Comments By Unity

The last off ramp I used had a large patch of dirt besides the road where I could get a good distance away from traffic. I've been in those situation where I have hours left but could technically just shut down at the truck stop I'm at and pick up the next day given the load. I tend to always want to arrive as soon as possible tho and like driving the most I can before I get drowsy or run out of time.

One way I think of it is the sooner I get there, the less I worry about an accident or such making me late. Finding parking is a pain sometimes but yeah, google maps, trucker path, rest areas. I stop anywhere unless I have free showers. I try to use them at the end of the day but sometimes fit them in between my run and just hurry up. I enjoy showers tho so end of day gives me more time to relax as I listen to tayler swift :P

I like driving at night because there is less traffic but the dedicated account I switched to makes that harder given when most stores had me unload and the fact I save my clock waking up for the first unload instead of driving to my first unload.

Renegade, besides keeping a lookout ahead for possible truck stops, if you keep a schedule like most drivers (drive in the day, sleep at night) you should also plan to stop around 5:30 local time.

Using Trucker Path, look for non-national stops, or simple gas stations that allow truck parking. Last night I pulled into a TA, and saw two trucks almost racing to get that last spot. I turned around, and crossed over the interstate to a Shell station that still had 5-6 empty spots!

(If you drive from 3am to early afternoon, you'll never have a truck stop parking problem!)

Another factor is large cities. Truck stops close to a big town fill up faster than the in-between ones.

For instance, I stopped tonight near the Georgia-Alabama line on I-20 for a scale. It was that time of day: 5:30. I was heading west towards Memphis and even had 3 hours of driving time left. But in a few hours l'd be 1) close to Birmingham, AL, and 2) 7pm, after the time when all good truckers are backed into their spot for the night.

So I called it a day at the Love's in Waco GA. Better here than worrying about full/packed truck stops or (horrors!) on-ramp parking.

So she's not just a prime driver anymore? I missed lots of her vids once I started trucking but they were great!

Do you have a link to a vid where she talks about her job or how are you thinking that's what she does now?

Thanks

Looks like Allie doesn't do a whole lot of driving anymore period.

Since her internet rock-stardom, looks like she's doing marketing and other stuff. Not sure if this was her lifes goal, but she seems to be enjoying it.

I've been watching her travels since she first started posting. Personally - I miss the daily road blogs.

Rick

I think she's doing training and promo video for JPT and Wiltrans, along with some high-vis loads. She struggled with it at first, you can tell from watching the video from that time. Still love watching her video when they come out. She does a very good job, from actually filming down to editing.

I like Allie knight''s YouTube channel. She works for prime and has an adorable cat.

https://youtu.be/3xI5gNXrB3s

My denial letter is in the mail and at this point I'm going to take it to my primary doctor and ask him to give me an MRI. If I have to pay for it out of pocket, so be it.

I'm not going to wait it out, if my injury isn't severe, I'm going back to work but I'll be switching to OTR. I already told myself I would make a strong effort to stay with this company for 1 year and I'm sticking to that.

Doing a more demanding job however exposes me to more risk of injury. I'm glad to see the stores where happy with my unloading performance and I enjoyed the excersice but this experience dosen't give me comfidence they will take care of me if I get injured. On the positive note, I'll finally see a dock again although the tight backing was fun in its own way.

I remember when I first started and was worried about that warning the computer gives you. After trying to sleep through it with all the windows open and getting horrible sleep, plus waking up with bites all over me, I worried less and less about that warning lol

I see some people take filters to their open windows :D

I know my company does not have apus, but they do have an idle policy. If it's above 70 or below 30, you can idle. Between those Temps they figure you can use a fan or your bunk heater to stay comfortable.

Having said that, if you are having trouble sleeping because it's too uncomfortable.in the truck, I believe they have some leeway, just don't abuse it or you'll be getting phone calls.

One thing that some companies forget is, even if it is 70 degrees outside, if it's a sunny day, the sun beating down on the truck will raise the temperature inside the truck to a higher temp.

Sometimes what I'll do is, if it is cool outside, but the inside of the truck is hot, I'll open both side vents so there is a cross breeze, then take my turbo fan and clip it to the handle of the vent so that it is pulling the cooler air from outside the truck into the truck.

For cold nights, the bunk heater works quite well. Just remember to carry a 12v DC electric blanket with you (or a normal one if you have an inverter, either will work fine), just in case you need extra warmth.

I actually wanted to stay with my grandmother but being as small as I was, I couldn't hold on hard enough and so here I am and she passed away already. I could just get up and leave I suppose but I've been raised here most of my life so now I would feel like a foreigner in Mexico. Hey mate, I don't mind people speaking their mind to me so long as it dosen't get out of hand. Some employers give me the opinion they rather focus on a persons work ethic and others didn't take a risk and told me no. One explained it to me, "I find it all a s** storm. If they want to tell me who I can't and can hire, then they should come down here and find those people for me." I had one guy interviewing me tell me I'm not worth the hassle after I told him so go figure.

I've been denied employment after passing interviews for my status while others could care less. I have a hard time figuring out my stance on the issue ever since I found out. Yeah, I didn't always know about it and my parents mislead me a bit when I asked. When you put you're a citizen for your first 2 jobs and then get hired without a problem, it all seems good. Then again, even with a work permit and telling my employer about my exact situation that I now know about, it seems I broke the law anyways? Maybe you find the grey area in my situation or not, I dont know but I'm here to stay as far as I can tell. Japan seems nice tho, need to keep working on my Japanese :/

I like the trucking life so far although I switched to dedicated for the exercise and currently have an injury. Yeah, many of my classmates weren't too happy with the school or the life after they started and left. The experience is enjoyable for me all else aside but I could never see myself doing teams. Would this be where I settle for sure, probably not but life is short and learning something new is fun but also stressfull. I might not be the best trucker out there but I try to enjoy myself and take the fact I'm driving such a large vehicle seriously.

Interesting, I informed my recruiter and the company when I was hired and they didn't tell me anything. I don't believe I'm a security risk but I'll keep an eye on myself from now on :P

The thing about taking away jobs I cant really comment on with any measure of confidence Rick but aren't truck drivers needed right now so my employment is pure benefit from that angle?

The "shortage" is due to HIGH TURNOVER, as much as an actual shortage of equipment with drivers to move freight. That and the higher than average people dropping out, due to "false expectations" of pay, working conditions, etc. (something this site works very hard to dispel), loneliness/missing family. And of course having accidents and getting citations, and finding themselves let go.

There ARE RULES associated with obtaining a CDL - ones which, for whatever reason, you happened to slide by.

Really don't want to turn this into a political thread, or be accused of xenophobia, but the fact of the matter is - american citizens and lawful permanent residents should have the first shot at jobs here. There are classes of visa's and work authorizations for a reason also. I have the greatest of admiration for folks who come here and play by the rules - and an incredible depth of contempt for those WHO DO NOT.

Rick

LMAO.

First Tractor Man:

Paul, Do yourself a favor. Just don't ever lock your Truck.

rofl-3.gif

Then Old School:

Paul, if you want to start making the big bucks, do like I do... Lock yourself in the truck!

What fun would trucking be if I didn't have a couple trucker friends to poke fun at me when I screw up?

I guess the best way I can frame it is someone coming up to the register and still not sure what to get with a line behind him. Mentality one would be thinking about the line and might say go ahead to the guy behind. Mentality two wouldn't even have it cross his mind and just stand there until he decides what to buy. I was hoping for mentality one but yes, technically, he is next?

I guess its not so much that he had to find a solution for me not to park there but the way in which he viewed and replied to the question. It also doesn't help his case that he told me he ran over a parked car with his trailer and just left... pieces everywhere he said...

courteous lvl: -14 points lol

I asked a driver next to me if he knew where I can park as a bobtail cuz I didn't want to take the full spot but he wasn't very helpful on the curtesy front. Just told me it's first come first serve which is not really the attitude I was looking for.

I don't see what's uncourteous about that. He's right, parking is first come first serve. If there's somewhere I can park bobtail other than the full spots, I will. But I'm not going to risk getting towed just to be a nice guy.

Interesting, I informed my recruiter and the company when I was hired and they didn't tell me anything. I don't believe I'm a security risk but I'll keep an eye on myself from now on :P

The thing about taking away jobs I cant really comment on with any measure of confidence Rick but aren't truck drivers needed right now so my employment is pure benefit from that angle?

I came up on a small truck stop that had a $10 to park sign. U-turned that sucker straight to an *offramp! I ran out of time but I was $10 richer for it and that's 2-4 meals on the road and 4-6 when put towards my weekly grocery spree at costco/walmart :D

*patch of dirt off the road