Game: Describe Your First Solo Load Experience

First solo load I remember well. I up graded in Fontana CA. Then went to Stockton CA to picked up my truck and an empty trailer went to Stockton CA to pick up a preloaded trailer going to Corinne UT 707 miles. but he trailer was not ready. This was 1600 hours. At 0030 hours trailer was ready found 2 lights out and one tire needing to be changed. Went and sleeped on the street to finish up my brake. 0600 rolled to Lathrop for trailer repears. Trailer fixed, I head to my 90 there is a Walmart in fernley NV. Pull into the gravel lot to get supply's. Well there was a gravel ditch about 80 feet Infront of the truck. I get my, Supply s and head out looking in my mirrors to make shere I can make my turn about the truck parked next to me I forgot about the ditch. I end up sliding into the ditch and getting stuck. One tow truck and a few hours later I am un stuck, I make it to the pilot In winnimuca with 10 min left on the clock park, but the story is not over I get up the next morning and head to the the 90 about 10 miles before wells there is a boom. And the truck starts to shake. I lost all the tread on my left side inside drive tire, at the back did not blow it just lost the tread. Limp to wells for a new tire. And the. Finished to load with out further insident.

Yeah I have never run solo and I don't really have any experience so I'm kinda nervous about that

Payette, ID is where I picked up my truck in Dec. 28th, 2017. 2 ft. snow and -19 temp. Preplain take load to consigned 5 miles from terminal. 15 minutes away.

You must have dreamed of a future event ;-)

P-Town doesn't usually get that cold.....only this past winter has it hit that low in a long time!

I remember my first solo load very well, since it was just under a month ago lol. Anyway I was assigned to my truck (2015 Freightliner Cascadia with the classic Werner blue paint scheme) the previous day at our terminal in Atlanta. Bobtailed 30 miles to the Clorox DC in Fairburn, hooked up and was on my way to Aberdeen, MD, to another Clorox DC. 707 miles. As soon as I got on to I-85 I was greeted with traffic and that took at least an hour out of my day. It was kind of late when I started and felt sleepy after 5 hours so I shut down at the Welcome Center/Rest area in Kings Mountain, NC. Now these Clorox loads in my experience were always heavy and we are required to scale those loads but in my excitement to get going I had completely forgotten. Luckily all the scales were closed so nothing happened, but that was a big blunder on my part. So the next morning I headed to the nearest Love's and scaled, and the load was a bit under 40k but I knew something was off as it felt heavier. The drives were very heavy so I was able to slide the tandems forward and it felt better, which was necessary because my trip plan had me going through I-81...which was another mistake. I wanted to avoid traffic on I-95 but in hindsight I was a bit too heavy and should have considered that route more. Anyway I made it to Maryland on time with no other issues, but that was a nerve wracking trip! I remember thinking I would feel nervous with nobody to help me, but it was quite relaxing actually despite my mistakes.

Bump.

figured id bump some of the older game threads for the newer folks

Mine was a load of toilet paper (38,000#).....Ain’t that some crap!

My first solo was in monroeville Indiana from Indy and back. By the time I was able to head back it was dark as hades and all I had was my phones GPS. suddenly a detour and then a “oh look, I’ll go this way moment” and boom. From farm roads for hours. I’d just started driving two days ago and had zero idea of what trip planning meant lol

Good thing it was a day cab or there would be some missing power poles. That 2.5 drive turned into six lol.

If you are nervous about going solo check out this article....

Nervous About Going Solo? You are Not Alone!

So I went to CDL School and trained on a 10-speed. Then what I started with my company my trainer had an automatic. After training they put me in a 10 speed... I was totally freaked out and only driven about 200-plus miles driving a manual. I was not 10 mi from my terminal when I over revved the engine making a shift in traffic. The engine warning light went on and I was petrified. I pulled off to the side of the interstate and called the shop. The shop foreman told me to let the truck set for a while. And then cycle the key five times. To see if the computer would reset. Thankfully it did. Driving I-70 through Missouri Hills and all I never got it past 9th gear. I delivered to a refrigerated Warehouse. I was supposed to drop the trailer and pick up an empty. Everything seems so tight so I tried to Blindside back because I was afraid I couldn't do a u-turn. After 15 minutes of futility another driver came up and asked if I was a new driver. I told him yes I was it was my first load. He told me to do a u-turn you have plenty of room. He then helped direct me back into my drop spot. To this day when I see someone having issues backing I get out and help them. In fact I just did it yesterday... I told the guy don't sweat it I have been there

Found a marker light out on pretrip and panicked thinking it would make me late. Got it fixed quickly

Left the terminal and went to someplace near Neenah, WI (Waukesha, maybe?)

Picked up the load and made it to Chicago and spent 3 hours to go 20 miles. Made it to The first rest stop in Ohio. Finished the next day and dropped it in Denmark, NY.

Fairly uneventful actually, though I was terrified I would screw it up.