Comments By Chris L.

I drove straight trucks and box trucks for 9 years before getting my CDL. You do have to be aware of your overhang but you would have to be pretty close to someone before it would hit.

Being a straight truck you always have visibility of both sides of your truck so just go slow and watch your mirrors in a tight turn.

I prefer paper logs even though I run no more than I would on electronic logs I use them to drive or sleep when I feel. You might say I'm cheating but really I'm driving when I'm rested and sleeping when I'm tired. I remember running elogs and having to stop at 2 in the afternoon and couldn't sleep, then have to start my new day at midnight when I'm so tired.

There's a small closet area where you can hang up shirts and such. Also other cabinets for food, more clothes or whatever. I use the upper bunk for storage as well. The bottom bunk lifts up for more storage space as well.

You tube has some good videos of truck tours that show sleepers in detail.

Check out IITR in Clackamas Oregon. They have a weekend class, 10 weekends and DMV tester comes to the school for CDL test. Cost about $5000. I did the weekend class almost 5 years ago so price may be different now.

Anyway I had a great experience and would do it all over again.

Union Pacific railyards Portland and Seattle have blindsided 45s as well. I've seen drivers bump containers as they back in.

When my girlfriend rides with me we sleep in our birthday suits sometimes 😏

I have a confession, even with all the warnings I bought a truck and am leased on to an intermodal company. I have an older Volvo with over 500k miles on it now. I don't have a fancy new truck, as a matter of fact I don't like the color at all (Penske Yellow). I have no warranty and will be responsible for any maintenance and repairs. I'm leased on to an all owner operator company and it is common to see a driver wrenching on his truck in the yard, as I have myself done minor repairs. The purchase of my truck is completely separate than the company I'm leased to (I have a loan with a finance company). I'm brand new to owning a truck only been 4 months now but at the end of the year I'll talk about my numbers good or bad.

I'm doing Intermodal and see a lot of Swift containers at the rail yards. Might be something to look into. I'm mostly local, have weekends off and make more than I made OTR with Prime. There's some guys driving daycabs where I work that are home every night. I prefer longer loads so I spend a couple nights a week in the truck. A long load in intermodal is 300-600 miles.

I don't know your whole situation but it's worth looking into. Good luck what ever you decide.

Crash the gate doing 98, let them truckers roll 10-4.

Funny story, it's cool to hear how drivers get out of situations. Thanks for sharing.

In my opinion it's to expensive to lease a brand new truck. I think buying an older truck on your own and working for a company is the better choice between the two. Keep in mind an older truck most likely won't be under warranty and repairs come out of your pocket. But a brand new truck will be close to $1000 a week or you can get a decent used truck for $1000 a month. Say you put the difference of $3000 a month in the bank to handle repairs, in just a few months you'll have a pretty good amount. If you happen to have no major breakdowns you will be in good shape to upgrade to a newer truck at some point if that is your goal.

Most owner operator companies require experience, which is definitely in your best interest anyway. Start out as a company driver for sure as a new driver starting out.