On My Own & Driving Solo

I understand EXACTLY how the split breaks work. I use it on almost half my trips.

Isaac wrote:

Honestly I've been driving for 8 months and these clocks still make very little sense to me. I know how they work but it seems like Mickey mouse came up with this stuff.

Which is exactly why you should stop trying to explain something (especially split sleeper) you do not understand. Honestly!

I'll let this link do all the talking:

Learn The Logbook Rules (HOS)

Based on everything you have written...? Hard to believe. I am glad they work for you but when you explain it repeatedly and end up confusing even experienced drivers trying to follow your logic it's time to give it a break...

I understand EXACTLY how the split breaks work. I use it on almost half my trips.

Isaac wrote:

Honestly I've been driving for 8 months and these clocks still make very little sense to me. I know how they work but it seems like Mickey mouse came up with this stuff.

Which is exactly why you should stop trying to explain something (especially split sleeper) you do not understand. Honestly!

I'll let this link do all the talking:

Learn The Logbook Rules (HOS)

I believe my first week solo has been successful. The only thing I squashed was a poor little raccoon ( size being relative to my truck, that is). Yes, as I expected, I teared up but for safety's sake, had to force myself under control. I think I apologized for a good hour though. Yeah, seriously lol. I planned my stops so they'd be at times I was most likely to find pull through spots, so I've still only backed twice, once poorly but accomplished, and once perfectly the first time. Yay me!! I drove 3000 miles, then had to swap and stop for a reset. At first I wished I could've done more miles, but honestly, I feel regenerated and got all the personal chores out of the way for a few days.

Many brother in law is faring much better! He was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Daryl is itching to come back out, but right now, I hope to stay solo for just a bit longer. I miss my husband terribly, as he's wonderful company and a great co driver, but this past week has kinda toughened me up a little. I've had to face fears ( like backing), and I've had to complete trips from start to finish, rather than just parts of them. And, as I mentioned before, the trip planning is completely different, so I'm rounding out my competencies. I'm actually beginning to feel like a truck driver... er... trailer puller..., and not just a passenger that sometimes gets behind the steering wheel. Besides, I like the way I've got things organized now lol.

I believe my first week solo has been successful. The only thing I squashed was a poor little raccoon ( size being relative to my truck, that is). Yes, as I expected, I teared up but for safety's sake, had to force myself under control. I think I apologized for a good hour though. Yeah, seriously lol. I planned my stops so they'd be at times I was most likely to find pull through spots, so I've still only backed twice, once poorly but accomplished, and once perfectly the first time. Yay me!! I drove 3000 miles, then had to swap and stop for a reset. At first I wished I could've done more miles, but honestly, I feel regenerated and got all the personal chores out of the way for a few days.

Many brother in law is faring much better! He was released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. Daryl is itching to come back out, but right now, I hope to stay solo for just a bit longer. I miss my husband terribly, as he's wonderful company and a great co driver, but this past week has kinda toughened me up a little. I've had to face fears ( like backing), and I've had to complete trips from start to finish, rather than just parts of them. And, as I mentioned before, the trip planning is completely different, so I'm rounding out my competencies. I'm actually beginning to feel like a truck driver... er... trailer puller..., and not just a passenger that sometimes gets behind the steering wheel. Besides, I like the way I've got things organized now lol.

You are awesome ;)

You are awesome ;)

Umm..ok lol...thank you, Rainy. .(said with a quizzical look).

Another great day!! Rough start, but got much better. Lots of things so I'm gonna try this point form so I can get some sleep.

-very VERY little sleep last night ( an hour, maybe two) due to a need for "mom"

-slept through alarm and started two hours later than planned which messed up my planned schedule

-a tense beginning to the drive to Dallas due to: early morning hours and dense dog and a drizzling rain with a trailer that made me nervous

-got within an hour of customer and pulled off to call them at the last truck stop I would pass, knowing I would be 5 min late if they couldn't take me early. (2300 appt, but if I drove straight in, I would have to take a 10 five minutes away ). They were having a slow day and told me they could take me early, just not before 1600!! So I took my 30 min break...actually an hour...called my husband and discussed the middle of the night phone call I'd received, called my DM to discuss a pre assignment..then headed into Dallas and the customers

-did a back up I didn't HAVE to do for practice, since there was ample space and time, and have to say I'm very pleased with myself! No overcorrecting, just little adjustments, and that baby went EXACTLY where I wanted it to!!

-ate my lunch and crawled in the sleeper until they called me with a dock number. An hour and a half later, they called me with a trailer number instead...my reward for the initiative I took by doing a practice back? Lol

And so, here I sit at the worst laid out TA I've seen. I'm scaled, I'm legal, I'm good to go!!

....to sleep lol. Night all!!

and dense dog and a drizzling rain

dense fog

dense dog

I've met a few of those. My Sister owned one. Sweet.....not too smart!

Lol tractor man.

Didn't realize how long I'd let my updates lag. was in the central States where I get no data, and then, well just working hard and reading other threads to try and stay up to date as much as I could.

Had some trying times, as once I was late to a pick up (due to trying to find out where an oil leak was coming from), I just couldn't seem to catch up again, but this last delivery went very smoothly...backed into an enclosed dock perfectly with NO assistance and not a straight back either haha, and adjusted my tandems within 20lbs of my drives the 1st time.

Brought the load home and we delivered it this morning with no more hiccups. I'm back to being a team driver again, and we're staying on this fleet after all. Daryl ran one training shift on the other fleet, and said no way! Today we'll be at home but back out tomorrow hopefully.

In summary, my time solo taught me a LOT and I'm thankful I had the experience, I truly am! I learned so very much, and am much more confident now, having gone solo for almost a month. I feel like a real truck driver.., trailer puller.., now, and say it with pride.

But I'm glad to have my husband back on the truck again, and I still have a great deal more to learn.

Once again, thank you to Brett, for this site, and to each of you who supported me, directly in this thread, and all the other helpful threads I have read.

And Paul, we may yet meet again, since I'll still be doing i70/i76 every week. I try to keep my location updated, and I'd be happy to meet up with many here, so let me know if we're ever within range!!

Keep safe everyone!! Sheila

Yeah! We don't always realize what we are capable of until the limits get pushed. You go, girl!

Yeah! We don't always realize what we are capable of until the limits get pushed. You go, girl! Thank you, Deb. Honestly, I've pushed several limits since the beginning of this adventure...split shifting, taking a rig on city streets and then a highway, mountains (that was the first one I actually balked at), backing up, the Houston flood, and driving solo. Each one of those was a crossroad for me, where I lacked confidence and had to mentally push myself through. The internal argument went like this...I can't do this. What a waste of 7500.00. Come on, buck up, you can do this. No, I can't... And with each struggle, except the mountain, I overcame the fear and stepped up. I tried. And I succeeded, or tried again until I did. The night before I left on my first trip solo, I was thrilled. I was scared. My co driver, my husband, was the bigger part of the team, and now I'd have to do it ALL. What if I couldn't do it? What if I messed up bad enough I hurt someone or damaged this beautiful equipment? What if, what if, what if...

But I could, and I did. And I'm now my co driver's equal.

Again, Trucking Truth, y'all rock!!