QUESTION FOR A NEW TRUCKER!!
Topic 34710 | Page 1
You don't know what you don't know, until you need it, and don't know it!
Get out and look.
Be mentally in the game. Put a boundary on family and friends, that if you can't fix it or do anything about it on the phone within 5 minutes, you don't want to hear about it.
Training sucks. It always sucks. Embrace the suck. This too shall pass.
You will suck at backing in the beginning. Everybody does. Sometimes it doesn't click until you are solo, in your own truck, with no other option than to get it into the dock.
Learn to cook decent food on the truck. Fast food will make you fat, and kill both you and your wallet.
Payroll advances are the devil, and will land you in a hole you can't get dug out of.
The goal is to get from point A to Point B, on time, without knocking your freight lose, and without hitting anyone or anything. That is what a successful trip looks like.
This blog article by G-Town helped me get my attitude right for training. Basically “be humble and coachable”. It still is necessary to be humble after 3 years OTR , learning everyday.
https://www.truckingtruth.com/trucking_blogs/Article-3893/ego-becomes-downfall-of-cdl-students
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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So hey y'all, I'm Corey Anderson, based out of Council Bluffs, Iowa, 27 years old.
I'm fresh into trucking, starting with Tyson Foods next week, well, starting my orientation next week then onto hands on training as an OTR Trucker.
I'm trying to get as much valuable feedback as possible so I can go into trucking headstrong.
What is the best advice everyone here can give for a first year trucker?
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.