Profile For Steven

Col. O, may I ask what school you went to in VA? I'm also considering schooling and am looking at options. Thank you!

As a 4 wheeler still looking at this career after some medical tests (sigh, they finally cropped up...), I wanted to reply to this:

"The biggest thing I learned this past couple weeks is that 4 wheelers don't respect you...or your space, at all, at least for the most part."

I try my best to respect every rig on the road, whether that's proper following distance, giving you guys room to get where you gotta go, thinking how my light braking would impact you, etc. Don't include all of us in that statement - but yes, the vast majority sure don't care that you're loaded 75k, they're the king of the road! Hopefully my actions help you drivers rather than hinder, I'd sure hate to be that 4 wheeler getting talked about on the CB by trying to be respectful! Haha.

I've only been to New York once, but it's a beautiful place if you avoid the city! I'll definitely be going back sooner rather than later!

(I was actually up there when the two prisoners escaped and within 20 miles of where they were. What a time to go vacation, right?)

Daniel B's Year Diary I a good place to start to get an idea of what life will be like on the road. This is from TT's moderator who made it through the tough parts.

On you tube, Check out the channel RideWithB. This is a video journal of a kind, polite guy who ended up quitting due to the stresses on the road. Beware, parts of it are tough to watch. It made me think real hard before I decided to go forward and pursue this career.

Wow. I have lost 12 hours to following those links! I was deeply invested in Daniel's diary, and it made me want to be on the road! He did a great job out there detailing things for us. I've been watching RideWithB for about 2 ours now and checking out his interior videos and tips and tricks. He also does a great job of detailing things for prospective truckers. A few of his truck tours have been pretty dirty though... but I guess that's life on the road!

I did have a few questions, though, after watching and reading, if you guys wouldn't mind answering!

Clocks: There's a 10 hour, 14 hour, 34 hour, 70 hour - and resets to boot! Is there a good link explaining these clocks, and what their functions are? It looks like the 14 hour

Tandems: I get that they are the axles; drive, steer, and trailer, but sliding them forward or backward? Is this automated? I understand this is to distribute weight evenly to ensure proper handling. What if you are too heavy on one or the other, but not overweight overall? Does that ever happen?

Routing: So the Qualcomm gives you a set of directions, the GPS gives you possibly another set, and the shipper/receiver give you another. Guessing at this point it's time to pull out the map and look at it, right? I'll admit I've not much used a map... maybe once or twice. Is this "easy" enough to learn? I've mostly relied on my GPS, but a truck GPS is not quite as accurate sometimes, correct? I guess that's one of my fears, getting lost and into a bad neighborhood, or stuck under a bridge, etc.

Fueling: I was reading Daniel's diary, and it seems that he fueled multiple times, but not fully, a day sometimes per the Qualcomm. Is this normal? If so, is it to keep fuel in the tanks, to keep weight up? I guess only having to drive a passenger vehicle that doesn't seem to make much sense to me (on the surface, anyway).

Emergencies: Let's say something happened at home and you were quite a ways away. Are there options, depending on severity, that could get you home? I guess that's up to each company, but just thinking out loud here!

Thanks for the answers, if any! I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but this would be the first "big move" in my career if I took the step. You guys definitely have a lot of knowledge here, so thank you for your patience!

If you do decide to try it, give it at least a full year before you make any decisions about staying or leaving. That first year is the toughest, and the learning curve is STEEEEEEEP, but you'll be able to say with some certainty whether this is right for you.

I've read on here about the steep learning curve - and I'm a bit curious (if that's the right word) about it. If I do it, I'm thinking of going to a private trucking school, so there's plenty of time backing up and on the road time to boot. However, the solo part has me kind-of worried, at least for the start. I don't mind driving a car solo for hours on end, easy task with today's technology. I will say I'm not 100% using a map, though, that's for sure - I guess you get some sort of training in school though with that. Another thing that is weighing on my mind is being alone for the first time - potentially hundreds of miles from home, at a stop that you have no idea where you are. I don't think the alone part would bother me too much, sure I like attention from my family and friends, but working away from home has never bothered me... but I've never been on the other side of the country, either, you know? I'm just worried I'll get somewhere out west and get a crushing feeling to get back home after 7 days on the road... and still have to work another 7 or 8 days before a day off so I can see them.

heck with your doctor and make sure you are on approved meds for a CDL A driver and that you have all documentation

The medicines I'm on right now are simply due to stress at work, from what my doctor has told me today. I went on vacation and got away from my current place and didn't have to take a single one - and actually felt human for the first time in almost a year. Sure, there's stress at every job, but I can't imagine the stress of trucking being anywhere near the stress of what I'm currently doing - especially when there's nobody in my truck with me!

Now I did have another question (and sorry for bombarding you guys, but you've all been very helpful so far!) - if I did want to bring my girlfriend with me on a trip or two, or even more often than that if she wanted, would that be up to the company I work with to approve, or is that something that is more in my wheelhouse to decide?

I'll look into the book mentioned above and read up, and again, thank you all for your responses!

Hi guys. After doing quite a bit of research, I'm thinking about becoming a truck driver. Can you guys help me decide whether or not it's right for me?

A little background info: I'm a 25 year old male who currently works an irregular schedule, putting in anywhere between 40 and 50 hours a week for alright pay, but the stress is NOT worth the job. I run a crew of 50 people, mostly people who are in the 18-20 year old range just looking for a job. Most people guess I'm upwards of 30 due to my mental maturity and how I compose myself, but this job is wearing me down. It's made me get in 4 different medications that I'd rather not be on, and is causing multiple other issues. I've worked my way up to where I am from the ground, making just over $8 6 years ago to right around $19 an hour right now. I'm not shy and I'm not trying to brag, money isn't an issue for me, never has been and probably never will be - I've worked hard to make sure I have a nice safety net and have always provided for myself and my long term girlfriend, so IMO I'm pretty money-smart.

Enough about me. Recently, I took a road trip from North Carolina to upstate New York (5 minutes from Canada). That really got into my mind about being a truck driver - yep, driving 4 wheels is a lot easier than 18, but the scenery and the serenity is what captured me. I'd love to see the rest of the country, capture the beauty in first person, but I know there's other sides to the story about being a truck driver.

I've read some blogs here and a lot of people thoroughly enjoy trucking. Can you guys help me decide if it's for me? Any advice, anything, will help. Be as real as possible, this would be a big change for me! I don't have a house payment or rent, I'm not committed to where I am right now, although I live close to my folks so it'd be nice to not have to move, but I'll take everything into consideration! Thank you for your time!