Profile For SCWZ

Everybody has their own level of tolerance for ambient noise, so if noise from adjacent trucks is keeping you from sleeping that will add even more difficulty to finding parking. It’s hard enough to find parking without worrying about the idling truck issue. To be OTR and avoid it on every 10 would be a near impossibility.

Many times in this profession a driver just needs to find a way to adapt to conditions and situations he has no control over. Otherwise the lifestyle and problems that go with driving will end your career.

If using a portable electric heater until the batteries run down, how do you then start the truck if your batteries are dead?

If this issue is a big problem for SCWZ, then I really feel for him. There are so many other irritations to deal with out here on the road.

I have an Eaton inverter and a battery bank. The inverter automatically turns off when the voltage drops to 12.2V and there's a load shield to make sure the truck can start. The heater is built into sleeper bed compartment. A truck's alternator makes lots of excess power, so it's essentially free energy if it can be stored.

I drive on the West coast and my routes generally have lots parking options. I did 3 months of OTR (48 states) and I'm never going back. I might eventually drive local for US Foods.

A reefer once parked next to me that was 124 decibels loud when it was constantly revving up. I have that figure because of a db meter app on my phone. That's in between a chainsaw and jackhammer... It woke with 3 hours of sleep and I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night. I don't know how someone can "sleep like a baby" next to something that crazy loud. Even putting in earplugs made little difference...

So I am paranoid that something like that will park next to me and ruin my night again.

At 50 it can be a bit cold for some to sleep comfortably. Some owner ops do not have APUs either.

If the noise of the idling trucks or reefers bother you so much, why do you park where they do?

Why do owner ops feel the need to leave their truck running all night when the temp is only 50-60 outside??? I drive a company truck and I don't leave my truck running... Owner ops are actively draining their bottom line and polluting at the same time. Some of them sound poorly maintained too, no wonder there's so many jokers parked on highway shoulders, and it's like being next to a pesky annoying reefer.

My message to these ppl: "Cut that btch off!"

I DON'T park next to reefers and I avoid rest areas and busy truck stops as much as I can. I'll park at the furthest end of a truck stop with a huge lot and some reefer will still manage to park next to me by the end of the night.

How will they survive if their truck or heater doesn't work and they're stuck in -40F weather? I have an electric heater and I'll only use it as long as the battery lasts. I have 2 comforters, a sleeping bag and warm pajamas to sleep in that still keep me comfortable. I also bought insulation for all my windows to help keep my truck cool during the summer.

I'll take the $5K bonus per quarter over being comfortable 100% of the time. If I invested those bonuses over 20 years, it would add up to over one million by the end. And the $5K is only part of the fuel savings since I'm a driver, owner ops get 100% of that. I don't know, I'll take retiring early over spending my nights in grungy and noisy truck stops.

And yes, I will continue to fight against the idea that truck stops NEED to be noisy and filthy places. A couple of decades ago, most people thought the average trucker was a plaid-wearing, chain-smoking, redneck that had to be on the road for months and months at a time.

Why do owner ops feel the need to leave their truck running all night when the temp is only 50-60 outside??? I drive a company truck and I don't leave my truck running... Owner ops are actively draining their bottom line and polluting at the same time. Some of them sound poorly maintained too, no wonder there's so many jokers parked on highway shoulders, and it's like being next to a pesky annoying reefer.

My message to these ppl: "Cut that btch off!"

I just got a Ticket this morning for going 28 mph over will that effect my chances of going to a company that will send me to train for CDL? P.S this is my first ticket

Yes it will, a lot of companies will see it as a red flag if you have a ticket going 15+mph over the speed limit. Does it say reckless driving on the citation? Reckless driving is pretty much the same as a DUI in terms of severity. The main thing is to get the reckless driving charge off the citation if you have it. Getting it reduced to something with no demerit points is a bonus.

You will likely not be able to use a ticket attorney place to get this citation resolved. They'll likely refer you to a criminal attorney which costs a lot more money. I got an exhibition of speed citation (for only chirping my tires at an intersection) just before Covid and it cost me $1,400 + $250 for the ticket. It was reduced to a non moving violation, gave no demerit points and didn't stay on my driving record.

I don't think either party would feel comfortable and there's already a solution to what you're speaking of: buses. That should be the end of the story, however, a trucker's job is to haul freight on time. Having an unknown passenger that might need to stop constantly jeopardizes a trucker's ability to do their job. Dude truckers will just pee into a bottle to avoid stopping, that will be kind of awkward to do with a strange on board... So a trucker could end up losing more than they gained using some stupid ride share app.

I've recently been cooking meals in my truck and it's just been rice and meat so far. I use a metal bento box (oven and microwave safe) and a 12V lunchbox cooker. I have a setup in mind for cleaning dishes, but everything got delayed by Amazon (again), so I didn't have everything with me when I left. My fridge/freezer also got delayed and is sitting at my front door so I don't have that either 😐.

I also need to upgrade my top bunk storage. I want to have open top totes / bins that are color coded. I will keep all the heat sensitive / perishable items in one tote so I don't have to scavenge through my truck before I got off duty during the summer.

Does anyone have one of those that fits good in a tractor? Those big 50+ quart coolers don't look like they'd fit so good. I need something to store up to 3 weeks of meat, because the tiny freezer in the built-in fridge won't hold enough.

Schneider wants drivers to have the seat belt on 100% of the time.

I know it would be best to be a resident of a state with no income tax. Do any of those states have an advantage over the others? And is a PO box enough to establish and maintain yourself as a resident?

The Internationals have the cheapest possible interiors, so there's no TV mount built-in. I was thinking of making a setup where the TV can be mounted underneath the top bunk and face downwards. Does anyone have a setup like this? I ordered an ASUS ZenScreen 24” Monitor, which comes with various mounts.