Comments By Bill M.

Yezir, Big Scott. That all sounds great - especially sleeping in your own bed every night! Glad to hear things are working out for you!

Ooof. Bummer.

I check the oil fill cap every single time my truck is in for service, and the hood has been opened. If I had to throw a statistic at it, 30% - 50% of the time the cap has not been reinstalled or is not secured properly.

True. The first time I drove into Michigan, I got seasick. I'm a fisherman and former scuba diver - I've never been seasick.

I-94 between Michigan city, Indiana, and Kalamazoo Michigan will keep any chiropractor in business

Sedrick,

I admire your ambition. Goals are good to have - they motivate us to achieve results and get to the next level. I have been driving commercially for just under two years. Like you, I looked at just about every angle when I looked into getting my CDL. I came to the conclusion that being a company driver was the only way I would be successful starting. Here's why I say that. As company drivers we assume zero financial risk - not one dollar. As a company driver, we have a team of people working to ensure we have loads every single day and our trucks are running smoothly. Everyone from fleet leaders, dispatchers, customer service, maintenance, you name it; all work to get us loads and repair our equipment when things go down.

It's about to get seriously competitive out here. Get that CDL, be a company driver for a couple of years like so many here have already suggested, establish yourself as a safe and dependable driver, and you'll be compensated well for your efforts. Maybe by then the economy will shape up and you'll be well-prepared to launch your RV transport business.

Just another rookie's take!

Good luck!

A couple of things. As some have mentioned, the deer guard could be affecting it. Also, one of the drivers at our company kept having issues; maintenance found a big tree leaf between the sensor and sensor cover Imagine that!

SCWZ,

I see where you're going with the electric angle of phasing in the technology in areas where it's more likely to succeed immediately.

I did something similar at the house - all exterior lighting is solar. I haven't gone entirely solar because when I crunch the numbers on going solar, the system will not pay for itself before I need to replace it. In addition, the cost of going solar exceeds my current monthly electric expenses.

At the end of everything, we are shifting where and what energy source is used; we are not doing away with so-called fossil fuels.

Also, I hear you about the reefers diesel generators. I swear, refer trailers hunt me in the truck stops. Every night, I find parking between two trucks without reefer trailers. And every night, someone pulls out, and a reefer trailer inevitably creeps in next to me.

Love this topic, Pelican. Lot's of insightful comments.

Personally, like RealDiehl, prefer backing with them all the way back anytime I have room. I find it easier to judge where my trailer is going to end up and I can make corrections on a dime with less reward travel of the trailer.

But, as Davy A mentioned, some of the place we frequent require your tandems to be forward or you will be unable to negotiate the turns and obstacles in the tards. Once in there though, those tandems go back of I have the operating room.

Also, it's easy on the forklift operator as the trailer will have less bounce to it when they load/unload.

Thanks everyone for all the helpful advice. I made my journey and used ny back up plan instead of reserving parking. Everything worked out well and I saw everything everyone talked about when I headed north to my next stop. Those are some big rest stops up north. Lol. I've been to Jersey about 100 times but never north NJ. I actually really like the way they designed the highway system. It's intuitive and flows nicely.

At least that's how I see it.

Thanks again, et al.

Thanks for tge good info. I saw the MP a fee months ago and was going to stay there but went somewhere else. I think I bobtailed to that wawa once waiting for my trailer to be unloaded.

The Molly Pitcher service plaza is the place I stay most often when I'm in that area. The only problem is that it is only accessible when traveling South on the NJ Turnpike. It's located just after exit 8a (SB). Two exits north of Bordentown. Even later in the day it is possible to find parking most of the time in my experience. It was recently renovated and expanded. Very clean and spacious in comparison to other NJ turnpike service plazas. I stay there at least once a week. Often two times in a week.

If you ever find yourself in South Jersey and need to find parking near the Delaware Memorial Bridge you can obviously try the Flying J just over the bridge. But if that is full, look up "wawa woodstown, NJ" in Google maps. It's not on Trucker Path. It is where I park while at home and 99% of the time you can find parking there even in the middle of the night.

Thank you for tge advice. You may remember I mentioned this happened to me in KY.

I pulled into a spot with a very faded paint job that said "reserved." I didn't notice it. I got a knock on my door at 2200 and was asked to leave. I apologized for the oversight and heard down the road where I finally found parking at a rest stop 18 miles amd two truck stips later. Phew

If you have a reservation, and find no parking spots, go in and talk to someone at the fuel desk. They will get their security people to find and force the pretentious thief from their position. You've already paid for it. Make sure you get what you purchased.

It's always best to let them handle it. They will call local law enforcement if a driver refuses to leave. That usually gets things moving pretty quickly.