Starting School On July 8.

OOPS! I hit submit. The afternoon was just more backing practice in tight spaces. It was a great learning experience. One of our guys "kissed" a parked trailer and ripped off the hazmat placard cover. No, it wasn't me but it could have been, I did come close. There was no trouble though. Only me and another driver saw and heard it then quickly acted like we didn't. As far as I know it is still our secret . The way I see it, were all adults and if he wants to bring it up, well, that is his prerogative and not my concern. We do rib him though. I guess tomorrow we meet our fleet managers then get to head home early for the weekend. Not bad at all.

Well, I started my training on August 8th, 2013 at a private driving school in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, went through a vigorous hiring process with Averitt, went through a week of orientation, survived 5 weeks with a trainer that could not be any more different than me, had fun at finishing school, and now, I am finally able to say training is over. I put miles on my truck today bringing it to my domicile in Clarksville, TN and she handles great. I will be on my own (physically) from now on and couldn't be more excited. What an adventure it has been so far.

I have done this a couple times throughout my training and feel I should do it again... Thank you Brett, Old School, BuckeyeCowboy, Traffic Jam, and Tim L. for all the help and encouragement along the way. It has helped, especially through the rough times with the trainer. I was reading some of the posts I put on here and can see where the term "a roller coaster ride" comes from. Now to focus on my new career and work on being a safe and efficient trucker. Til next time... Be safe

Congrats man! Yeah, the next few months is still going to be a roller coaster ride. Going solo is rough for a while but you'll learn fast, that's for sure.

Glad we could help out a little bit!

Are you going to be regional or OTR? What's the plan?

Congrats man! Yeah, the next few months is still going to be a roller coaster ride. Going solo is rough for a while but you'll learn fast, that's for sure.

Glad we could help out a little bit!

Are you going to be regional or OTR? What's the plan?

Thanks again. I will be regional. Averitt mainly covers the Eastern side of the Mississippi, but we do run through Oklahoma and Texas as well. I guess one could say it is an otr/regional hybrid type deal, lol. We still do lot of miles but we also get home weekly. I believe that is as far West as we go, except for some dedicated runs.

Congratulations Rolling Thunder! I've really enjoyed following along with you, and think you're going to do real well at this. I think Averitt is a great place to get started.

The real learning curve is about to kick in! Hang in there and do your best to enjoy the ride!

Congratulations Rolling Thunder! I've really enjoyed following along with you, and think you're going to do real well at this. I think Averitt is a great place to get started.

The real learning curve is about to kick in! Hang in there and do your best to enjoy the ride!

Thanks Old School!

Week one of solo is behind me now and I have to say it went really well. I had some head scratching and white knuckle moments, but, no damage and everything made it on time. I did close to 2000 miles this week which suits me fine until I get more experience under my belt.

Okay, I had to wait until I got home and rested a bit before I talked about this past week. I try not to be a complainer, but, damn.

I deliver my loads in Ky on tuesday,(nothing for Monday), not many miles but all went okay. I pick up a load in OH Tuesday afternoon to be delivered in Smyrna, TN on Wednesday. Again, not many miles, but okay...Then my APU blower stopped working on my way to TN so I stopped in Nashville where we have a repair shop to have it looked at. My load didn't deliver until 1400 Wednesday so I had a little time to play with. Mechanic finally gets to it around 11pm and, as I thought, bad blower motor. They will have to order one and have it delivered wed am. Still ok. I check in at around 8am and no motor. I was told to check back at 10 and I would be put right in the shop. I wasn't. They did not get me in until about 12. I was getting nervous at this point and kept being told they do not know how long it would take (as if they NEVER replaced a blower motor). To shorten the deal here and leave out a lot of cussing, I made it to my delivery with about two minutes to spare. My next load picked up in Cookeville, TN (only about 60 miles away) and delivered In KY...again, on Thursday. Were only talking about 200 or so miles away. SOOO, I deliver it on time and get my next load which is a drop and hook out of our Louisville yard. I am told it will be ready around 9pm and it delivers Monday in my home town...Excellent. Nope. It did not get there until 6am, today (sat). I was ****ed. It is a hot load that delivers no later than 7am, then I have to come back to the yard and pick up another load that delivers in my home town That is how my week ends and starts again. Not cool. I will be bending my fleet managers ear on Monday. I do not want to be a local driver. I am open road material.

My grand total of miles this week... about 900.

Now, I know some will think, hey, you get to go home every week! True. It is what I signed up for and what is offered as employment incentive. I do not think anyone reading this would trade that for sorry pay though, would you?

Fleet Manager:

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.

Drop And Hook:

Drop and hook means the driver will drop one trailer and hook to another one.

In order to speed up the pickup and delivery process a driver may be instructed to drop their empty trailer and hook to one that is already loaded, or drop their loaded trailer and hook to one that is already empty. That way the driver will not have to wait for a trailer to be loaded or unloaded.

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.

Hey man, hang in there it will definitely get better. You just concentrate on proving yourself reliable to them and it will all turn around. You did get 2000 miles your first week and that's almost unheard of for a rookie. Don't worry about this past week, this stuff will have some fluctuation in it, but as you prove yourself week in and week out the steady miles will begin to come your way.

Any time you've got to get your truck in for repairs you are going to run into that frustrating experience of not knowing for sure when you can get back on the road, it's just one of the many challenges a driver faces. You control the things that you can, but you've just got to let the other stuff play out as best as you can and don't let the uncontrollable things start to tear you up too badly.

Yeah, you can already see why a lot of people don't last long in trucking. Not only is driving one of those things safely and unbelievable challenge, but then you have all of the other stuff to contend with day in and day out.

Trucking is not consistent. You're going to have great weeks and terrible weeks, great months and terrible months. I used to look at least over a period of a month to gauge how things were going. I used to shoot for a certain number of miles each month and regardless of the bumps in the road you'll normally be able to hit your mark. But it's kind of a feast or famine thing. A big storm or a big breakdown can ruin your week. But then you'll get weeks where you hardly have time for a nap you're running so hard. So it evens out.

More than anything, try to focus on things you can control and don't allow yourself to get upset over the things you can't. We're human - that's easier said than done. But it's a critical skill if you want to maintain your sanity and have a long, safe, enjoyable career. Just roll with things moment to moment and keep focusing on the long term. In the end things will work out great. In the short run, nobody knows how things will go.

Thanks Old School and Brett, you are both right of course. I am still at it and will be as long as I am able. There was more to the week that I left out so it did not sound completely whiny..lol.

Last week was better and this one is shaping up to be a decent one as well. My APU did fizzle on me again but I googled it and fixed it myself (reset). I can already tell there are little hints and shortcuts here and there that I can, and will, learn about to make my life a bit easier on the road.

I have already been given a load for tomorrow to grab after I deliver the one I am sitting on. It is a hot load so I guess I should take pride in the fact that I am trusted with getting it delivered on time. I will take it as a plus.

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.