Related Posts:

• April 21, 2009 -- More Snow? Now What’s A Desert Dude to Do?
  Last time I left you I had just finished waiting out my first blizzard off I-80 in Pine Bluffs. I was so glad I didn't have to drive in that stuff again. After all, it's spring! Last week we were leaving Fontana, California with almost 40,000 pounds of  something for UPS. This is an on-time, customer-watch load. This means we can't be late, and the customer can track our progress via the internet. What it really means to us is that we have no spare time built into our schedule. We went up I-15 t...
• June 8, 2010 -- Mama Said They’ll Be Days Like This
  During the two hours spent awaiting the arrival of the tow truck, I once again questioned whether I was cut out for this. For all I knew, this would mark the end of my brief trucking career. I had, however, learned another hard lesson....
• May 24, 2010 -- Keeping Your Head Screwed On Straight In A Crisis
  I learned two things from a recent misadventure: first, that being safe out here requires being careful and being lucky and, second, that I needed to keep my head screwed on straight in a time of crisis. I had made the wrong initial decision, but I had gotten lucky—next time, I might not. ...
• March 31, 2010 -- On The Road In Training With Ringo Part 2
  The first couple of weeks on the road driving flatbed were hard, because my body was not conditioned to this pace, this type of work, or these long hours. I lost most of the feeling in the tips of my fingers, and I had aches in places where I would have sworn I didn’t have muscles. ...
• March 17, 2010 -- My First Year as a Truck Driver
  Wow, it's hard to believe, but I've been at my current employer for 1 year as of today. I began Truck Driving School in January of 2009, completed that in February of 2009, and was hired on in March of 2009. This post will simply serve as some observations that I've made as my first year of a truck driver....
• January 20, 2010 -- Inside Trucking Part 3: Life On The Road
  With all the fuel that drivers purchase, it's wise to get the driver payback cards from the truck stops that offer them. Its free, and it's a way of saying thank you to the professional driver. For each gallon of fuel purchased, you get 1 cent/point put on the card. You can use these points to purchase anything except alcohol and tobacco products. I had a clerk tell me a regular driver saved all year to purchase Christmas gifts on one card. Since I don’t buy Christmas gifts, this never entere...
• January 19, 2010 -- Truck Driving in Winter Weather
  Before I became a truck driver, there was nothing better than a good snow storm in the winter. Sliding around in my 4-wheeler, sledding, snowball fights, snowmen, hearing the scrape of the snowplow as is passes by, and the beautiful sight it leaves. That was then, and this is now!...
• December 23, 2009 -- Randy’s Phase 1 Training – Part 8
  I keep reading that the 2 most important factors for a successful marriage, especially in OTR trucking, are trust and communication...this week, we had neither one.  I suppose the added stress of all this didn't help, and we both had a major thinking/behavior relapse.  This career truly does test a relationship, and any weakness that existed before WILL be magnified 1000 times.  ...