Profile For Big Scott

My best advice for driving on snow and ice is slow down and don't hit the breaks. Put your flashers on, dive slow and increase your following distance. You need extra time to slow down and stop. Hitting your breaks will make you slide. Remember, even as a student, when you're in the driver's seat you are captain of the ship and it's your butt and CDL on the line.

You may be able to find a school you pay for. If you go to an OTR company for paid training, you might have weekends off during the CDL portion of your training. Even if a company allows pets, you won't be able to take one with you until you are on your one. Expect that to be four to eight weeks from the day you start. I know that Knight-Swift has a training facility in Phoenix. Otherwise you may be able to find a local company that has a dock to driver program. That's where you work on the dock while getting your CDL permit, then they teach you how to drive. They might have a weekend off option.

Good luck.

Back in June I was on my way east on I40 headed to a beach store. A car knocked a piece of road debris into my lane and I heard a load pop as I went over it. Pulled over to find one of my tractors air bags blown. My boss set up a road service call, and we got an eta of 2+ hours til arrival. Well a bit over 2 hours later the road service company cancelled, saying they don't have the necessary parts in stock. It was going to be hours until we could get our own service truck out to me. We ended up having one of the day shift drivers who was just getting started drive his empty tanker out to me and swap trucks on the side of I40. I was already exceeding 14 hours, so I jumped in his truck and made it back to the terminal just before hitting the 16hr mark. The other driver had the pleasure of sitting and waiting for our mechanic to come replace the airbag, and then continue on to complete that delivery. I loaded that truck at 11pm, made it 1hr 45min down the highway before breaking down, and didnt get back to our terminal until 7:30am.

I watched three full Netflix movies while I was on the side of I40....

The fun part of local driving, no bunk to jump into. However, I never want to go back on the road. Better it hit your airbag than your windshield.

That's rough Big Scott!

Trucking is full of surprises. Some of them not always enjoyable.

I'm glad it wasn't worse!

I have always said that the best laid plans in trucking will blow up in your face.

So last night started easy. When the last day shift guy gets back, go load the Semi and wait for Linwood yard to text for fuel. No problem. Several hours later when Linwood texted, off I went. They are off exit 84 on I85 in NC. I'm cruising along and see in my right mirror something flapping at the back of the trailer, where nothing should be flapping. Then I see some sparks and think WTF. No sparks are a small concern when hauling 6800 gallons of diesel. 😱 The next exit, just ahead, is 81 and I know they have a 7-11 there with truck parking, so I head there and pull into the fuel island. I look back there and see one shredding and one flat tire.

I called my coworker to put him on alert and called road service. They gave me a two hour ETA for the tire guy. When I sent that update to Linwood, my coworker called me and said he was just finished reloading and he would go fuel those engines since they needed them fueled ASAP.

I waited. Five hours later they showed with my trailer tires. It was a long frustrating night of doing nothing the hard way.

You never know when Murphy will screw up your plans.

Stay safe out there.

With most companies, as long as you have safe and secure place to park your truck, they can send you there for home time. Maine would be harder to get to them New Orleans.

There are plenty of companies who offer sponsored training.

Do you want to try dry van, refer, flatbed or tanker?

Just start looking and studying the High Road CDL Training Program.

Also look at our diaries section to see some current training stories. As far as hearing aids that won't be a problem.

Unfortunately we had a driver recently terminated after a similar mishap.

The store he was at required you to park under the gas fuel island to reach the fuel drops, and then pull all the way through to turn and depart the store.

Unfortunately he rushed his his right turn and hit the bollard protecting the fuel pumps with the trailer axle at just over 20mph. The trailers frame was bent, and will likely never be roadworthy again.

Always watch your mirrors and be aware of where your trailer is tracking. And more importantly don't rush!

Always know where your truck and trailer are and are going. Also, go slow when moving in tight quarters. In Charlotte last week there was a local fuel truck driver who went off the road at the exit for the refineries. It was wet out and he obviously was going too fast.

Yikes!!

Yup. Now they're looking for a day shift person. One day shift guy took that night shift spot.

Truck driver trainers are not trained to teach. Every trainer will have a different way of showing you what they know. Don't let this get to you. Like was said before, ask questions if you don't understand something. While on your trainers truck, be clean and tidy. Also, take a shower every chance you can. If you don't know how to get a shower ask your trainer to show you.

When your on your own, get an Atlas, a CB and a good trucker's GPS. If you want to use an app for GPS, I have use and recommend the Hammer app. I like that I can easily save locations, set the type of truck and the hazmat level. No matter what GPS you use remember they are very fallible. Know your route. Also Google maps is for cars only, DO NOT USE IT.

GOAL any time you are not 110% sure where your truck and trailer are or they are going. Never be afraid to GOAL. When backing take your time and go slow. You will never be good enough not to GOAL.

Try not to let things get under your skin. Communicate with dispatch. There are so many things to affect your travel time that are out of your control. Accidents can close a road down. Construction will slow you down. You will mostly be able to keep a regular schedule, until you can't. Learn how to manage your clock. Learn the legalities of your logs and how to manage them. That is done electronically. Learn how to use your ELD and send messages to dispatch and how to read messages. Sleep when you can.

Pay attention. Check your mirrors, know where your stepping when getting out of your truck or the trailer. It very easy to step down into a hole. You don't want to twist an ankle. Keep a safe following distance, if someone cuts you off, slow down to increase following distance.

Best of luck to you.

Absolutely true. There was a guy at my company who didn't stop at a RR crossing. The locomotive hit his second trailer. The fireball was spectacular. He didn't fired until he did the exact same thing a second time. Don't just own your mistakes, learn from them. Don't do the same stupid thing twice. By the way that video is part of our safety training.