The reason I’m sharing our personal experiences with this is to help people understand the truly tension-packed environment at truck driving school, and how it may affect your spouse. Everyone’s marriage is different, so everyone’s experience will be unique, but there will be common issues for sure. And things will pop up that you never even considered. I’m being completely, 100% honest here, because I don’t think glossing over the tough stuff would be very helpful!

This is a summary of what I’ve learned from many experienced truckers on TruckingTruth, plus the perspective I’ve gained as my husband went through the classroom training during August-September, 2009.

Sometimes you’re put in a position as a driver where you just can’t win. One day I was leaving the shipper with a heavy load and was pulled over to see if my weight was legal. Problem was, I never got a chance to weight it myself - they nailed me on the way to the scale. What is a driver supposed to do?

The number of Federal Rules and Regulations for truck drivers and trucking companies has continuously increased over the years, along with stricter enforcement both on and off the highways. A recent announcement by the Federal Motor Carriers Safety Administration shows that there will be even greater scrutiny just around the corner.

Randy was all excited and relieved to tell me that, early in the day, he passed his backing test on the first try. He was nervous, so he did lose 2 points (could miss 12 and pass). He’s been backing trailers (on and off over the years) since he was 16, but said that being trained in proper techniques has increased his confidence. He said the thing he misses most about home is “me making dinner”. What??? Shouldn’t he have just said “me”? The thing I miss most, at least right now, is just being able to sleep.

Well, I spoke to Randy for nearly an hour last night about his first full day at truck driving school, and it was over a 12-hour marathon starting at 7 am. Ha, he thinks I’m a genius now for all the research I’ve done!

I am writing this for anyone who, like I was, is wondering what it may be like to ride a Greyhound Bus to Truck Driving School. My first piece of advice would be to try to spend that last time that you have together relaxing and enjoying it.

Recently I heard a story of a truck driving student who was on the road with a trainer and discovered that the trainer was smoking pot in the truck while the student was driving. How did the student handle this? Did it backfire on him? There are some things that everyone needs to understand about the realities of life in the trucking industry.

Let me start out by saying I entered trucking in 2001 because I needed a job. A job that paid a livable wage. So I entered as a warm body that companies put in the drivers seat. My pleas for an office duty/inside job were not being heard. At first this new driving thing was not too bad, but soon the newness and “fun” wears off.

Sometimes trips go very smoothly, and other times trips are incredibly challenging, like the one I just had. This is the reality of truck driving. Are you up for the challenge?

If you ask drivers what the golden rule of safety is, you’ll get a lot of different answers - and all of them are likely to be important. But let’s boil this topic down to it’s most simplest form - the one golden rule of trucking….

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been 6 months already. I’ve completed training, and have been on my own now for a couple months. So, I thought I’d share a few of my initial impressions of my early truck driving career, having experienced it for 6 months now.

“I wrote a recent post called “Truck Driving: An Office With A View” and that post had a lot of descriptions of the beauty this country holds. But out here on the road, our office doesn’t always have such a great view.

One thing that I wasn’t quite prepared for when I decided to become a truck driver is the sleeping patterns. I knew fatigue was a big issue in truck driving, but now I truly understand why. The long driving hours are only part of the issue…it’s rather complicated.

Over the years I’ve seen a million new guys and gals come into the trucking industry with not only the wrong perceptions of what the trucking industry is like, but with the attitude that everyone better treat them like kings and queens and roll out the red carpet or they’re outta here - and I’ve seen a lot of em get outta here in a hurry. It’s tough in the beginning - there’s a lot to learn….