Comments By Bravo Zulu

I should note that he is careful about how he runs me. For example, I have dealt with Atlanta and Columbus rush hours. In both cases, once I got on the other side I was done driving for the day. This also happened when I dealt with some steep grades. Basically, if I have to "really work" he shuts me down early.

On the other hand, if we are just chewing up road, he will use my clock to his full advantage. There is a method to his madness.

As I said, I'm grateful.

He drove 10.5 hours and I drove just short of 9. We stopped for fuel and 30 minute breaks. Add in pretrip, intermittent, and a post trip, it was more than 20.

On day 1 my trainer made it very clear that when I do something it needs to be done the exact same way, in the same order, every single time. He said "Doing it the same way will be a blessing when you are dog ass tired and it's poring down rain and you just want to go to sleep."

Fast forward 3 weeks and I am 19.5 hours into a 20 Hour Day and I am uncoupling the trailer. He comes up behind me and yells "Hey" at the top of his lungs and I don't even flinch. I finish disconnecting the glad hands and electrical and just turned and looked at him. He said, "this is what I was talking about. You walked straight past those air lines and put that landing gear down first, because that's the way we do it every time!"

There's a big difference between knowing something intellectually vs. actually living it. I'm extremely grateful to have this cantankerous old school trainer with 35 years of OTR experience. He ain't easy, but I'm learning a ton and I know I'll be ready when it's time to go solo.

I straight up stalk Rainy on the TT GPS tracker, lol. Not sure if that counts.

Doesn't stop me from harassing Tractor man or flirting with Bravo Zulu hahah

It does feel good! I remember in school how great it felt to be able make turns using all my space.

Now, I'm with a trainer at my first company and he's like "cut those wheels, you ain't driving a 300 foot trailer" one minute and the next minute he's telling me I cut them too fast. I've already decided, as soon as I'm on my own, I'll be using all my space! It just simplifies things.

I remember when the Segway was going to change transportation as we know it.

After all the hype, the market decided there was a niche fit for it. I predict the same will be true for autonomous cars and big trucks.

At Tyson there are shuttle drivers that drive 14 miles one way between 2 plants. They do this repeatedly, back and forth, all day long. Why not use an automated truck with a "truck monitor" to keep an eye on things.

It will be very limited in scope, but I think it will happen. It worked for Paul Blart, Mall Cop!

Like Sue said, CPM is just one factor. You also have to factor in how many miles/week you will get. Once you have those 2 numbers, you will at least have a general idea of gross earnings.

Then you have to consider medical insurance costs and other costs that will HAVE to be paid.

Beyond that it's really a bunch of little things that may contribute to your decision but should not be a deal breaker. Some companies offer detention pay, more CPM on short hauls, Hazmat loads, tuition reimbursement, etc.... The list goes on.

Having said that, the worst combination you can get is low CPM and low miles. Remember, as a new driver they typically aren't going to schedule you tight or give you hot loads because you are an unproven driver.

I'm a new driver still in training and I am thankful I found this site. I come from a military and corporate office environment. Trucking is a whole different world.

The good news is that the cream always rises in trucking. At my employer (Tyson Foods), they expect 500 miles/day average, and more when reasonable. Simple math tells me I'll be fine financially as long as I take care of business and don't hit anything.

Best of luck!

There are a lot of smaller companies that do this type of work. You may have to dig a little. Also, maybe snoop around some food manufacturers. For example, there is a sucrose company in my town. I know the 2 main bulk carriers they use to haul their liquid sugar. That's just an example, but you get the idea.

The FMCSA Handbook actually spells out what they suggest a company should teach a new driver. It's not like these companies are just out there making stuff up as they go along and saying, "look, let's get all the team miles we can out of this newbie".

I'm still new, consider myself pretty quick on the uptake, and I must say there is a lot of info to absorb and practice. On day one of driver training I learned how to hold the steering wheel without wearing myself out on a 500 mile run. I also learned the importance of knowing how to take turns when there is a heavy cross wind. Oh, I also learned about these construction zones where the traffic goes to 2 lane and you have to cross over to the other side of the highway. In a car, I never noticed how bumpy entering and exiting those can be.

I know I've rambled, but I went into this with a little bit of "quiet confidence." I've been humbled after one week of road training.

I use the "radar now" app.