Profile For NewGuy

Most of the time you can kill the water feed at or near the water heater. Turn that big beast off if your not home and save some Jack. If electric make sure no air in it before you turn the heaters back on. At least that will kill the hot side. If no main shutoff is found you could install on pretty cheaply. Get a ball valve. Work fine, last a long time.

Well after a week of OJT I've grown better by leaps and bounds. Drove 3 different trucks. 2 volvo with one twin screw, one single. A Sterling last night. Dropping and hooking Double pups but also took 80K pounds of Kitty litter across state in a 53' Van. Fun, quite fun. Shifting is getting much better daily. Still making a few stupid mistakes but my trainer is helping me through it. Good Luck to all! thanks for the advice

It all makes sense on my Screen, just seems to not workout sometimes in the real world. One instructors said I might be putting the clutch in too far and getting into the brake? Practice seems to be the best answer. Thanks for the tips

New Driver about 100 hours. Doing pretty good but sometimes when upshifting or down, I miss my gear and seem to get the transmission bound up so that I just cant get the shifter into any gear. So bad that at time we just have to stop the truck and start all over. Tough in traffic.

Any advice as to how to recover when the box seems to have you locked out?

Spencer, In 47460

I plan to start driving in about 4 weeks. as an OTR driver I expect to be home once a month or so for 2 days. I'm looking into parking options around my small town (Spencer, IN). When negotiating, a price in mind that is fair is a good place to start. Any advice appreciated. Basic parking in summer, Extension cord in winter, Can anyone tell me how much power a block heater uses? Thanks again!

Can anyone elaborate on this issue? I'm excited about trucking but not spending days in a sleeper, stuck at a truck stop. Does company policy vary that much on this issue? I had thoughts of taking a 10-speed along and seeing the sites in my off-duty time. Does a truck stop count as a "safe haven" to leave the company vehicle or how does one get to the same. I plan to drive for Roehl but if they are unreasonable on this point maybe I should refocus... Thanks

I gotta go with Starcar on this one man. Untreated BP is a killer. Just that simple. If you die going down the road we will all read about it. I take lisinopril. There are several "****pril drugs" They work, side effect are lite. My physical is only good for a year because of it but I'll take the year. $9 for 90 days at Walmart. The first pills I was prescribed were $2 a day. I did some reading and asked my doc to change over.

I feel better when my BP is low. That's enough reason to take the time to swallow a pill for breakfast. Be all you can B man. Feel as good as you can. Just that simple...

I have to agree with Brett. Dispatch can't always be expected to have the next load waiting on your arrival. Don't know what the guy did in his previous 10 but he knew had to drive at the end of it and he owes his company a better effort than the one he is showing me. Maybe he should have tried to get a little rest instead of spending his time plotting his fame on YouTube. Unless of course he records all of his conversations with his dispatch. If you cant drive, you cant drive, but take your lumps quietly and learn from them. I expect what he learned from this is that not everybody is happy to be put on youtube without permission.

I ran a business for many years. there is always the company side to consider as well as the employee side.

I know I'm going to private CDL School for my A license. It will be in Indy. I'm having a tough time deciding between SAGE and C-1. Sage offers a less glamours atmosphere but I suspect the 1-1 training and small class size might be a plus. C-1's advantage is they train you until you pass the road test and the test site and C-1 have a very close relationship. C-1 drives Freightliners, SAGE has Internationals.

It seems as though C-1 sends everybody into three companies hands when they graduate. I do not have real knowledge of Sage pacements but they at least appear to offer more options/ offers after graduation.

How concerned should I be about the type of truck I'm trained in? Can any grads of either school relate experiences as to number of job offers on the table?

I'm 56, good health, all ready physical tested. Testing CDL all endorsements (except school bus) tomorrow. Start working toward HazMat as soon as I get my permit. Exceptionally clean work, drugs, driving records. Plan to put in a couple of years OTR in dry-van then try to look for more regional work

Thanks for the tips, AND your time. See ya out there in the Spring!