And We're Off!

Okay first off did you recruit? Obviously

this cat can multi task with a dog and a stroller!!!!! Have you ever been able to multitask a dog and a astroller

I figured out how to post photos! Thanks Errol!

This is me with our old Freightshaker at school. The day before I took my test!

In Utah. My first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains!

At the shipper in California watching a storm roll in.

Albuquerque at night.

And my favorite: crazy California people! This guy walked by us while we were being unloaded in El Monte. Yes that is his dog in the stroller! We were dying laughing!

Congrats girl great to see someone sooo excited, even on your worst day that you'll have this to fall back on. Truly believe that you are a driver that anyone would glad to run into. Happy, honest & someone willing to help make a difference

Thanks to Brett for sharing my stories on Facebook! If I can help just one person on their journey, then it is all worth it!

As many struggles as I have had, I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this is what I was born to do. Every day is a learning experience and every day is full of beauty and joy. Even on terrible days I still get to see some of the most beautiful places. It's like the ultimate road trip, except I get paid for it! I knew from day one of being on the road that I was going to love my job. Yeah it's terrifying sometimes. Yeah it's exhausting and stressful and downright painful sometimes. But all of this is worth it for 5 minutes of the highway in my window!

If you would have told me a year ago that I would be driving trucks for a living and LOVING it, I would have laughed in your face! But I'm here now and I can't imagine having any other life.

Today was a terrible day. It started off ok. We ended up moving over to the reciever around midnight and parking there. We opened the windows and let some fresh air in and listened to the rain. It was pretty peaceful!

Then about an hour before our delivery time I got woken up with a loud BANG! I sat straight up because I thought someone had hit the truck! It was just the yard dog hooking up to the trailer beside us. At this time I had only been asleep about 5 hours and sure enough I couldn't go back to sleep. The delivery went smoothly enough and we pulled out and off to the side of the road to send in our messages to dispatch. No signal on the Treq unit... Great.

So we called dispatch to get our next load. Got that all taken care of and I started driving to our first stop: fuel in Rising Fawn GA. BEAUTIFUL drive! This was the best part of the day.

We get fuel and some snacks and get back on the road. We headed to our shipper in Cookeville TN. I got to drive through my birth town of Chattanooga! While all my family was going about their day unsuspecting, I was rolling through town undetected like a ninja! With a 53' trailer... Ok maybe not so ninja-like....

Anyway the drive was very nice. Tennessee will always have a place in my soul. I love living in Missouri but the mountains in Tennessee are like no other place on earth. Every time I go thru there I'm reminded just how much I miss it!

So the drive was good until we started getting close to Cookeville. Then we ended up on this tiny, curvy mountain road. Yikes! AND they were doing construction and had the signs sticking out into the road. I think I did 30 mph on that road.

We get to the shipper (some ceramic tile factory) and it was nuts. You have to weigh in before you can enter and the warehouse drive is all weird and curvy. I just barely got all my tires on the scale.

The guard at the shack explained to me where to go and how to get into the dock. Very specific instructions followed by "if you don't do it this way, you'll never get into the dock." Guess what I did? You got it, I screwed it all up. My trainer ended up taking over because the only way to get in the door was to blindside alley dock. Luckily there was a driver there who was very helpful and we were able to get in the door. I go to check in and there is a sign saying if you need the ladies room to ask for the key. I did and the guy in the office starts rattling off directions on how to get to the bathroom. I handed him back the key and said it was ok, I'd wait! And we had to sit on the dock while they were loading.

We finally got out of there and started heading towards Kansas. Nashville was a bit of a pain, but I'm getting a lot more comfortable with city traffic.

I had my first near miss with an idiot in a four wheeler today. I was in the left lane doing 65 down a hill with over 39000 lbs of ceramic tile in the box preparing to pass another truck when a white truck comes flying all the way over into my lane from the on ramp. THEN SLOWS DOWN!!! Geez... That scared the living crap out of me! My trainer was awake and in the passenger seat and she reached up and pulled the air horn which got the guy in gear and out of the way. Luckily the truck behind me was paying attention and didn't slam into me and I didn't set off the camera either.

Our fuel stop was in Mt Vernon IL. By this point my shoulder is killing me from fighting with the trailer doors at the shipper (the dock was on a hill and I just about couldn't reach the doors), I'm exhausted and emotionally drained. I'm praying for a nice big truck stop with a pull thru spot with my name on it at this point. I desperately want a shower and some food and I still haven't had a chance to go the bathroom so my bladder is about to self destruct.

The Pilot is absolutely packed... Of course. There are about 2 teeny spaces and the lot is pitch black. It took a 90 degree and 20 minutes for my trainer to get into the spot. I was going to do it myself but the wise guy in the truck to the left kept laying on his horn even though I was nowhere near his truck.

Tomorrow will be better. We are about 6 hours from the terminal. Just have to go thru St. Louis and Kansas City. And my husband is meeting me at the hotel! I'm so excited!

Today was a terrible day. It started off ok. We ended up moving over to the reciever around midnight and parking there. We opened the windows and let some fresh air in and listened to the rain. It was pretty peaceful!

Then about an hour before our delivery time I got woken up with a loud BANG! I sat straight up because I thought someone had hit the truck! It was just the yard dog hooking up to the trailer beside us. At this time I had only been asleep about 5 hours and sure enough I couldn't go back to sleep. The delivery went smoothly enough and we pulled out and off to the side of the road to send in our messages to dispatch. No signal on the Treq unit... Great.

So we called dispatch to get our next load. Got that all taken care of and I started driving to our first stop: fuel in Rising Fawn GA. BEAUTIFUL drive! This was the best part of the day.

We get fuel and some snacks and get back on the road. We headed to our shipper in Cookeville TN. I got to drive through my birth town of Chattanooga! While all my family was going about their day unsuspecting, I was rolling through town undetected like a ninja! With a 53' trailer... Ok maybe not so ninja-like....

Anyway the drive was very nice. Tennessee will always have a place in my soul. I love living in Missouri but the mountains in Tennessee are like no other place on earth. Every time I go thru there I'm reminded just how much I miss it!

So the drive was good until we started getting close to Cookeville. Then we ended up on this tiny, curvy mountain road. Yikes! AND they were doing construction and had the signs sticking out into the road. I think I did 30 mph on that road.

We get to the shipper (some ceramic tile factory) and it was nuts. You have to weigh in before you can enter and the warehouse drive is all weird and curvy. I just barely got all my tires on the scale.

The guard at the shack explained to me where to go and how to get into the dock. Very specific instructions followed by "if you don't do it this way, you'll never get into the dock." Guess what I did? You got it, I screwed it all up. My trainer ended up taking over because the only way to get in the door was to blindside alley dock. Luckily there was a driver there who was very helpful and we were able to get in the door. I go to check in and there is a sign saying if you need the ladies room to ask for the key. I did and the guy in the office starts rattling off directions on how to get to the bathroom. I handed him back the key and said it was ok, I'd wait! And we had to sit on the dock while they were loading.

We finally got out of there and started heading towards Kansas. Nashville was a bit of a pain, but I'm getting a lot more comfortable with city traffic.

I had my first near miss with an idiot in a four wheeler today. I was in the left lane doing 65 down a hill with over 39000 lbs of ceramic tile in the box preparing to pass another truck when a white truck comes flying all the way over into my lane from the on ramp. THEN SLOWS DOWN!!! Geez... That scared the living crap out of me! My trainer was awake and in the passenger seat and she reached up and pulled the air horn which got the guy in gear and out of the way. Luckily the truck behind me was paying attention and didn't slam into me and I didn't set off the camera either.

Our fuel stop was in Mt Vernon IL. By this point my shoulder is killing me from fighting with the trailer doors at the shipper (the dock was on a hill and I just about couldn't reach the doors), I'm exhausted and emotionally drained. I'm praying for a nice big truck stop with a pull thru spot with my name on it at this point. I desperately want a shower and some food and I still haven't had a chance to go the bathroom so my bladder is about to self destruct.

The Pilot is absolutely packed... Of course. There are about 2 teeny spaces and the lot is pitch black. It took a 90 degree and 20 minutes for my trainer to get into the spot. I was going to do it myself but the wise guy in the truck to the left kept laying on his horn even though I was nowhere near his truck.

Tomorrow will be better. We are about 6 hours from the terminal. Just have to go thru St. Louis and Kansas City. And my husband is meeting me at the hotel! I'm so excited!

I enjoy reading your updates. Brings me back to my days as a trainee. Sounds like you handled the bad day with your head held high! It takes a lot of patience that's for sure. Keep it up!

Last leg of this crazy journey today. After showers and waiting for what seems like forever to fuel, we are finally headed to the terminal! 6 hours until I can get out of this truck. Not driving today which is fine by me. I slept so dang hard last night I couldn't walk straight when I got up! My trainer was getting a good laugh out of me stumbling around trying to get my shower stuff together. I've got all my stuff thrown on my bunk so when we get to the terminal I can just throw it I my bag and get a ride to the hotel. My husband is meeting me at the hotel and I can't wait!

I get to spend the weekend in the hotel sleeping in a bed that doesn't move and not having to listen to the reefer all night. And I get to do laundry which is great because I am wearing my last set of clean clothes.

I will be heading back to the terminal on Monday to test out and hopefully get my truck on Tuesday. As much as I am ready to get off of my trainers truck, I am pretty nervous about doing this on my own. Luckily I will have my husband with me which is going to be a great help once I show him a few things.

The one thing I didn't like about training was that we ran team. I didn't really get a chance to work on time management. But what I did was take the load information and try to figure out how I would run it if I was solo. Where I would take my breaks, stop for the night and how many hours to drive each day.

Last leg of this crazy journey today. After showers and waiting for what seems like forever to fuel, we are finally headed to the terminal! 6 hours until I can get out of this truck. Not driving today which is fine by me. I slept so dang hard last night I couldn't walk straight when I got up! My trainer was getting a good laugh out of me stumbling around trying to get my shower stuff together. I've got all my stuff thrown on my bunk so when we get to the terminal I can just throw it I my bag and get a ride to the hotel. My husband is meeting me at the hotel and I can't wait!

I get to spend the weekend in the hotel sleeping in a bed that doesn't move and not having to listen to the reefer all night. And I get to do laundry which is great because I am wearing my last set of clean clothes.

I will be heading back to the terminal on Monday to test out and hopefully get my truck on Tuesday. As much as I am ready to get off of my trainers truck, I am pretty nervous about doing this on my own. Luckily I will have my husband with me which is going to be a great help once I show him a few things.

The one thing I didn't like about training was that we ran team. I didn't really get a chance to work on time management. But what I did was take the load information and try to figure out how I would run it if I was solo. Where I would take my breaks, stop for the night and how many hours to drive each day.

Congrats CM, enjoy the weekend and be ready for that new truck......errr old truck smell lol

I never thought I'd be so happy to see Kansas! I remember just a short time ago when I felt like a prisoner here! We arrived at the terminal safety and are on our way to celebratory dinner at Waffle House. My husband will be here in less than two hours (if he doesn't get lost again) and I am so ready.

My trainer told me again today that I am the best student she has ever had. I've got a few little kinks to work out but that will come with time. I keep getting these compliments about my skills from people and I feel like I'm doing terrible. But obviously I'm doing better than I think!

I am going to rest and relax this weekend and wait for testing on Monday. I'm looking at all these beautiful trucks and the terminal and trying to imagine which one will be mine...

All is well now. Just hanging out at the hotel with my husband and relaxing after this super stressful week. Gonna get some laundry done and get all our stuff ready to move into our new home on 18 wheels! We have been truly blessed with an amazing new life! Just a few short months ago we were trying to figure out how the heck we were going to pay our bills, whether or not we were going to lose our car, and where in the world I was going to get a job before my unemployment ran out. It seems like the journey to this point has been forever long but it is nearly over!

Thanks to all of you out there for reading this and for all the support! I don't know if I would have made it through this without it!

Start a new thread for your first week as an official truck driver. That can be interesting, too!