Profile For Erik M.

My accidents weren't speed related. One I jumped the king pin and put a hole in the refer unit. The other I clipped a truck's front end because it was too dark to see it in my convex mirror. The other one the brakes weren't set and it rolled into a parked vehicle. Brian may be right. Trucking isn't right for everyone and that's the question I'm asking myself now. I put so much into it. I would hate to think it was all for nothing.

I've been OTR for a little over five months and had three very minor accidents in parking lots. I now lost my job and wondering how bad are my chances of getting hired again.

I keep a small cooler in my truck and keep fresh vegetables and fruit to snack on while driving. I also take advantage of the soup and salad bars at some truck stops. There are ways to eat healthy on the road if you have the discipline.

Since I started driving I've noticed a lot of bad habits being done by other truckers. They make it hard for all of those who work hard at being safe and take pride in their work. This idiot has only reinforced people's negative opinon of truck drivers.

The guy was not paying attention. He was likely out on some highway in the middle of nowhere and was not expecting a bus to stop in the lane like that. He may have been talking on the phone or doing any number of things. Then he sees this at the last second so he swerves to the right,not thinking about the chance of hitting anyone on the shoulder.

Then after he makes it by he realizes that he is going to be fired and maybe end up in jail. So that is why he kept going. Yes that is a terrible thing to do, but it is not at all that unbelievable really.

I am not familiar with the exact rules involving school buses except that you stop when they got those lights going. Why though did the bus not pull over onto the shoulder itself instead of stopping in the middle of the highway? Sooner or later something like this is going to happen and someone will get killed.

I haven't seen much mentioned on this topic so I'll add my two cents. All large companies have terminals throughout the country. As most of you know they are there for repairs, training, and other safety issues. What I didn't realize was that once you get into a terminal it can be hard to get out. You are now caught in the vortex of beauracracy. Things can take a long time to get the problem solved not matter what it is. Example: My trainer and I came into a terminal to get our windshield replaced because it had a couple cracks in it. On the windshield were the toll passes for a couple states. We needed to get new passes since they couldn't be taken off the bad windshield. The windshield was replaced rather soon. The toll passes have yet to arrive even though we asked for them early Tuesday morning and we're still here waiting for them.

These sorts of things happen with repairs all the time. Drivers can wait days to get stuff done on their trucks. This isn't a complaint, just a reality of being in trucking. You have to have lots of patience when working for a large company.

Thanks for easing my mind on this issue. I went in yesterday to the safety office and make out my report. Ball's in their court now. It's just sad that things had to turn out like they did. Ya'll be safe out there.

I just got hired in two weeks ago and up untill now have been out on the road with my trainer. He was doing a lot of strange things that I thought were wrong so I called my student driver manager and he said I had to come off the truck now and file a report of what's been going on. I didn't dare mention this to my trainer after we arrived at the terminal. So he was very confused when I told him I was being taken off the truck. I don't want the guy to lose his job but he shouldn't be a trainer with some of the stuff he was pulling.

Damn Guyjax. I just finished my orientation with Werner and will leave with my trainer tomorrow. Does this stuff happen often in this company? I'm still of the impression that Werner is a good company to work for. Any other advise you could give me about Werner would also be helpful. See you out there.

I can't say that I'm an experienced driver but this issue is one that I also have thought about. My plan is to develop an exercise routine that I can do in or around the truck. A small set of weights to work on each night, jump rope, and even going for a short run. There are all kinds of exercieses one can do in a small space. You can always do your workout after you shutdown for the day or before you head out. This may sound strange but check out prison workout routines on the net. You would be surprised at how creative these guys are at developing a workout that keeps them in top shape while living in a 6x9 cell. I hope this helps.

This weekend I'm leaving home to go to Denver and begin my training with Werner. In the pre-orientation paperwork they had me agree to a deduction of my pay for a $400 bond. What is that and is that normal in this industry? Any Werner drivers out there that can explain this to me? I don't mind paying for the bond since it sounds like I could get the money back and I have a good feeling about this company. All thoughts welcome