Profile For Skar Hed

Absolutely go to a non company affiliated school. That's what I would tell anyone if they can afford it. Pay for a service (CDL preparation and instruction) and be assured of getting it, and of being treated respectfully. Once you have a CDL you can then deal with potential employers from a stronger position.

'' If I had a really difficult time handling the quick aggressive pace of Company Sponsored Training Academy and the screaming and yelling by instructors (although they were pretty cool with me because I was struggling so much), could that be an indication that perhaps I'm NOT meant to to be a truck driver ''

That by itself is just an indication that you weren't meant to be in their training academy. Nothing more. That training academy ain't the job.

SkarHed wrote:

I don't know if the guy was a rookie or not but a few months ago someone forgot to set his parking brake at one of our terminals and totaled the truck. Here's the funny part. He was promptly issued another one and sent right back out to work.

Sorry but this is very difficult to believe (unless there is more to the story) and at least to me, not even close to being funny, more like ridiculous. This could have killed people as the truck silently rolled and flattened everything in it's path. Why your employer would ignore this and put the driver in a truck and back on the road is irresponsible. If the driver was that "checked-out" for this to happen once, it could happen again. Furthermore, your company's insurance provider is likely to take issue with this and force them to release this driver. Someone has to pay for the wrecked truck and that would include the reason it happened and holding said driver accountable.

No need to apologize..believe what you like. I am very tolerant of dissenting views. Yes I suppose there was more to the story. There usually is when the story is 3 sentences long.

Really surprised at the acceptance of driver facing cameras here. Is there ANYTHING we won't put up with to ingratiate ourselves with the nannies and busybodies of the world ? All I know is the day one gets put in my truck is the day I stop driving it. Surely I needn't explain why. And no the fact that the 7-11 or the bank or the federal building has one doesn't make it ok for me. I don't live in the 7-11 or the federal building. I've seen two somewhat conflicting lines from people on this, sometimes from the same people... A.) that companies are phasing them in slowly to gauge the benefits and what not and B.) that they are inevitable and you the driver better bow down and accept it or get your malcontent behind out of the business.

Well, I know A is true. I know there are many times more trucks without driver facing cameras than there are with them. And I have a pretty good idea how to make B not come true. And that is if any driver who was assigned a camera in his face and was opposed to the idea simply refused to work under those circumstances. You quit if they don't back down, and you get a job with any one of the hundreds of other carriers not using these insidious devices the very next day. And probably, as is the nature of the business, get a two cent raise and a signing bonus out of it.

The time to discourage this sort of thing is now ...or maybe a year ago...I had never heard of these things then, or even six months ago but I'm not here much or talking to other drivers in person....anyway....it's a trend that could have been (still could be ?) and should be strangled in the crib.

Places besides NYC metro that I hate going thru or to

Denver.....the absolute worst for parking...forget about getting a spot at a truck stop after 3 pm. Or maybe even getting out of your spot at 5 am without banging on the door of the jackass that made his own spot blocking you in.

Philly area....very bad for parking and traffic. I wouldn't even want to be rolling near the place at 4 pm with less than 2 hours left on my clock.

Nashville....the worst traffic by far for a medium sized city. I've almost never made it through Nashville without some big slowdown, even at 1 am. Plus I just hate looking the place while I'm stuck there going 3 mph. That god awful Titans stadium . How ugly is that thing.

Cincinnati...maybe I was wrong to say Nashville by far. But at least here the awfulness seems confined to one route. If you're crossing the river at 75-71 here you want to do it between 10pm and 5 am.

Hartford always seems to take forever to get through. I like Pittsburgh but not driving a truck there.

I don't know if the guy was a rookie or not but a few months ago someone forgot to set his parking brake at one of our terminals and totaled the truck. Here's the funny part. He was promptly issued another one and sent right back out to work.

I was terrible at backing when I started out and got no help from my trainers...they hardly even let me try. I was sent out solo completely unready. I dreaded every pickup and delivery and rest stop. Here's what helped me.

Small as possible movements on the wheel. Everyone will tell you that. Don't get any more bent up than you have to be.

If you're absolutely sure you are not up to backing at an extremely tight or crowded or irrationally laid out location (like the tractor supply in east wareham, mass. to name one) without busting up your truck or something else, simply don't do it. If it's a truck stop, go somewhere else. if it's a customer.... Call dispatch and just say no. A starter company won't fire you...they will send another driver to back it for you, four days later no one will remember or care, and you won't have the preventable accident on your record.

Whenever you have time, get into the far corner of a huge petro or TA where you can't possibly hit anything and just roll around backwards. Make some half assed backs with no eyes or pressure on you. get a feel for what your input on the wheel does to the truck.

Have your tandems all the way back whenever possible when backing while you figure out what you're doing...or at least have them in the same consistent location when you back. It takes one variable out of the equation. I liked all the way back because then you didn't have that big trailer overhang on your blind side to worry about and you can just watch the wheels, get them in the right place.

And keep in mind that however bad you are, within two or three months of doing it every day in a sink or swim type situation, you will be more or less as good as the rest of us. It will eventually just click in.

I have a Rand McNally 530 for about 18 months, it's the only GPS I have ever bought, I like the features, or am satisfied and accustomed to them, but have nothing to compare it to. But as a piece of hardware, as an appliance, it is an absolute piece of junk. I have exchanged it twice for a replacement model.

I expect this third one to completely fail eventually. Meanwhile the screen will freeze up now and then, on off switch won't work, it will get stuck in 3d view, it will change skins and settings all by itself, it won't charge with anything but the charger that comes with it, which is also a piece of junk, it won't charge with the charger plugged too far in, or too far out, it has to be juuuust right, it will routinely delay for thirty or forty seconds to execute the simplest request...I can't even remember all the ways this GPS has annoyed the crap out of me. If I could get even a third of the cash back on it I would take it and buy the cheapest Garmin truck GPS for 100 bucks or so. Find out how crummy THEY might be.

You're probably going to feel the same way after you've been hired and out with a trainer for a month or six weeks. What would have helped me was a few hours a week in a big empty lot just backing up into nothing to see how the truck actually reacts to your input on the wheel. But there was no incentive for my trainer to spend his time that way and will probably be none for yours either. As far as backing at shippers and receivers, if you are decent at it, a trainer will probably let you do it as often as you like. If not....not. So the people who need the practice the most get it the least.

When I was sent out solo I was woefully unprepared and I knew it. Dreaded what I would find for a dock or a space at the next stop the whole time on the road. The good news, finally, is that after about two months that feeling was gone.

Try sliding your tandems all the way back when backing when you can. This at least gets rid of the big trailer overhang and you can focus mainly on the position of your back wheels. It helped me.

Went to bed about 930 pm last night. Got a call from a DM at 1145 asking if I wanted this load. I would have had to have left at midnight on 2 hours of sleep to drive 400+ miles to pick it up. Then it was from Oregon to Pennsylvania. I know the miles would've been GREAT, but I really didn't feel it was a good idea to push myself to drive 8+ hours on little sleep. DM said it was ok if I didn't feel I could safely drive it in low sleep, so I passed. As a rookie, should I have graciously accepted, or did I make the right call?

The only thing I might have done different would be not taking the phone call.

All depends. They could do half the driving, they could let you do all of it while they watch porn videos in the sleeper berth.