever it's called, driving test, if I don't pass that what happens. Can I take that driving test as much as I need to pass?

Even asking "someone" at a company wont help. Contracts change all the time. Ask the recruiter or ttauning department.

At Prime, you only can walk away at 7 days from the statt of orienrartion. So you won't even be near the exam date yet. State law may differ but in MO u get 3 drive tests before getting sent home.

Why are you focused on the negative?

After training if you don't pass the driving test do you have to pay the company back?

Life takes time. I am finally free. I've been living in Vegas three months now in my RV. The man kid is making a fortune playing poker. He finally found something he's good at. He thinks this is where he always was meant to be. Now it's just me. One person said if you don't like it then you quit. I've never been afraid of anything but getting stuck in a place I don't know how to maneuver out of with an 18 wheeler scares the **** out of me. Backing up scares the **** out of me. I don't know if I can actually do it without panicking. My mind keeps coming back to driving. It's what I love to do.

Maybe on a dedicated run, but that's usually assigned internally after putting some time in.

Also sounds like linehaul, but there's not much work available there. Maybe a backhaul driver for a food company, but they usually require experience.

The truth is, Tammy there is no easy in on this career. It's going to be hard and frustrating. I'm not even sure why you want to do this when all you do is complain about the entry point. First it was the drugs, then it was the man kid, then it was the client, then it was moving....

The answer to your question is yes, those jobs exist. The caveat is that they require experience and they're desirable. In some cases (like my own) they require seniority.

Do any of these big trucking companies have the same route? I don't care if I'm out a month at a time. I don't think I would be good at going different places I am not familiar with. If I do this I want the exact same route every week even if it's cross country. At least I would know the roads and the exact truck stops and times I would need to start and stop. Is this possible?

Thanks! Not sure yet. I'm in a RV park in Vegas. I got it for 6 months. Had a second interview on a job and waiting to see where that takes me. My x husband wants to get his CDL so I'm kind of waiting on him. I told him we can do it together when he decides.

Tammy, kudos to you for doing that trip and getting it done safely.

What’s next for you?

I think probably could have used a truck instead of my car. I had sway bars but going up the mountains and 50 mph winds blowing at me it was very stressful. An 18 wheeler is heavy and not as easily thrown around, but I do have to say I held my breath a few times for them because a couple times it looked like they lost control. I went sloooww.

Tammy, you drove all the way across country “white knuckling it all the way”? Why was it a white knuckle trip over such a long distance? Perhaps you could provide a little more detail about this.

To me, if someone says that about white knuckles it means they are driving scared, or at least very nervously. If that happens to you while driving a camper, how will you be able to drive an 18 wheeler without giving yourself a heart attack or a stroke? A professional driver operating under constant stress will burn out in a hurry.

Yes I had a tow camper. I took I 70 I think right to 40. I actually cried going into Nevada from Arizona. It was absolutely beautiful.

Do you have a camper you tow? Or is it an RV type? I hope you enjoyed the scenery. I'm guessing you took i-70 to St. Louis, then cut diagonally across Missouri on i-44, then took i-40 through to Arizona. If not, what route did you drive?

Not sure what you mean by getting "lifted off the road" by trucks. Are you saying you were getting tossed around by the wind as trucks went past you?

Drove across country with my camper. White knuckled it all the way. Went from Mass. To Vegas and it was beautiful but you truckers blasting by me and lifting me off the road through the canyons of Arizona had me swearing at you a few times. I also noticed you guys get thrown around also so don't get mad. Gave up my client, took my kid and 2 kitties. One step closer.

Have a tailgate party!

Really got a shock today when my FM called me and told me my license has been suspended by Wisconsin. I was allowed to get to the nearest truck stop, but now I’m out of service until I get this fixed. The company is sending a bobtail to take my trailer to delivery in NC.

last year in March, I had a fresh physical and got a one year card. That superseded my FedMed card that I had at orientation, so I needed to register the new FedMed card with Wisconsin. Somehow the paperwork was lost and Wisconsin DMV says they didn’t get the update. So when my Wisconsin Med card expired a few weeks ago, it set in motion the suspension.

I’m currently trying to contact WI DMV to see how soon I can get reinstated. My company says anywhere from 1 to 10 days. Until then, I sit here at Pilot in Roland, OK.

Here I sit, broken-hearted Came to drive But can’t get started.

Oh hell ya I am like those old timers. If the whole internet system crashed it couldn' be too soon. I'll go back to bunny ears to get my creature feature on channel 56. There were no t.v.s in rigs hell you couldnt even walk a step, the sleeper was right there. As far as drugs and alcohol I totally agree. Booze is worse then weed. Thats all I am saying. I remember the tailgate parties we had a blast. Back then though every few loads we had to wait for a pick up so we laid over many nights in the truck stop and so did alot of other truckers with nothing to do( if you remember the truck stops it was either a Howard Johnson or just one diner) 70's 80's BEST YEARS EVER

Really? I don't drink any more but I guess things have changed. Not that I believe truckers dont drink in their rigs but I'm surprised they don't allow tail gate parties any more?

OMG!! You're as bad as the old guys that bring up the olden days. Hopefully, you're not as bad as them wanting everything to stay the same. In my lifetime, especially when computers and cell phones came about, life just accelerated where everything is moving fast and changing. Most of it's for the good, not everything is and where driving is concerned, laws had to be made to crack down the abusive drugs and drinking.

My husband was a driver and the stories he told about staying awake for three and four days on some kind of drugs, was just scary. When we started driving together, he wanted to do that crap. I have never done drugs, actually I've never smoked cigarettes either, but I told them there would be no drugs and driving for hours at a time because it wasn't necessary running team.

I got my chauffeur's license in 1988 after I got out of the Air Force. Yes there was drinking and a lot of drugs that was going on at truck stops and rest areas. But because of that and wrecks that killed people, DOT cracked down and laws were made about drinking, drugging and driving. As for tailgate parties, I ran team and crisscrossed this country and never saw tailgate parties. We did see a single guy or even a team break out of barbecue and cook on it for themselves, but very seldom even saw that.