Comments By Silverbolt

... The 24 year old daughter of some friends of mine had her first trainer put her off his truck because "little girls like you belong at home raising babies, not out here doing man's work."

Someone that demented should NOT be training anyone, period.

The one place you do not want an automatic is in school. You want to at least have a working knowledge of how a truck shifts in trucks that are junk. They shift a lot differently the a car or pickup. Beside if you don't learn to shift while in school you might end up in a lease op training truck and that will not go good at all. And if your unluckily enough to do your driving test in an automatic then you get a restriction put on your cdl and can only drive autos.

Well, I meant like maybe one day at the most. I already know that learning how to shift well is absolutely paramount to success in this career, and it's a big chunk of one's score when taking the test. I was just assuming that at the academy they would want to at least expose prospective drivers to just about anything they're likely to encounter when solo, at least once.

I wonder how a little farmer's market type produce stand would work at a truck stop - like near the building or someplace convenient for drivers to get to. I mean, if you had a cart full of a huge variety of farm-fresh veggies, you would think people would scoop em up. I mean, it's hard to get that stuff when you're truckin. How many places really have a great variety of fresh fruits and veggies? Hopefully a lot more places in the coming years.

Now this is a fantastic idea! I've already been looking at hydroponics gardening, and thought for a time about setting up my own roadside produce stand. Maybe I can still do something like this in a future, and pay someone to run the stand for me at truck stops or terminals. I have to imagine that the average trucker is very deficient on fresh foods.

I'm also a very big fan of putting your entire body through its full range of motion every day if possible. I use Yoga to do it, but there are plenty of ways. Stretching every muscle to the max and putting every joint through its full range of motion is critical to maintaining flexibility, putting your body in proper alignment, and preventing injuries. It also helps to flush out toxins and improve circulation. We don't lose our strength, balance, and flexibility over time because we're getting old. We lose it because we stop using it. There are 85 year old yoga instructors that have better flexibility and balance than most 25 year old professional athletes.

Studies have also been done that show men will not lose any muscle whatsoever from ages 30 through 60 if they maintain a modest strength training regiment or heavy lifting lifestyle. So the idea that "I'm getting old" at 45 or 50 is a proven fallacy and there are thousands of people out there that prove you can remain limber and strong throughout your lifetime.

You don't have to be "extreme" to be healthy. You have to be extreme to reach an elite level, but you only have to do a few simple things consistently to be very healthy and fit.

That's one thing that makes me a little nervous about truck driving -- staying healthy. Daniel B.'s posts detailing his excursions with his new bike are particularly inspiring; I'm thinking I definitely want to start that as soon as I can.

Thank you all. :) It sounds like automatics are less common, but not rare to be assigned. Hopefully I'll at least get some training on one while in school, just so I have some experience and know what to expect. Either way, thanks!

One of the reasons you'll find ten nutritional concepts for every human being on the planet it seems is because people don't approach it scientifically enough.

You have to measure what you're eating to know what is truly working and what isn't.

I like your approach. :)

Hear hear! I echo all of these sentiments. And welcome.

You also don't want to be contributing to the "Trucker Bomb Problem" - http://freakyphenomena.com/article/trucker-bombs

Rick

Holy crapbaskets that's just nasty, and insane. o_0

The dice are a bit loaded against me, as I absolutely LOVE breakfast. Both getting up and eating a big breakfast, and breakfast foods in general. I could eat a 3-egg farmer's omelet for every meal and enjoy it. So my best bet is probably to skip dinner.

I found Dr. Mercola years ago, and his advice and knowledge has always made far more sense to me than a lot of what might be called more mainstream doctors. I'm already wondering if I could fit a power plate into the sleeping berth of a rig (once I can even afford one!).

Hey SilverBolt,

I found this paragraph reading further in the link you provided:

You can then further boost your fat loss efforts by incorporating the principles of intermittent fasting, and by exercising in a fasted state. A simple way to get started with intermittent fasting is to simply omit breakfast, making lunch the first meal of your day. I usually recommend this kind of eating schedule, but if you want to eat breakfast and skip dinner instead, that’s okay too. The key is to limit your eating to a specific, narrow window of time each day (about 6-8 hours), rather than eating every two to three hours, all throughout the day.

. . . so skipping dinner instead of breakfast might be just as effective . . .

Jopa

Yup. :) And thank you. I've already been pondering these things, trying to work out ahead of time what would be an optimal lifestyle as an OTR driver before I'm actually one yet. The more input, the better!

I was just curious as to how common automatic transmissions are in rigs which are designed and expected to pull heavy loads on a regular basis. I don't know a lot about auto mechanics, but I was under the impression that heavy loads would be too taxing on an automatic transmission. And to be sure, I have a good deal of experience with manuals (in fact, the very first vehicle I ever learned to drive was a stick shift), so I'm not afraid of a clutch. But they can be very tiring in extensive stop-and-go traffic. I'm just curious what modern trucks out there are like; I'll drive whatever I'm assigned without a complaint, as long as it's not constantly breaking down.

Cheers.