My Noobie First Day As An Official WST Driver

Well I successfully tested out of company training and was issued my very own truck this past Wednesday. It's a 2014 Volvo automatic with 200k miles on it, but its in pretty decent shape. No scratches, dents, or dings on the outside and the intierior was fairly clean.. only thing the upholstery on the seats could use some cleaning. It runs and drives well and everything works (APU/Inverter, bunk heat and air, and bunk radio controls). They even have a panic button installed in the sleeper should a driver become to ill to get out of the bunk or someone tries to break in... like the senior citizen alert service, but for trucks lol. As a solo female driver I was appreciative of the panic button. The system automatically locates the truck and dispatches law enforcement to that location. . How cool is that?

So my "first" official load was to pick up a preloaded trailer in Cedar Rapids and relay it to our Indianapolis yard to deliver on to Ohio, get an empty there in Indy and do a drop and hook a pre loaded trailer with 4 stops and come home for a few days.

When I'm ready to roll I'll complete those deliveries in NC, VA, and PA.

OMG where to start... the initial pick up in Iowa went well. It went downhill from there lol. But I couldn't help laughing at myself. I get to my fuel stop and also needed DEF. I selected DEF at the pump, got my fuel, went to get my DEF and discovered my trucks DEF tank is much farther forward then my trainer's truck was.. sooo I had to back up for it to reach. By the time I did the transaction had closed out. Another WST driver helped me out with getting my fuel card transaction to reset. Oh did i mention my gloves disappeared in iowa? Probably wasted 30 extra minutes of my time. Off to our Indy yard where I promptly became lost.. how I couldn't find the yard is nuts because its RIGHT off 465. Finally arrived, dropped that trailer and picked up another empty to take to Columbus, IN to do that drop and hook on my way home. OMG I again got lost in the boonies in Indiana, wasting several hours being lost. By the time I realized I'd been pretty much circling the place people were getting off work. . Friday afternoon traffic fun. I get into the shipper , find the area I'm to drop my empty and I can't get the tandems to release. This shipper requires all empties have the tandems completely back. I'm fighting with this thing and in desperation called my former trainer. Turns out it was a different kind of trailer than what we typically used and on this kind, the tandems won't release unless the truck is turned ON, because the trailer has to have the air suspension filled/raised in order to release and slide the tandems. Yes we have those lovely trucks that only idle for a couple minutes and automatically shut off lol. Another hour wasted, but the tandems released quite easily once I knew how that type of trailer worked. I'm now OUT OF HOURS. Darn it.. should have been home by now (2 hours south). Had to take a 10 hr break in their yard lol. Woke up after much needed sleep and.. I cannot find my preloaded trailer! Surprise. . It's not where it should be. I finally locate it where some kind yard dog had placed it for me close to the security gate. Last but not least.. I cannot get out of the gate. I called my former trainer who gave me the number for security at that location who opened the gate and I managed to drive home without any more problems.

Despite everything I still enjoyed my day and looking forward to my next learning adventure.

Shipper:

The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.

Tandems:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Tandem:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

SAP:

Substance Abuse Professional

The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.

Drop And Hook:

Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.

In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Sounds like the start of a great career in trucking. The next year solo will be a big learning experience but it will be a blast when you look back and see how far you've come in a year.

You will get ticked off and mad but it's just the trucking life.

Have fun

Sounds like you're doing great. I used to get lost on every trip. Now it's only once a week :)

Fun Fun Fun...

Nice that you developed a good enough relationship with your trainer, that you can throw out a lifeline when you need to.

Keep the adventures coming.

Rick

This was a great post......even though things went a little south you didn't give up........Hoping my first day solo will be at least as good as yours. Congrats on getting your own truck by the way

Well I successfully tested out of company training and was issued my very own truck this past Wednesday. It's a 2014 Volvo automatic with 200k miles on it, but its in pretty decent shape. No scratches, dents, or dings on the outside and the intierior was fairly clean.. only thing the upholstery on the seats could use some cleaning. It runs and drives well and everything works (APU/Inverter, bunk heat and air, and bunk radio controls). They even have a panic button installed in the sleeper should a driver become to ill to get out of the bunk or someone tries to break in... like the senior citizen alert service, but for trucks lol. As a solo female driver I was appreciative of the panic button. The system automatically locates the truck and dispatches law enforcement to that location. . How cool is that?

So my "first" official load was to pick up a preloaded trailer in Cedar Rapids and relay it to our Indianapolis yard to deliver on to Ohio, get an empty there in Indy and do a drop and hook a pre loaded trailer with 4 stops and come home for a few days.

When I'm ready to roll I'll complete those deliveries in NC, VA, and PA.

OMG where to start... the initial pick up in Iowa went well. It went downhill from there lol. But I couldn't help laughing at myself. I get to my fuel stop and also needed DEF. I selected DEF at the pump, got my fuel, went to get my DEF and discovered my trucks DEF tank is much farther forward then my trainer's truck was.. sooo I had to back up for it to reach. By the time I did the transaction had closed out. Another WST driver helped me out with getting my fuel card transaction to reset. Oh did i mention my gloves disappeared in iowa? Probably wasted 30 extra minutes of my time. Off to our Indy yard where I promptly became lost.. how I couldn't find the yard is nuts because its RIGHT off 465. Finally arrived, dropped that trailer and picked up another empty to take to Columbus, IN to do that drop and hook on my way home. OMG I again got lost in the boonies in Indiana, wasting several hours being lost. By the time I realized I'd been pretty much circling the place people were getting off work. . Friday afternoon traffic fun. I get into the shipper , find the area I'm to drop my empty and I can't get the tandems to release. This shipper requires all empties have the tandems completely back. I'm fighting with this thing and in desperation called my former trainer. Turns out it was a different kind of trailer than what we typically used and on this kind, the tandems won't release unless the truck is turned ON, because the trailer has to have the air suspension filled/raised in order to release and slide the tandems. Yes we have those lovely trucks that only idle for a couple minutes and automatically shut off lol. Another hour wasted, but the tandems released quite easily once I knew how that type of trailer worked. I'm now OUT OF HOURS. Darn it.. should have been home by now (2 hours south). Had to take a 10 hr break in their yard lol. Woke up after much needed sleep and.. I cannot find my preloaded trailer! Surprise. . It's not where it should be. I finally locate it where some kind yard dog had placed it for me close to the security gate. Last but not least.. I cannot get out of the gate. I called my former trainer who gave me the number for security at that location who opened the gate and I managed to drive home without any more problems.

Despite everything I still enjoyed my day and looking forward to my next learning adventure.

Shipper:

The customer who is shipping the freight. This is where the driver will pick up a load and then deliver it to the receiver or consignee.

Tandems:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

Tandem:

Tandem Axles

A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".

SAP:

Substance Abuse Professional

The Substance Abuse Professional (SAP) is a person who evaluates employees who have violated a DOT drug and alcohol program regulation and makes recommendations concerning education, treatment, follow-up testing, and aftercare.

Drop And Hook:

Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.

In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

APU:

Auxiliary Power Unit

On tractor trailers, and APU is a small diesel engine that powers a heat and air conditioning unit while charging the truck's main batteries at the same time. This allows the driver to remain comfortable in the cab and have access to electric power without running the main truck engine.

Having an APU helps save money in fuel costs and saves wear and tear on the main engine, though they tend to be expensive to install and maintain. Therefore only a very small percentage of the trucks on the road today come equipped with an APU.

Sue, this is a case of, "But this happened to meee!!!", yet it is what nearly everyone goes through. You come off your training ride, figuring you have it down now, then you get all alone with your truck and a trailer. "What do I do next?" or something like that comes to your mind.

I enjoyed your post. Keep uploading your frustrations. In case you wonder if "it's you" or not, curl up with my first week exploits: My First Week Adventure As A Swift Driver

Congratulations on getting into your own truck. Good stuff!

JJ

Congrats Sue D. on getting your first truck.

Sounds like a grate first trip, I always say it was a good trip if I can walk away from it. It was a grate trip if all the equipment is still in the same shape as when I got it. You did good best thing you can do is keep your sense of humor about it. Looking forwards to here many more adventurous.

Yup.. things started going wrong.. Luckily it was just silly embarrassing things, and I forgot what macros to send and when etc. Lol.. but I had a great time anyway. My trainer and I discovered we had so much in common.. we became a good friends so he's definitely on speed dial.