Do Sleepers Have Microwave Ovens In Them?

Todd makes my head spin, I think I'll go back to studying the high road while ringing in the new year, seems appropriate, new year, new adventure/career!

Todd...throws another dagger...

And the only way I can help "change the industry" is by joining a trade union, voting on elections and/or sending messages to my elected officials in Washington, DC. I can post here what "I don't like" but that is just blowing off steam, that's all.

I love this industry Todd, most of us on here do. It puts clothes on our backs, food on our tables and financial support of our families. We all work hard and most of us enjoy trucking.

Don’t insult us with a post like this. Your knowledge is only superficial, your experience is zero. Until you actually perform this type of work first hand, no one on this forum can accept a calling-out like this.

Careful, the kids you are “calling ugly”, might be mine.

G-Town, please don't take anything that I write here personal on these boards. I've never spent so much as a single minute inside the cab of a Class 7/8 truck in all of my 54+ years on earth. Honest. The mere thought of doing it has come and gone from my head since boyhood. Most of "what I think I know" is from: "hearing what people say", "what I hear in country-western songs", "rumors", "gossip", "what I see on TV", "what I read in books", "what I see in videos", "what I see posted on the Web" and 'what I see in Hollywood movies".

Let me tell you something, when I went into the military, I was surprised at how different it was from what I saw in war films or TV shows. By the third week in basic training, I asked myself, "What the devil am I doing here? What in God's name have I gotten myself into?", "I wish I were home!" But I managed to "cowboy up" somehow and graduate boot camp and put in seven years of honorable service.

Thank you for your service. 😀

Microwave ovens are very inexpensive. I have one in my truck. They're easy to put in your truck, providing you have an inverter big enough to power one adequately.

Most companies don't provide them, but why should they?

I would rather provide my own microwave oven anyway instead of using the dirty one that other drivers may use. I just hope there is adequate space to put one in the cab and adequate equipment to power it. I bought a new Hamilton Beach 900-watt mic at Walmart for $53 not too long ago. Those 12V plug-in coolers aren't too spendy either. I hate washing dishes on the road. So, paper plates, disposable cups, disposable plastic cereal bowls and disposable plastic silverware and napkins would be the norm for me in any road-travelling occupation. Perhaps even these are a tax write-off. Truck driving is a perpetual CAMPING TRIP, but perhaps not quite as comfy and roomy as even an RV. Of course, I would always travel these days with my laptop. Not only does a driver need to learn how to operate the gears of a CMV , he needs to learn how to somehow live, maintain his humanity and survive day to day over the Great American Road. I think like a Boy Scout: always be prepared. Being a soldier for seven years taught me that. Always keep you sh_t wired tight and cover all your bases. Yes, I will have to learn by doing, ultimately.

Todd makes my head spin, I think I'll go back to studying the high road while ringing in the new year, seems appropriate, new year, new adventure/career!

Todd has been reading Brett's Raw Truth lately. In own Todd's mind he is asking himself as he keeps on reading, "How can I possibly make this whole d_mn thing work out somehow if I were to bravely take that deep dive into the vast ocean of truckdom?" After all there are only 24 hours in a day. I think a driver would have to budget his time like money in the bank. The devil is in the details. Yes, my mind has been sweating all the details as I ponder this new future possibility. Living in a truck 24/7 must be a severe handicap for daily living for sure. I can't imagine it any other way. Harley-Davidson used to advertise in motorcycle print magazines: "If you want all the comforts of home, stay there." The one thing in the end, in spite of how tough Brett makes a trucker's life out to be in his readings, is all that money I could be stashing away in the bank. The money is what compels me to keep interest in possible gear-jamming. The positive thing is I have no wife, kids or pets to worry about or support. I'm a confirmed lifelong bachelor. I live like a monk right now in my apartment. If I were to soon take up the Big Rig, it would be all for me and nobody else. All to "bread" myself up up for ripe old age. If everybody or anybody here became an instant millionaire in a lottery, how many here would drop their trucking career in a heartbeat?

I will keep reading Brett's Raw Truth to ring in my New Year so have a safe and prosperous 2019! Slow down when the snow comes down. Easy on the hammer when the bears are on the prowl, good buddies! Over and out.

GTown, Todd Holmes is never going to understand any advice, comment or suggestion handed to him. He has more problems than anyone here on TT and doesn't seem like he wants any advice just wants to ask questions for the sake of seeing his name on the Forum. Just look at how many questions he has going at any one time.

I hate to say it but unfortunately I 2nd this.

I agree.

Todd, almost every question you have would be answered simply by doing the High Road Training.

And while you do ask some questions that will help other new drivers and those, some are just ridiculous, like color coordinated trucks and trailers.

Stop making yourself a laughingstock, do some training, and start the ball rolling, or just admit that you aren't interested in actually driving.

I made those silly remarks about color-coordinated trucks several months back. But now later things have changed I've gotten serious enough to actually read Brett's Raw Truth first. I won't even touch High Road until I get through Raw Truth. I think Raw Truth will give a clear picture of a trucker's "total lifestyle" once I finish the book.

I think High Road Training will give more technical information on "how to do the job" as opposed to "how to function as human being day to day". My concerns right now is how do professional drivers eat, sleep, sh_t, shower, shave, keep in shape, stay fit, keep healthy and stay sane day to day. How do they MAKE TIME to do everything they need to do to survive?

I value my personal health more than any money I could make as a driver. I have no family to support.

The WEALTHIEST man in the world is the HEALTHIEST man in the world.

Again...are you healthy NOW? didn't you say you are on disability?

all of this insanity is moot if you cant pass a DOT physical or cant get hired due to a lack of recent work history.

You need to start with that and not ignore it

It seems as truckers have to be clever enough to "find time" for all the basic everyday HUMAN living functions somehow, perhaps by waving a magic wand. Drivers are still HUMAN after all, are they not?

You have to understand that trucking is an extraordinary job for extraordinary people. This is not a job or a lifestyle that the average person would be both willing and capable of handling. There are a lot of jobs that fit this description - police officers, firemen, doctors, etc. You don't just grab an average dude off the street and put them into those kind of jobs and expect them to excel. Once in a while someone will surprise you. Most of the time they'll get their asses handed to them.

There are tons and tons of average jobs for average people. You'll work reasonable hours, you'll have reasonable job duties, and reasonable expectations. But if you want to drive an American Big Rig you're going to have to step up and handle the life and death situations, terrible weather, tight schedules, solitude, living quarters the size of a closet, time away from home and family, and very long days.

But it's also one hell of an adventure and an unbelievably fulfilling job and lifestyle if you're the right type of person. For me, it was an incredible blessing to have the privilege of living that lifestyle for so many years. For others, it's the ultimate nightmare.

I always say there's no faking it in trucking. You'll either step up and handle it or you'll run home with your tail between your legs. One way or another everyone finds out quickly if they have what it takes to call themselves an American Trucker. To me that really means something special.

Brett, I'm still reading Raw Truth and plan to finish it. Still, for all of trucking's hardships, I can't think of an easier way to make 50+ grand a year in this country for an old fart like me 50+. Trucking still seems more old-age-friendly than most occupations. At least I don't have any family at home and I have been sitting in my little apartment for the six months without a roommate. I sit here all alone right now typing on my PC and not getting a penny richer for it.

According to Merle Haggard, "It takes a special breed to be a truck driving man...and a steady hand to pull that load behind...". You have made that clear to me too.

I was an American soldier once and 25 years younger. Like policemen, doctors and firemen, not everybody is willing and able to take up the uniform for country.

Todd, have you noticed how much time you've spent on worrying about brushing your teeth and shaving?

Has it ever crossed your mind that you're going to have high demands placed on you to serve your customers? You have such a rude awakening coming, yet the most critical things needed seem to never enter your thoughts or concerns.

Todd wrote on the health thread:

Weight loss: rehabilitation. About 75 pounds to come off is the wait.

My doctors say my chronic fatigue and arthritis pain is aggravated by obesity.

I am living on disability pay now.

So you have chronic fatigue which is worsened by your obesity....that means even losing weight you will still have it. How do you think you will handle this?

How will you explain your lack of work history? This is the fourth time i have asked you in several days and you never responded.

If you cant get past the DOT or application process this is all for naught.

Again...are you healthy NOW? didn't you say you are on disability?

all of this insanity is moot if you cant pass a DOT physical or cant get hired due to a lack of recent work history.

You need to start with that and not ignore it

Yes, I am on disability right now. Chronic fatigue which my doctor cannot diagnose any underlying medical condition which causes it. He states that this condition is "probably due to obesity" and that it should much be improved by getting down to a healthy body weight. I'm in a daily exercise and weight loss program right now. I don't have Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia perse because I don't have any cognitive or memory difficulties. My body just gets tuckered out on and off during the day.

I don't smoke, drink or do illegal dope.

I also have arthritis pain chronically. Medication (causing drowsiness) around bedtime, hot showers and Bengay helps me deal with that.

The fact is I am not physically ready to take any job right at this moment. My soul is willing but my body has yet to cooperate.

I can still for now, read all of Brett's material on this site, and maybe ask a question or two if people don't beat me up here. In between readings and postings here, I take daily walks and bike rides around my neighborhood as part of my physical rehab regimen. Just after the first of the year I will again attend classes in VA's MOVE weight control program and use its free-to-Veterans gym religiously.

Yes, to be a bank teller, a full-time Walmart greeting sign holder or a big-rig driver one has to have a certain level of health and physical energy to make it. I can't tolerate caffeine and my doctor says anti-fatigue (stimulant) drugs are dangerous to heart health. He assures me the body fatigue will probably be phase out once healthy body weight and a level of fitness is reached. Caffeine, though it peps me up, makes me feel weird in the head, nervous, hot flashes, trouble breathing and heart palpitations. Some people are allergic to it. I can't handle some "caine" drugs for numbing either. I used to tolerate caffeine well in the army when I was much younger but no more.

My Priority Number One Now is: Getting Well Enough Physically to Work, Period.