Obligatory Introduction: Just Passed My Permit Exam, And Have A Few Questions About This Industry

Before I say anything else, the training program on this site was the backbone of what allowed me to pass my permit exam. I would have failed it without the repetition this training program drilled into my head, and I will be recommending this site to anybody I encounter who is interested in getting into this industry.

A little bit about my background. I'm 28, a college graduate in accounting who later discovered that accounting is certainly NOT what I want to do with my life, and was convinced to consider commercial driving by my stepfather, who I've witnessed first-hand has never wanted for a high-paying job when he was laid off by a failing company & had a new job in 3 weeks. I have been doing youtube research into the trucking industry for about 6 months, and just this afternoon passed my basic permit exam. I would like for some experienced drivers to comment on some of my short-term plans, and answer a few of my questions about life on the road.

1. Short term plans. I intend to take my remaining endorsement exams about a week-at-a-time for the next few weeks while I apply to all the companies running their own schools. I am currently employed to the point where I can pay my bills, so time is not a huge concern. I personally feel that I would rather enter trucking school, be it company run or private, with all my relevant endorsements out of the way so it's one less headache to worry about. Is this a prudent thing to do, or am I over-estimating the difficulty of studying for the endorsements while also in school?

2. Entertainment. I grew up with video-games, and they comprise roughly 60% of my entertainment, the rest being books and a select few television series. In today's environment such things require quality internet connections with data caps higher than common cell carriers allow. I am considering the purchase of a decent gaming laptop after a few months of settling in, and I'm curious whether a 450w AC power drain is even going to be capable on a company truck with an APU (pushing me towards Werner), or capable at all on a non-APU truck with an appropriate external inverter. This is by no means a deal-breaker for me, if I can only play my PS Vita and 3ds then so be it, but I would just like to hear any other gamer trucker's opinions and experiences. Is an APU absolutely required to hook up a PS3 and a small monitor while not idling the truck? On the topic of internet connections, can anybody tell me what they use for streaming movies from time to time, or heavy streaming of internet radio? My current Verizon contract is 2 gigs / month, and I know that will get used up in a day or two of heavy Netflix streaming.

3. My dream driving hours would be 3rd shift. I used to work it when I worked for Publix warehouse, and I always remember those hours fondly. Do most starter companies like you working those kind of hours? Is it even possible to make decent loads when working like that? I know you have to take the freight when it comes up, but is it possible to ask my DM to try and keep me on 'night-shift'?

4. Running out of hours at a shipper. I know about the importance of trip-planning, but I keep hearing horror stories about shippers detaining drivers for 10+ hours and then kicking them off the property when their DOT clock is up. I don't ever want to run illegal, super-truckers be damned, but this is a particular issue that I've never heard a clear-cut explanation of without either breaking the law or ****ing off the customer. My ASSUMPTION is to check areas around the shipper as I'm pulling in to potentially wait out the 10 hour break, and if I'm coming up on 1/2 hours left on my 14 to bobtail off the property (after asking if I can stay there & being rejected), and come back after my 10. I've read people's experiences that sometimes a shipper will get mad about this, but I don't know what they expect when they fail to live up to their end of the contract (if there even IS a contract concerning live load-unload times). All I see is some idiot zipping around the parking lot, slamming into me when I'm crawling off the property to trick the Qualcom, and now I'm blacklisted for life when I'm caught between trespassing and violating HOS through no fault of my own. How do you deal with this issue without risking your livelihood?

5. Home time. Can Home time be taken wherever you want, assuming an appropriate amount of notice is given? For example, can I ask them to route me to Vegas whenever they get the chance and spend my home time there as a 'mini vacation'? I'm single and I have almost no ties to my home address, and I would love to see the country for a few years. I understand that I would work for a month-and-a-half+ before home time is available to take, but are most national companies good about allowing you to take home time as an unpaid vacation in multiple locations with sufficient advance notice? If I know my all-time favorite band is doing their farewell tour ending at Madison Square Garden in 6 months, will I be able to ask my DM to make sure I get out of the truck in New York in such a narrow time frame assuming I have the time saved up?

Anyway, I'm almost out of characters, and I'm out of questions for the moment. I just want to reiterate my appreciation for both this site, and the High Road program. You guys all rock, and I hope to be joining you within the next few months.

Bobtail:

"Bobtailing" means you are driving a tractor without a trailer attached.

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.

DOT:

Department Of Transportation

A department of the federal executive branch responsible for the national highways and for railroad and airline safety. It also manages Amtrak, the national railroad system, and the Coast Guard.

State and Federal DOT Officers are responsible for commercial vehicle enforcement. "The truck police" you could call them.

Dm:

Dispatcher, Fleet Manager, Driver Manager

The primary person a driver communicates with at his/her company. A dispatcher can play many roles, depending on the company's structure. Dispatchers may assign freight, file requests for home time, relay messages between the driver and management, inform customer service of any delays, change appointment times, and report information to the load planners.

DAC:

Drive-A-Check Report

A truck drivers DAC report will contain detailed information about their job history of the last 10 years as a CDL driver (as required by the DOT).

It may also contain your criminal history, drug test results, DOT infractions and accident history. The program is strictly voluntary from a company standpoint, but most of the medium-to-large carriers will participate.

Most trucking companies use DAC reports as part of their hiring and background check process. It is extremely important that drivers verify that the information contained in it is correct, and have it fixed if it's not.

HOS:

Hours Of Service

HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.

OWI:

Operating While Intoxicated

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.

Website timed out while typing this post, sorry. I meant to title it "Obligatory introduction: just passed my permit exam, and have a few questions about this industry."

If any mod could change the title or show me how to do so I would greatly appreciate it.

Lets see...I can answer all your questions....I just need to slide up and read em !! First of all....WELCOME to TT !!! glad to have you !! And we'll help all you can... Questions...When driving truck, you will be driving all different hours at any given time. Now you can kind of get a system going, and drive the hours you like...but there will be times when you will be driving hours you may not like so much, in order to get your load where it needs to go. Your endorsements are a good thing to get out of the way...HAZMAT being the hardest, and it takes the longest to get the clearance. The more endorsements you have, the more versatile your work prospects will be after you get your training and OTR time in...and as always we like to see a rookie spend a year with his first company, so that when he does decide to change, he will be able to show a solid year of driving to his next employer.... Running out of hours...where ever it happens is just Murphy's Law for truckers. sometimes you can plan around it, sometimes ya can't...When in doubt, you call your dispatch and do what they tell you to do. They will keep you legal at all costs,,its their neck hangin' out there along with yours. Internet stuff....you will have to get a response from some of the guys who use it alot OTR...I'm old school.....we didnt' even use GPS...and I remember the days of CB radios only, and was amazed when pagers came out.....sheeeesh...just thinkin' about that makes me feel tired. .