Profile For Susan D.

Congratulations Big Scott! I hope you enjoy your new job.

Very sorry to hear of your loss. Prayers to you and your family.

Rick will be missed very much, here at TT and everywhere else. So sad to hear. Condolences to his family and friends.

The best company to go with is the one that suits your personal needs.

What kind of hometime do they offer?

Do they allow riders or pets?

Are you required to park your truck at a terminal?

Things like that is what you should be considering, if that makes sense.

They're all good companies, so find the one you'll be glad to work for many years, because job hopping is never a good thing in trucking.

Delve Dave, sometimes DOT WILL pull into truckstops or rest areas to check for these type violations (ie falsification of logs).

To cover myself anywhere inside the cab, I pull the FRONT CURTAINS lol.. that makes the seats part of the sleeper. However, if I get out of the truck, yes I change it to off duty. I'm telling you, sometimes whether you realize it or not, they're watching you.

So Rainey/Kearsey has seen them "harrassing" drivers who are parked also.

It HAPPENS! Don't take any chances because the ticket will go to YOU, the driver... not to your company.

Most companies require a minimum of 160 hour training certificate in your quest to obtain your cdl, before they can hire you, unless they operate their own cdl school and you are attending that school. I seriously only personally know of 1 company that will hire an inexperienced driver without that certificate.

Its nice that Jim Bob, Fred, or whoever is willing to teach you. Hopefully it's with the company's consent and you are properly insured in said training vehicle, but it still won't get you that almighty 160 Hour Certificate of Training or a vehicle to test in.

My recommendation from logging exactly what you are doing comes from past experience.

For example. You stop at a rest area for your brake. When you get in the sleeper, you log sleeper. You wake up a few hours later needing to use the restroom. You put on your shoes and head inside.

While in the restroom, DOT pulls into the truck lot and begins conducting inspections. They see you out of your truck and heading back to it (to go back to bed). However, you're up awake and are fair game.

Believe it or not, my company has had a driver ticketed for being out of the truck sleeper when that driver was logged into the sleeper berth.

I personally have seen this happen to other drivers in rest areas. Wake up, break isn't complete but sitting in the drivers seat smoking a cigarette, checking their phone or whatever.

So again I say log exactly what you do. If its difficult to remember to change your status then stick a note on your steering wheel or whatever it takes to help you remember. Luckily my company has a statement in our permit book that says when loading or unloading that we are off duty and not required to count freight or any other responsibility beyond checking in/out and docking.

The best strategy is that if you are not on duty and/or driving, you should be sleeping. You need your rest to be able to operate the truck safely. There's 3 of you in this truck, so guessing it only stops for fuel, driver changeover, and an occasional shower. Staying up to socialize won't help you at all. 2 hours or less max of the socializing. I realize you're very new, but teaming is definitely it's own animal. When I teamed, I had to teach myself that anytime you're horizontal in the bunk, you need to be sleeping. Keep it dark, pull those curtains and get the zzz's you need.

Best wishes to you.

Technically, you log exactly what you do. Now if you were taking a split break, (8/2 split) that consecutive 8 hours in the sleeper would have been important.

Awesome. I used to cook the majority of my meals on my truck. Unfortunately for the last couple years I haven't. The freightliner I've had simply doesn't have appropriate horizontal surfaces (shelves) with nearby outlets sufficient to do any real cooking other than heating things in my microwave. I still miss my old 2016 freightliner even after a couple years in this newer one. The built in fridge, while nice, has practically no freezer space and I really don't even use it. I've had to pare down on weight in this truck also because the fuel tanks are mounted much more forward as well, often giving me over weights on my steers particularly with full tanks. At least the APU allowance covers that overage.

I miss cooking in my truck for sure, but I've never found a way to make it practical in this truck.

I'm sure you'll love your instant pot. I used to carry a similar aroma 3 in 1 cooker. Have some great recipes if you're interested.