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.

After months of research, one month of CDL truck driving school, and 4 months of company training, I’m now going out on the open road as a solo company driver. Wow, sometimes I think back and it’s taken forever to get here, while other times I think back and it’s gone by in an instant.

It’s been a while since my last blog, and my on-the-road training is complete. Here’s a recap of what training was like, and the return home to my family.

In the past few months that I’ve been driving, I’ve learned one major thing. Trucking can destroy you if you let it. Truck driving can literally drive you to madness….if you let it. So don’t…..

There are some nights when you don’t want to be in the truck. Then there are some nights when you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else in the world at that paticular moment.

After being away from home for about 10 weeks, I finally got home. What I did while I was there wasn’t as important as who I did it with….

Wow, it’s been two months since I hit the road with my trainer. I can’t believe it’s already been that long. Time is really flying out here. As I stated in one of my earlier posts, my training period is much longer than most companies, so I probably won’t be done for at least another 6 weeks or so. But since I’ve put in quite a bit of time with a trainer already, I thought I’d share a few of my thoughts on how to survive your company trainer.

Basically, when going to orientation, prepared to be bombarded with videos, tested on your skills, and grilled about your past. I’m looking foreword to getting the heck out of this hotel, and getting on the open road. Hopefully, my trainer will show up in the next day or two. If not, it looks like I’m just going to have to wait…..

What should I pack? This has to be the number one question amongst newbies. First of all, pack as little as possible. Only the necessities….

It’s finally here! Time for me to hit the open road, see the country, and see how many people I know are shocked when they see me hauling ass in an eighteen wheeler.

This trip started out in Laredo, TX and we were heading near Pittsburgh, PA. It was adventurous, frustrating, difficult, and dangerous at times, and we even saw a few things we wish we hadn’t.

Well, it finally happened. My trainer and I are having truck problems. We are currently sitting at our company terminal while our truck gets worked on. What a mess. Here’s what went down…

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, [...]

Life on the road is so full of different people and experiences that sometimes you just wanna sit down and write to some of the people who have affected your life in good ways, and in not so good ways, and here’s some of the things I’ve wanted to say…..

Let me start out by saying that I live in the desert. Yes, 120 degrees summer days desert. Blowing sand is common when it’s windy. We do have days when main roads are closed due to blowing sand - but not snow! Oh man, here comes a blizzard!