Comments By James925

I parked "nose first" in a spot in a West Virginia Pilot once, and I vowed to NEVER do it again. Backing up was not fun at all. But it was raining when I pulled in, I was tired, had already circled the truck stop twice trying to find a spot and just wanted to go to sleep. But backing up in the morning I vowed to never go nose first again.

I drove a reefer and I never really had a problem with parking by people because I used to almost always park next to reefers. I normally stopped around 4:30-5, so I could park in the back where there plenty of spots. If it was late at night, I would grab whatever spot was available. I'd get some angry looks if I parked next to a dry van, but nothing more. The sound of that reefer would put me right to sleep. On the rare occasions I drove a dry load, it took me a while to fall asleep cause I was so used to hearing the reefer cut on and off.

My trainer at Central was everything I could ask for, and that was back in 2011. We ran like a team truck the entire time. We ran hard, did coast to coast runs three times in two weeks. We settled down a bit after that, but we still ran hard up and down the East Coast and the Midwest. I could be a trainer, but I'm a bit of a loaner. Trainers give up all of their privacy and like Brett said, are put into high stress situations.

Luckily my trainer didn't just throw me into the fire the first day. I've heard stories of new drivers who got into the truck with their trainer and were told to drive 11 hours right there while the trainer went to sleep. Or the trainers who don't want their student to use the clutch at all when they shift. Yikes.

I would "split lanes" when I was in my car...The looks I got were priceless.

One of the things that helped me stay healthy (er) on the road was that I ate one large meal a day, and that was it. I purchased a 12 volt cooler from Costco, and bought all kinds of food for it, either when I was at a truck stop or happened across a store where I could park the truck and run in to do some shopping. During the day I would eat breakfast for my 15-20 minute break, then snack on walnuts, peanuts and fruit snacks during the day. Sometimes I would eat lunch, most of the time the snacks would get me through until I stopped, and by then, my stomach was definitely talking to me.

I didn't work out, but I did walk the truck stops (when it was light enough, won't catch me wandering around at night) if I wasn't tired enough after driving 500-600 miles and dealing with adverse weather conditions. If I was feeling real energetic, I would wake up a little earlier in the morning and take a brisk walk before getting ready. Didn't happen much, but every now and then it did. You may want to get a coffee maker if you happen to want something hot to drink, it can double as water for your tea. If you can get a microwave in your truck, that will help too. If you don't have a microwave, you can get one of those mini crock pots to plug in and warm up your food.

Luckily my trainer was cool, and actually my healthy eating rubbed off on him. One thing I always have daily is a plate of fruit. Simple, just apples oranges and bananas, but it worked. Keep plenty of water on the truck and drink that when you're driving. Hang in there with your trainer, once you get off his truck, you can eat as healthy as you want. Stay safe out there.

I agree, the first day back after home time was the hardest. The first day always seemed to go slower than usual and driving past local landmarks knowing you won't see them for a few weeks was just depressing. But after the first day it got better and after the first week everything was routine.

Let us know how the rest of the month goes for you and stay safe out there.

Wow never known someone who does this! How cool is that? Traveling with bands, seeing the sights and eating good food! I saw a show some weeks back about a group of truckers that do what you're about to do. Schedule is tight but they loved it. Kudos to you! I would love to do what you're doing or drive for Nhra or nascar. That would be awesome. ..Stay safe out there and keep us informed!

My hypertension, prior to medication intervention was 180/ 140....I SHOULD have blown a hose. With medication, it runs a sweet 120/60..and the drug I take has no adverse reactions...its a very old drug..which are the ones I prefer...let them practice on someone else....The nice thing about having my hypertension in check ?? No migraines..no sleepless nights...no eye pain...no heart palpation's...no chest/neck pain. If any of that is familiar....go to your doctor.

Starcar, I had the same situation. I was routinely in level 2 hypertension (for those that don't know, my bp was routinely between 177-180/140-144. I had migraines for three days straight, and I couldn't do anything during those three days except work, and I would struggle through that. I popped Advil and Excedrin like candy. Eyes always hurt, chest problems, limbs hurting, any type of loud noise would irritate me, it was bad. I went through like that for more than five years never knowing that I had high blood pressure until "doctor mom" told me to get my black you know what in there and get my bp checked or she would personally get the ugly stick on me. Now you know if your mom tells you she's going to get the ugly stick, you BETTER listen to what she says. I'm 33 years old and I'm still afraid of the "ugly stick." LOL.

After going on medication for bp, (along with drastically changing my diet) my bp now is a robust 116/84, and hardly ever goes above 125. If you're going over 135/85 it's too high (according to the chart at Kaiser). I haven't had a headache or migraine in the last year since I've taken the medication, no problems with my eyes, and I don't have qeausy feelings anymore. I cut out the fried food, ate a lot of baked food, lowered the salt (I used to pile it on, seasoned or regular). You may want to try eating fruit as often as you can, mix in the vegetables (before, my only "vegetables" were sandwiched between a 1/4 pound of cow meat and a sesame seed bun) and eat nuts, like almonds and walnuts. Just do something about it before it gets you, no telling what kind of irreversible damage I did to my body in those five years, they don't call it the silent killer for nothing...

Reefer loads are what they are. Sometimes you'll pull into a warehouse or grocery distribution center, and you'll be in and out in less than an hour and a half. Others, it will take you two hours just to get a door, then you hang out at the door for another four hours before you even feel them start to unload your trailer. The good thing about reefers is your product is temperature controlled so it's not going to perish. The bad thing is your product is temperature controlled so it's not going to perish. Which means, you can (and will) sit for loooooong periods of time unfortunately.

Case in point, there is an Americold dc in Tracy, CA that I went to twice, both with my parents cause I wanted them to see what I did exactly. (And cause I just wanted to brag to them that I drove a big truck) First time, went in with my mother, dropped off the bills in the office, got a door, and got unloaded all within an hour and a half. Went home after and got some much needed rest. Second time, went in with my father, bills and door were done within 10 minutes, thinking everything is good...didn't even get unloaded until seven hours later. It all depends on the day I guess. Some days are great, others, not so much.

I think Daniel nailed it. I ran hard too, and whenever I had some down time, I relished it. I had a netbook and would watch a dvd, do some web surfing, or even walk around the truck stop. Or even get some sleep. Truckers definitely need it. But don't get me wrong, there were times where it got annoying, like when I was at the Budweiser plant in Denver, CO and I sat at the door for 12 hours before I even got unloaded. Then after I got unloaded, it took another 7 for me to get another trailer and get out of there. Didn't get on the road until 11 pm that night. Monster energy drinks were definitely my friend that shift. Oh and the chocolate ice cream I got from a truck stop in Iowa around 2 in the morning. Mmmm chocolate ice cream.

So don't get discouraged. Sometimes you're rolling, in and out before you can finish writing the comcheck for the lumpers (okay, maybe not that quick, but you get the idea) and other times, you just want to get out of there and hit the road! In my experience (can't speak for others) the longest "delays" at the distribution centers seemed to happen on the loads where I had hometime after. I think my dm would call the receiver and make them keep me there a little longer.

Hang in there...

All I've known were Prostars. Had a halfway decent Volvo for a period of four days before it was snatched away from me. When my Prostar was running correctly and everything was firing on all cylinders, I truly enjoyed it. Had a 10 speed, easy to shift, pulled halfway decent, good turning radius (which a rookie needs) lots of room for me in the bunk (for me, I'm 5'7 with boots on, so I'm what you would call, short or "vertically challenged.") Had good storage for me, and I loaded that truck up. But I'm OCD when it comes to packing, so I had waaay too much stuff in my truck. Decent fuel economy and it was nice and big inside the cabin. BUT, when things went wrong on the truck, they went wrong. I would have things go wrong on the truck that would put me out of commission for days. Blown cylinders, thermostat went out, you get the picture. If I had a choice now between the two I would take the Cascadia.

Yeah, people just don't look for an alternate way sometimes. Instead of possibly getting out of the truck and seeing there was an alternate way around (which you made even more obvious by directing them yourself) they chose to honk and get irritated. I definitely used to put on my patience hat when I had to wait for people to back up, even when my backing got better (not mastered, just better) because I knew that not too long ago I was in the same position. I got some dirty looks when I took longer than most to back, got cussed at over the cb, and got the look of death from more drivers than I can count. My response was nothing but a big smile. But there were also others who would help me, and give me tips after I got in the spot. I've had drivers stop their truck and block traffic even more to help me into a spot, even in the pouring rain.

One time when I was at a receiver I was having a bit of trouble backing (what else is new) and I just couldn't seem to get it in there. I finally pulled completely out of the spot, set up and tried again. Worked like a dream. After I set the air brakes and got out to admire my parking, I hear of all things....clapping! Another driver was clapping for me and said "Congratulations!" Well I did what any other driver would have done, I looked him dead in the eye, took a bow and said "Thank you, thank you, I'm here all week!" Another driver who was watching me from the stairs at the office said "Let's hope not!"

Smart aleck...we all had a good laugh, and wouldn't you know, they even offered me tips on my backing so the next time I backed in it only took me six pull ups instead of eight!