Profile For Pianoman

Had one on the last truck I used and it didn't shift at all. Don't know what kind it was though

Am i the only one who ever tipped yard dogs? However, by 7 months i was going really good cause i practiced in a lot of empty truck stops.

Hell no! There was one time I just couldn't make the back at a Walmart DC drop lot. I was super tired and it was taking me forever, and the lot was tight. I offered the yard dog money but he did it for free lol.

I sometimes wish I had been a yard hostler somewhere tougher than a wide open Target DC. Might have made some extra money haha.

I applied for their apprenticeship program to get a CDL. They said open positions are either this one or team driving. I said I'd prefer to run solo.

I was also going to say I think it's low pay, until you said this. If I were in your shoes I'd make the same decision. Just stick with it and eventually other positions will open up that pay better.

I brought my dog with me for a couple months. Granted, I was only out for a week at a time so I was able to still take care of all his vet visits at home on the weekends. Biggest issue I had was shedding. For some reason my dog has been shedding like crazy and I have to use lint rollers constantly. Some dogs don't do well being cooped up all the time but mine would just go back in the sleeper and doze off when the truck was going. And mine learned to jump in and out of the truck pretty early on. For the first two weeks I had to pick him up to get him in though--he's 60 lbs but it wasn't bad really.

And dog poop...I usually took him to areas where people don't walk, like where there are a bunch of weeds and stuff. No one cares if you don't pick it up there.

Just keeping the pot stirred.

You don't have to stir popcorn..

At this point I only do it for the money, but when I first came out here a big part of it was the adventure. I got bored with otr pretty quick as I didn't really take the time to explore on my own when I wasn't behind the wheel.

I've started to enjoy the adventure aspect again more recently as now I actually deliver to people's homes all over the country. I almost never go to the same place twice and I get to see alot more of the country than just the same interstates over and over again. And it's cool meeting all sorts of different people and seeing what it's like to live in different areas. I've delivered to people who can see the beach right out their back window and others in the Ozarks surrounded by forest.

But, while it's super fun and all, I'm using trucking as an opportunity to better myself. I'm paying off debt, in the process of buying my first house right now, and I'm planning on finishing my degree starting this year. Trucking has provided a clear and amazingly quick path to accomplishing those goals--much quicker than almost anything else out there.

Violating STATUES is definitely creepy stuff Pman

Haha yes I meant to say statues. Read the comments before mine and you'll see the typos I'm mocking.

IDK but it sounds to me like the impending traffic is being impeded by doofuses blocking the left lane illegally.

Hey don't pick on him. He's got a camera after all. 🤔

I'm coming up on three years driving now and I always drove solo. I thought I would hate teaming so I never tried it until a couple months ago. What I do is a little different than typical teaming since we have to both deliver to customers during the day, but I've found I actually really like the companionship and I've learned to sleep in a moving truck just fine.

My advice is just go ahead and go to school and start training somewhere. After sharing a truck with a trainer for a month or two you should have a better idea if you want to try teaming or not.

Damn, between the impending traffic and violating statues this thread is really starting to creep me out!!

I agree with G Town, sounds like a good gig if you're up for it! And yes, the vast majority of companies would consider that gig as otr experience.

The picture you mention was taken by Chris Burkhard, a photographer who inspires.

That particular picture was taken in Switzerland, I believe.

Chris’ images caught my attention before I went through the process of considering ‘Pure Joy’, as mentioned.
He later did this Ted Talk which struck a chord ...

“Every photograph is precious ... “
- Chris Burkhard

Pure Joy, Chris Burkhard - TedTalk

I have seen some of these places, or similar. He captures in a photo what I see and feel.

Wow, thanks for sharing that Ted talk! I really enjoyed his story.

Big Scott is right, it's very easy to remove the restriction later by just retesting in a manual at a cdl school. The hard part is finding someone who will let you practice on a manual. Some schools do like a one week refresher course--that's all it would take you to learn manual if you already know how to drive.

Just keep a spare key in your pants. You'll never lock yourself out...unless you forget your pants.

G town??

“It’s 9 o’clock on a Saturday,...the regular crowd shuffles in...”

Good to hear from you PM!

How are you? (Hijack of Donna’s post in progress)

Good to hear from you!

Haha nice one G! I'm great! Back on the road, teaming now, doing otr home furniture deliveries. Wife left me earlier this year. Should make six figures next year or close to it. That pretty much sums it up.

Sorry for the hijack Donna!

But seriously, you sure you're all right?

I'm surprised I didn't have more interaction like yours when I still worked for Swift. People are stupid.

Great question Old School! I usually engage it when moving as well so I'd love to know if I'm doing it wrong.

Grumpy Old Man asks:

I'll add another question to this, since it is related.

I remember locking differentials on farm tractors. When engaged, turning was almost impossible. Is it the same on today's trucks? Remember, I'm old, so hopefully technology has changed

Nope, doesn't make it hard to turn at all.

Hey Doug, I am also currently a local driver in Denver making about the same as you are, just without the overtime. I figured it up, and with overtime you're making around 60k a year right? You can definitely make at least that over the road and probably much more depending on where you go. I haven't looked much at other companies lately, but I know at mine (American Furniture Warehouse) our otr drivers bring in at least 70k a year and are home every week. I know firsthand because I used to drive otr for them and switched to local after several months.

American Furniture Warehouse also increased their pay for otr drivers and local drivers a few months ago.

Maybe he can see if his company can send someone out with him for a day or two to coach him on it. If not, perhaps watching a bunch of YouTube videos might help?

Of course, he could always contact a local trucking school to do a couple days of training with them, but that will be more expensive and he probably will have to share a truck with other students.