Comments By Errol V.

Mountain Matt quotes:

Errol, the Bible also says to "Pray continuously." That would definitely go over the HOS!

In that case the OP pastor won't be driving. Continuous prayer would be considered On Duty Not Driving. On Duty can continue beyond the 14 hour limit without any penalty. The catch is you must still wait 10 hours between the end of Duty and when you can Drive again.

Moving from the ecclesiastical to the secular, I believe the Pastor can shepherd his flock as long as he has some dependable deacons. And he gets a Home Daily driving job.

The unused upper bunk a great place to store your stuff! If you see one that looks like there's no upper bunk, it's probably folded up against the back wall.

True, your CDL is not valid without a current Med Card. It depends on the state but you may have to pay a reinstatement fee. This fee will probably make your wallet feel uncomfortable. "Grace period"? You might get lucky.

Christopher points out he is a pastor. In that case he needs to lead a church in worship nearly every Sunday morning. On top of that if issues come up in his congregation he needs to be able to tend to his "flock". Thus the need to be home, especially on Sundays.

Pac Pearl's suggestion about LTL is worth considering. That career path often starts out working on the cross dock (no pun there!!) until he has enough experience there and the company has an opening for another driver. In that case they can get the training done. And LTL can easily be "home daily" or at least home weekends.

The talk about HOS hours is interesting. A pastor spends lots of time in prayer. So could we have a Talmudic discussion of logging prayer time as On Duty Not Driving? Just asking!

Leo's lips a sealed:

Start naming company names, yours and pickup

No.

On this web forum we'll help you with with specific information only if you can open up. We are familiar with the workings of many trucking companies, and possibly some of our members work there. Nothing you need to be embarrassed about.

So we can basically keep waving our hands on a vague way, or if you want to continue being cagey, we can't help you.

Lazy so I copy/pasted this:

Well after 2 and a half hours nothing seems to happen, you’re walking in, and they’re telling you they’re extremely lazy ooops busy and it’s gonna be a few more hours.

#1: Waiting for your assigned load can go for several hours, even for longer than you expected. I've had to wait 24 hours for a load, more than once. When your time runs low, you gotta go. Talk to shipping, they should understand you'll be back tomorrow.

#2: You wrote "extremely lazy ooops busy ". When you are the shipping supervisor, you can use the word "lazy". These people are on the clock, and you have no idea what their work assignments are. At one shipper, I backed to the dock and waited, sitting in my cab. I could hear the forklift driving in and out, often with many minutes of silence between each loading. I never thought to ask if the driver was just taking his sweet time of if he was basically doing two or three jobs at once. Bottom line: you do your job, even if it includes long wait periods. The shipper will do theirs as they get their job done.

Failed my in cab (valves)

That's too vague. The air brake test allows for little slack.

If you got the valves mixed up/confused, that happens. I tell my students to start with the RED VALVE. While you press the red valve in, look at the yellow one, read the name on it and say "I'm testing my PARKING BRAKES.

Then pull the red one out, press the YELLOW VALVE. While you press the yellow one valve in, look at the red one, read the name on it and say "I'm testing my TRAILER BRAKES.

For the servings brake they must both be pushed in.

When you push in the red valve you cover it's name. But you can see and read the name on the other one. That is actually the cake you are testing.

My boss informed me that we will skip one class here in Memphis. He asked (told) me to go to training location in San Berdoo.

So I'll be hanging out in a hotel in Colton, CA, till the first week in August.

CDL training is the same everywhere so I can train in any state.

if you want to meet, email me at tt.errolv@spamgourmet.com.

In nearly every Pre-Trip you do you won't find anything wrong. But you do it for the time you find something.

Moe has a good personal experience story here. Also, Pre-Trip and repairs are logged as On Duty time, not on your break. But I have a friend who says he always goes off duty when the mechanic starts the repairs.

Why do a Pre-Trip

Hi, C. A., we have a ton of information for potential truckers on this website. Touch on the three-bar menu (upper left) for a direct route to our stuff. In particular there's this: DOT Physical - The Complete Guide

A hint for Arkansans: the Arkansas CDL requires that you get trained and registered with Truckers Against Trafficking. (I believe everyone reading this should take the training.)

BTW, I got info a truck when I was 66. That was four years ago.

I have three thoughts for you, Harry:

There's an old saying, "Git back on the horse ya fell off of." The point is, manage your fear by facing it. Also, accidents can be a great teacher of you get back on your horse.

True, there are the mirrors on each side of your truck, but there are a couple of places it's hard to see. If you don't pay attention to your driving the only blind spots will be in your head. You can watch the cars as they drive near you and remember the ones that slide into your blind areas. Then watch for them as they reappear.

Great move to watch the other car's wheels! Those wheels are the best indicator of movement.

Watch those Pre-Trip videos. It's very important to know how to do the air brake tests in the cab. The S-cam video just shows you how it all works together - different than car hydraulic brakes.

This is one of those places when you must memorize the names of things and, again, make sure they're not bent or broken. Do not worry too much if you haven't started classes.

Here's a good pre-trip video: Class A Pre-Trip DEMO

Don't worry, Tammy. You're not expected to be a mechanic. Maybe you can replace wiper blades or light bulbs, that's about it. The pre-trip trip is a matter of looking at things and making sure they're not broken or bent. (a bit more, but this gives you the idea.)

Learn the names of things - some of those you'll have to memorize.

Also, I show this video to all my classes. It's 15 minutes on truck air brakes. It's actually designed to show real newbies how air brakes work:

S-cam Air Brakes

I forgot. Here are a couple of Canadian terms:

AZ ("A-Zed") license: US CDL

GTA: Greater Toronto Area

Here is a talk by a company driver recruiter. He's interested in hiring "Real Drivers", but he can spot "Fake" ones, too.

I have seen both kinds of drivers posting on Trucking Truth. What kind of driver are you?

Real Drivers vs Fake Drivers (What Companies Look For in New Hires)

This is a great situation for the old Backing Practice™ series.

If the hotel can get all the cars out of the front lot for you, you can either A. Use the cul de sac to turn around then back in from the street to either side of that island. Or B. Drive in to the right side of the island and make a heroic U-turn to point the trailer doors at the entrance.

If the hotel can't clear the lot, it's their unload from the street.

We can know if a "secret purpose":

The whole "driver shortage" story has a different purpose than highlighting an actual shortage of drivers.

We can use our imagination:

less trucks equals more freight to move, less waiting and higher rates

I believe the shortage to be real. I regularly have recruiters come to my class to tell my students how great their company is. About the trucks with refrigerators, APUs, TVs and even SiriusXM included. Some recruiters are even offering hiring bonus to my recent grads! A few companies have just now bumped driver pay again.

Just imagine paying $500 to get a rookie driver on board! Who'da thot!

The need for drivers has been a real thing for years now.

Mikey brings this up:

Oreos

You are just using this as a dog-whistle to show you've been on this forum for several (5) years. Shame on the mess!

I've never thought of you as a Boneheaded Trucker, Errol!

I'm a subscriber! Yes!

What Ike ("Mr Say No to Boneheads") says on his blog:

Now in 2021, we have the power to change our trucking industry by exposing the things truckers do that ruin our image and lessen our value as drivers. We can do better as truckers.

How can you say NO to that?

Say NO to flip flops!

Yeah, you'll have the shakes & can't close your eyes at night for a bit. But the driver admitted to the trooper that he wasn't looking. It's really hard for the rear ending person to blame the guy in front.

What could you have done? Keep an eye on your mirrors. Every car around you, front, side and back is something to pay attention to. Trucks are usually slower than the rest of traffic, so in a way you are traveling backwards on the freeway. Pay attention to the direction you are moving (backwards) and watch out in that direction.

If you see a car in the rear view, keep an eye on them till they pass you.

Garrett supposes:

but 40K miles just seems more than sufficient for the average person to get the hang of it and prepared enough to go solo.

So says someone who hasn't experienced truck driving yet. I'm not dissing you - it's one of those "wait till you walk a mile in my shoes" kind of things.

Trust me, any company wants to make dam sure people they pay to drive their $quarter million trucks with up to a $quarter million freight on public roads don't have accidents that will cost them a few $million in a lawsuit.

Also, any company wants trainees off the training truck and out rolling revenue miles as soon as safely possible.