Profile For Alley B.

There's no way a newbie driver can make $40,00 per year driving solo. Prove me wrong. I drove for 20 years, even before deregulation and I aM telling you, if you count your down time, layovers, sitting and waiting at a dock to load or unload. you make less than minimum wage.. Figure, hours, costs of food, layovers, load and unload, unless you can be a porn star in your truck. aint happening. Benn down the hard road.. They lie to get you in, they lie to get you to do or wait.. re-tarping a load which takes at least an hour should [pay you $25.00 per hour , you get dirty, you get tired, you need a shower, and then even though you feel that way the company wants you to try to do 500 miles over night. Other than naked trucking with your porch light on to flash drivers, you can't keep yourself awake to run liker that after, tarping, strapping, chaining. and that's just if you haul a flat bed. A dry van is worse, you hope they load it so your axles aren't over, put your load bars in and hope the pallets are correctly placed by the loader so they don't shift. In most places, they will not allow you to dictate what you want for loading, oh and then there's refer... Cabbage on the front, grapes in the middle and watermelon on the back. That causes you to scale, shift, rescale, shift, rescale, and shift and if you don't have it right you start using back roads to go around scale houses.. There is no perfect situation when your trucking and you have to be prepared for whatever each individual state requires, plus the bridge law.. Have fun Drivers, It's not Disneyland, and it's not the wizard of OZ who knows all, tells all. It's a guessing game from point A to B. So if you want to take on all that responsibility, then koodos to you.. Alley Baker, 35 year veteran...

I've written a new article entitled Is Trucking Worth It Anymore? where I discuss my opinion on today's trucking industry and whether or not a career in trucking is worth doing any longer.

Every one of us has a different personality. We live under different circumstances and have different life goals. Some people want adventure and travel, others want a quiet life at home with family and friends. There are a ton of jobs to choose from, but in the end trucking isn't the answer for most people.

If you're an experienced driver, what advice would you give people considering a career in trucking?

If you're considering a career in trucking or you haven't begun just yet, what are the major factors in making your decision?

This is such a tough decision for so many people. I'd love to hear what it came down to for you and how you feel about the industry today.

Look if you have a properly equipped truck, you have a mesh of seatbelt webbing that you put up on the top bunk while you are sleeping. Check it out....

Kat, I was just going to answer this and I see you just posted saying you're going to find a new trainer. As you can see even some experienced drivers aren't entirely sure what to make of her asking that right off the bat. I was going to tell you to find someone else, not because I think that trainer will be a poor trainer, but because she's probably the type to push the limits quite a bit.

See, trucking attracts a lot of Type A personalities to begin with, who by nature tend to hate following rules. Then of course experienced drivers often find ways to either get around some of the rules or "live in the gray areas" as they say. If she's asking you how you feel about ignoring company policy in your very first conversation then I'd say you can probably expect a lot of that from her.

If she's driving by herself and decides to break the rules then that's her personal decision and she alone will pay the price for it if she gets caught. But if she's asking others to break rules for her own convenience then she's putting students who are brand new to this game in a very bad position. If you won't go along with her way of doing things you don't know how she'll react. Will she freak out? Will she take it all in stride? Who knows?

And what if you get caught? Are you going to be blamed for it? Is it going to be your word against hers? Is it going to put your job in jeopardy? These are not fun questions to have to ask yourself when you're already facing the monumental challenge of learning how to handle an 80,000 pound building on wheels to begin with.

So in this case I would say looking for a different trainer is a good idea. You can be sure if she's expecting that sort of thing before you're even officially her student she's going to have more tricks up her sleeve down the road. You're probably going to be put in uncomfortable positions quite a few times.

A couple of people mentioned giving her a chance and I wanted to say that I don't necessarily disagree with you guys. This is a personal choice that people have to make and Kat is already uncomfortable with this type of thing so that's why I'm leaning toward Kat going with a different trainer.

Kat, be aware of the fact that most truckers do indeed stretch the rules quite a bit, especially once they get some experience. We don't talk about that sort of thing very often because new drivers already have so much on their plate to begin with. We don't want to upset people with ideas about how they can circumvent company policies or Federal regulations when there's much more important things to focus on. But down the line you'll find lots of opportunities to live in the gray areas and you'll likely take some of those opportunities yourself. But for now, stick with doing things by the book and trust your instincts. Your instincts told you to get a trainer you're more comfortable with so I think that's the right decision.

Hey folks, we have a brand new podcast about CDL training and it's called "Why Is CDL Training Done In Such A Rush?"

Why Is CDL Training Done In Such A Rush?

Truck driver training has always been done as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Unfortunately this often makes for inadequate training and a frustrating, exhausting experience for new drivers. So why is it done this way? We'll take a look at how training is done, why it's this way, and what you can expect as a new driver.

Enjoy!

Why Is CDL Training Done In Such A Rush?

Let me tell you this, after 20 years of driving, put a long trailer on your pick up and practice turns while looking in your right mirror to make sure you are going to clear the pole. But Semis and trailers correct a lot slower in such circumstances. but if you can master your practice, you can do anything you can put your mind to with patience.

Thanks for the heads up on training. Are there any simulator programs, games, we can use to practice backing, unhooking trailers, etc? Maybe even something we can do with a real car?

I could like write for your page, This quick driver training just because they want to get an ass in the seat is so wrong on many levels.....

Hey folks, we have a brand new podcast about CDL training and it's called "Why Is CDL Training Done In Such A Rush?"

Why Is CDL Training Done In Such A Rush?

Truck driver training has always been done as quickly and inexpensively as possible. Unfortunately this often makes for inadequate training and a frustrating, exhausting experience for new drivers. So why is it done this way? We'll take a look at how training is done, why it's this way, and what you can expect as a new driver.

Enjoy!

Why Is CDL Training Done In Such A Rush?