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Do. Not. Be. Afraid. To. Ask. For. H-E-L-P. :)

I like to see the old "Cab Overs" - I think I've heard them referred to as "Kidney Crushers"

While Guest Teaching a few years back, a kid in my class referred to it as the Terminator 2 truck. lol I told him there was an original Terminator and he was astounded. Some designs never go out of style. I share your love of this brick with wheels.

People has told me you have to go thru these challenges in order to come out stronger. I believe this is it and I’ll come out on top.

IF you're going through hell, keep going. Life repeatedly throws these challenges at you so you have opportunity to learn from yourself. Embrace this and you'll go far! Learn to embrace change and the world will be yours. Stay positive. :)

I'm extremely confused and getting horrible scores. Thank you guys, Jason T /NY

As for this, consider talking to your CDL school teachers. Let them know where you are struggling. 1:1 training is the key benefit of attending CDL school. If they don't have anyone who can set aside time to meet you where you are struggling, let them know this. Some trainers just haven't got a clue.

I'm having a real hard time on Logbooks in the CDL training...Thank you guys, Jason T /NY

Jason, I felt the same while going through training. Omnitrax (which my carrier uses) simplifies this considerably. You login and set yourself as the driver and as soon as you get rolling the countdown commences. Pay attention to this while you're first starting your career and pay attention to what happens to this countdown after taking extended breaks within that initial window described by others. You'll quickly learn the time tables and how to optimize it to your routes (OTR/regional). This is one thing you shouldn't stress out about. The paper logs are simply a repeat of this device. Electronic logs have simplified your job of managing your time. Have patience and go with the flow; keep your eyes open and pay attention to what's happening and you'll be okay. Focus on safety matters that keep the truck rolling; that's the one thing that will set you back more than anything.

TNT -- The dirty, the ugly, the foul (If you are easily offended by reality skip this post!)

1. #1 is tricky. The bouncing and wobbling and vibrations of the truck that may help lull you to sleep unfortunately have a tendency to make you want to use the bathroom to empty your bladder more often than you want. Especially if you adhere to a healthy consumption of H20 to stay hydrated. Catch 22 right? Quart size zip lock bags (don't go cheap here) will hold a fully grown adults empty bladder. This discrete activity is something virtually everyone does but no one talks about it. Fear not. Don't keep your bladder in pain.

2. #2 is easy. Your gut actually triggers peristalsis of your intestine every time you begin to consume food. This is why many people feel the urge to release their bowels after breakfast. If you don't want to trigger an urge to go #2, don't eat until you're within minutes of a rest stop. Otherwise, consider alternative options. I never felt urgent given this pattern of eating (I also am keto/low carb for the most part, so one movement a day is pretty normal).

3. Bathrooms at shippers are either pristine or horrendous. I don't mean plug your nose and lay down some toilet paper horrendous. I mean, plan to wait 2-12 hours until you depart shipper to find an alternate (see #2 other options point).

4. Eating healthy IS possible, but it requires planning. Team driving means the truck is virtually almost always in motion. You'll need to communicate with your team driver about your needs. It's not always feasible or practical to add a stop at a legitimate grocer between pickup and delivery points. To boot: you may have to interrupt your quality sleep to wake and shop. As a solo trucker, I intend to maintain a 7-10 day supply of fresh fruit and vegetables and meats along with non-perishables rich in fiber and nutrients. Pinterest has many wonderful ideas.

5. The truck is going to feel like a prison cell. Embrace your inmate status. You will feel and think things you imagined. Two strangers living in such close proximity is the death nail, unless they're both introverts who maintain a healthy balance of private space. If you're an introvert (me) onboard with an extrovert (TNT trainer #1), god help you and him/her. Picture washing two feral cats in a sink that haven't been declawed.

6. The urge to increase risk (drive faster; cut corners) is positively correlated with your bottom line. But the reality is, as you increase risk, your likelihood of enduring a time setback increases infinitely. Prime has speed governors -- this is why I am with Prime. It's a straight jacket to help keep you and your license safe. I whole-heartedly endorse it.

7. The speed governor means that if you can only hit 62-65 mph and you get behind that driver who likes to rabbit foot between 68mph and 55mph (serious, what are they doing?), you haven't got much of a chance to get past them. A quick 30-minute rest break will at least put them between you for a gap. Otherwise you have to be that guy who drops his speed constantly. This is frustrating, because on a number of occasions I felt myself getting sucked into the herd that I try desperately to stay away from simply because we do not have any additional speed allowance. I stand by my 6th point above.

8. Many truckers lack depth perception. You'll be in the middle of Iowa in the middle of the night in the middle of a snow storm in the middle of an alien invasion and a trucker will creep past you and move directly into your lane leaving less than a few bodies gap between you and their beat up trailer. All I can say is let go of the gas and give yourself distance in anticipation of this maneuver as the truck creeps past you. It gives you peace of mind when they do exactly what you expected them to do. And they keep doing it. Over. And. Over.

9. Many truck stops are depressing places filled with negative energy. I personally enjoy the peace and quiet (and 45 degree cut-in parking) at rest stops. I've never felt the urge to strike up a conversation with anyone at any stop except for a few truck stops in the north (Minnesota, Wisconsin) -- they're really nice down to earth people up there!

10. Truck chains are heavy. With ice and mud it feels like lifting an obese corpse. Before you say 'sure let's go over the Continental Divide I'll be happy to chain up if we need to' be sure to examine the state of your chains. Are they properly hung or are they bundled together into a rusted ball that will have you unwinding them in blizzard conditions at high altitude only to find that you have 2 out of 4 chains available to rig your truck, forcing you to flash your lights and crawl down the mountain at 15 mph for 6-8 hours -- oddly specific, I know.

I went through Prime's PSD and TNT back when the mileage requirement was 50,000. It can be taxing mentally...I enjoyed my time there. Best of Luck

Thank you Shane! I did leave on good terms, in spite of all the madness. :) I'm currently working with the same recruiter who helped me out a year ago. I don't usually give out endorsements online, but having worked with this guy and interacted with him over a long span of time, I feel comfortable strongly endorsing my recruiter Jorge Rogel. He's very honest; he doesn't sugar coat any aspect of Prime. I highly recommend him if you're prefer that kind of interaction.

TNT Holy Grail (Prime Inc) -- This is what you came for!

I wish someone had made this list for me to review/learn BEFORE going TNT. My TNT trainer implied that Missouri students receive this training over Salt Lake City students.

1. Read up on certified scales; know how to balance a load in your trailer and adjust tandems so you don't have to go back to the shipper and ask them to re-load truck.

2. Port of Entry; know when to stop at this point (always, pretty much).

3. Watch videos on YT to learn how to adjust tandems. SLC student were NOT taught this.

4. Watch videos on YT to learn how how to properly lower landing gear (and adjust speed). It's NOT obvious.

5. Maintain a 10-second following distance. Stay away from the flock of sheep or herd or group. This will save you so much headache.

6. Respect speed. As soon as you get to east or west coast, drop your speed below the gov'd max.

7. Learn washouts (trailer, tractor, and trailer/tractor). Blue Beacon is great!

8. Scan 15-20 seconds ahead for vehicles/trucks on the shoulders. Learn to SLOW DOWN and MOVE OVER.

9. Bathroom kit - toilet paper at the very least. They're not all well maintained.

10. Top of fuel/DEF at all opportunities.

11. Master the art of getting sleep while truck is moving. Binaural beats/rainfall with noise canceling headphones.

12. Eat healthy. Eat healthy. Eat health. (You're not going to do this despite me repeating it 3 times).

13. Nervous exhaustion creeps up fast and hard and catches you off guard.

14. Do not assume bathrooms will be available and shipper/receiver. Ziplock bag/bucket. Plan ahead.

15. If you're feeling rushed, slow down. No load is worth your life. Be cautious. Your license is at stake.

16. Nav/gps equipment is unreliable. Glance at route (major highways/intersections/final destination over-view of facility Google Maps. This will make you a very happy driver.

17. Time distortion living/working in multiple time zones is unreal. Get sleep. Close your eyes while listening to an audio book. Sleep. Get rest. Sleep.

18. Exercise at rest stops. Stretch. Walk. Jump rope. Move. Get blood flowing.

19. The vibrations of the bed while team driving is the most amazing gift of team driving. Leave your Hitachi vibrator at home, ladies.

20. Company drivers are force dispatch. Your dispatcher gets paid based on you making loads on schedule.

Continue reading about my misadventures with TNT...

Toward the completion of my TNT training, I had vanished. I was now in some reptilian part of my brain that was focused on the most biologically simple endeavors. I 'hooked up' with a complete stranger I met while chatting online. She moved in with me to my new apartment and we fell into a sort of decay. Both of us were identical mentally. It was as if the universe had sent her to me to say: are you okay?

She was me. I was her. It was like seeing a young version of myself. It was fun at first and then it just melted down. We split on each other and I was left alone in my apartment in Oregon. I was experiencing severe depression and suicide seemed inevitable. It came, and I sought treatment, and here we are more than a year later, and my mental health is finally back to where I was before I packed my bags and moved all my belongings into a storage unit in Utah before attending my first day of training with Prime.

What follows? Hopefully, Prime will have me back. It sounds like I'll be required to so another 30k miles. This doesn't bother me though. I'm in a different head space. A better head space. It's all about learning. I'm looking forward to getting back OVER THE ROAD and hopefully I'll have some interesting stories to share along the way.

Cheers & Best,

Moose