Comments By Bravo Zulu

I'm still with a trainer, but I can totally get with the statement below. You basically sleep when they get tired, eat when they get hungry, and shower when they feel dirty. I basically sleep on top of my clothes because there is limited storage. It's temporary and I can do anything for 8 weeks. All of the things I dislike about trucking so far should diminish or go away once I am solo.

I think another issue is that training is more difficult than being solo. People see how hard training is and expect THAT to be the lifestyle. It isn't. You can't truly appreciate trucking until you are upgraded for a month or so. Once I got into my own routine and making my decisions rather than dealing with the trainer, I breathed relief.

I think a lot of people give up during the hard part before they get to the rewarding part.

Love this!

Slow down at YOUR speed. When getting off ramps, my trainer wanted me taking them too fast for my liking. I started putting my hazards on and slowing down way before the ramps until I felt comfortable with downshifting. The people around you don't know of you have a mechanical failure. Screw em.

Learn to manage your time to always be early. Check your equipment before and after each trip and walk around during your breaks. A light could blow out while you are driving.

For your test, be sure to tell the examiner " slow down and check both ways at intersection". "I'm watching that car on the right coming out of parking lot, slowing down and looking for train at tracks". Etc. Might sound stupid but it will let him k ow you know what you're doing.

My school instructor said:

The rule is to not shift at an intersection; but they would rather you shift and get through the turn if you are starting from a dead stop.

I drove 420 miles today and trainer has driven 250, with 80 more to go. Put a fork in me, I'm cooked!

My lane control is good but I'm still taking curves a little too fast on ocassion. 2 drops tomorrow and then I'm off for a bit. I'm really enjoying it but my body has not adjusted yet

Over all, a great 1st week!

In 3 days I've seen Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Utah, and Idaho. All at 65 mph, but I have seen deer, turkey, antelope, and some beautiful scenery!

Will do. Thanks guys!

Guy, I am on day 3 of driver training with Tyson. I put your name down as a referal so as long as I make the cut you should get a little bonus in 8 weeks.

Wish me luck!

He takes his job as driver trainer "very serious". He says after 8 weeks I'm a reflection of him and he isn't putting junk out there.

He's nice in some ways. He doesn't yell. He wants me to ask questions if I don't understand and told me he's going to be asking me questions I don't know the answer to and that's ok. He's a Marine vet with 33 years OTR experience if that paints a picture for you. I like him. He takes the job serious.

We were due to pick up our load at 10:45am yesterday. Due to computer outage at shipper, we were finally loaded at 1:15. After driving forever we are finally taking 10 hours sleeper. There were some nap times, lol. The trip is 1602 miIes from Rogers, AR to Boise, ID. Trainer says now that we are caught up it will be a little bit more relaxed.

The good news is that I got to drive on our 1st day since we were behind! He let me drive all of Nebraska since it's flat and straight. It's just the first day but I am loving it!

Ahh, I see the confusion. Tyson does not purchase their trucks. They lease them. Tyson does not do lease purchase. I'm paid .41 cpm.

They lease all of their trucks and currently operate about 1000 trucks. They currently have 424 Kenworth T680s that are either 2016 or 2017. They have a few 2013 trucks left. The rest are 2014 or 2015.

This is from your above post.