Comments By James925

Wow that is awesome news! A good trainer goes a very long way in trucking, unfortunately the lousy trainers overshadow the good ones, just like the bad truck drivers overshadow the good truck drivers. You will be a great trainer, you've got the right personality and you handle all the situations trucking throws at you like a seasoned veteran. The trucking world can definitely use more good trainers.

Good stuff, definitely keep us updated.

I've only known Internationals, and man when they ran correctly, I had no problems. Pulled great, good turning radius, decent size inside (I'm only 5'7 so take that with a grain of salt) and had easy to read instruments. But when they broke down...I was guaranteed a three day rest at minimum...if I ever go back into trucking, I will protest very loudly if they try to stick me in another International.

Daniel where is that at? Looks like you're in the middle of nowhere, which from what I remember, Central sent me to the boondocks plenty of times...

I came into trucking at 177, left it at 140. All I did was eat one big meal during the day (normally around dinnertime, although sometimes "dinner was at 2:30 am), and ate snacks and drank lots of water during the day. Slept a lot better too.

CONGRATULATIONS! That first load is always special. It's even more special cause you know YOU did it on you're own, no trainers, no help, it was all YOU. And that is one hell of a feeling. And good for you avoiding what could have been a catastrophe, swing wide! I uh, um..."misjudged" a right turn in Coalinga, scraped up a signal pole kind of bad, word on the street is they're still looking for a Central driver with dreadlocks....

Congratulations on you're 26th year wedding anniversary! My parents have been together 30. Keep it going, we don't see too much of that these days! And ps:

one main thing I wanted to point out is that entertainment OF ANY KIND is not tax deductible as of last year.

oh good,I don't have to worry about deducting my entertainment now. It was difficult getting her to give me receipts for a dollar at a time anyway

That is absolutely hilarious!

I always ran until I got about a 1/4 of the way empty, I never had any problems. Just remember to keep a constant eye on you're fuel, I had a close call once when I first started, never did that again. Most companies will route you to an "approved" truck stop so you can get gas there, since they get discounts from the truck stop (Pilot, Love's, Flying J, etc) so just be careful not to go out of your routed fuel stops.

You can leave both nozzles unattended, no one will mess with them. Can't speak for hazmat, never filled up with a hazmat load. It normally takes about 10-15 minutes to fill up (add another 5 if you have a reefer) so that's why you always see truck drivers doing an inspection on their truck and trailer, or cleaning the windows, paperwork, what have you. Just don't be "that guy" who starts to fill up, then go inside and eat a meal at the restaurant for an hour...

Never heard of a truck stop running out of fuel, those tanks below are massive, so I wouldn't imagine it can happen. But I've been wrong before...

Whatever you do, don't be like certain people (yours truly) and pack five bags worth of things when you go out with you're trainer. A sleeping bag will do, and bring you're own pillow for when you're training. Believe me when you're training, when you do get a chance to sleep, you won't care where it is, as long as you can lay down in a horizontal position.

Food for thought down the road when you get your own truck: invest in memory foam (less than $10.00 at Walmart) and put it under you're mattress. Couple that with a sleeping bag (I had two packed under my mattress) and you'll find new meaning to the words "good night sleep." The "mattresses" the companies supply are paper thin!

Redgator say it ain't so...I drool over those trucks everytime I see them! They're gorgeous! But apparently the designers at KW forgot that you need to do simple things, like I don't know, back up! I used to see truck drivers driving those long nose W9's (which I drool over those too everytime I see them) but they were always opening the door and standing on the running boards. That sealed it for me, cause Central has those, and I wanted one until I saw that. Doesn't seem safe at all.

Wow so just a normal day in the truck huh? Sorry to hear things worked out the way they did, and that you missed you're wifes birthday. That definitely sucks. I definitely feel your pain on the breakdowns, my Internationals broke down so many times I couldn't even get mad anymore, it was comical. I was the king of breakdowns. The trucking Gods are cruel people sometimes...

And I bet this load you gave up was a really good load too, probably loads of miles, driving through states you liked, all that jazz. Here's hoping you get home soon and either get you're truck fixed or the new one you recovered works like a charm! Stay positive!