Location:
Dallas, TX
Driving Status:
Rookie Team Driver
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My husband and I were OTR team drivers for both CRST and Schneider and eventually went through the lease purchase program at Schneider. About two months from our purchase we were involved in a nasty wreck that took us off the road, likely permanently. I don't know everything about trucking but we did our best and my husband was commended as being the reason that pileup didn't have any fatalities. Several other drivers couldn't believe we hadn't been on the road for many more years than we were because he handled both the truck and the aftermath so well. I don't remember much of the wreck (I got frigidaired, those mini fridges pack a punch when they slam into your head) but I'm glad we made it.
If you have questions about CRST, Schneider, or their lease purchase program I would love to answer them. I miss the road as if it were the only life I had ever known and talking trucks makes me happy. I can also help a bit when it comes to insurances you need (whether you realize you need or not at the time) and I'll even help a little with figuring that stuff out if you ever need to. Though I do hope and pray that everyone on here never has to go through that rigamarole.
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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Your eyes can get tired too. You will get a hazy look and have trouble with focusing from doing too much computer work. I think it's called eye fatigue or eye strain or something like that. Taking a break and looking at things close or not looking at anything at all might help. At least that's what it was for me and I wear glasses or contacts (contacts when I was driving because it gave me better periferal (sp?) vision)
Go google a pic of all the muscles around the eye. Then imagine the tiny little ones that adjust your eye so that you can see perfectly and how much that eye must have to work to adjust every single time there are headlights (or a crazy bright led tv on the side of the dang road being used for a sign). See if closing your eyes for a bit helps, sometimes applying a cool compress to them makes it feel better. Though my advice is just that, my advice. I'm not a doctor by any means.
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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He owns his own rig and has his own insurance. Only way I figured this out is because he asked about riders and they were like we don't have a policy and he said he didn't see an issue as long as they didn't
I may be misreading this but any company I have heard about that doesn't have a policy means that they aren't allowed. I could easily be wrong and way off on this. Is the truck his and he runs for someone else? Is he buying a truck and runs for the company he is buying from?
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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We tried a small walk this afternoon but were soon brought down by giant mosquitoes, cactus thorns, and a puddle. Even the deep wood off wasn't stopping those mosquitoes (thankfully her internal stuff we give her had them far from her, but that just left me all the more tempting). She sniffed a cactus. Yup, just walked up and sniffed it like it was a bouquet of daisies. We got all the thorns out (I brought a small first aid kit and thought about tweezers for splinters and those tiny stickers that are everywhere right now). And the puddle.
She jumped into the puddle and splashed and romped and rolled and acted like a fool. She spent almost twenty minutes in the puddle before the puddle ran out of water. We walked back home (I am only allowed to drive for 30 minutes a day, everything has to be within a 15 minute radius of the house) and I put her in the yard while I changed out of my soggy clothes into dry ones.
By the time I got back outside she had either jumped the fence or found a way out that I couldn't figure out and was half way down the street. We had been gone an hour but apparently she didn't get enough exercise. It took me almost an hour and a half to convince her to come back home (two rabbits sidetracked her, she almost caught one).
As far as her breed, they knew the momma dog was a greyhound. They didn't know what the daddy dog was. She got the coloring (which is hard to see in that pic) from her mom. She's a beautiful brindle. She didn't get the daintiness from her mom though. We don't know where that build and that face came from. But boy is she fast! She's a sight to see in full run.
I'll be trying again tomorrow but I think the rabbits gave me an idea. I'm going to see if there are any hunting dog classes out there. She had a purpose in the truck. She was the guard dog and the cuddle whoever was sleeping dog. If one of us got out of the truck, it wasn't without her (except when we ate, she knew to wait then because she would be getting a treat). Maybe she needs a new purpose instead of just a pet. She had a job and now she's unemployed.
I don't think she will be a competition hunting dog or anything special, but maybe just learning some new skills might help. And maybe rein her back in. She knows so many commands and can do them, I've seen her do them. Sit, stay, watch, lay down, roll over, shake, shake other paw, circles, up, up and over, down, hold this, and then some. A few of them we can't practice without a truck such as brakes when we released the air brakes she would move to the step and wait. She's smart, maybe give her a new purpose and something different to do.
Btw, if I ramble forgive me. If I repeat myself forgive me also. I'm still working on memory and I lose a lot throughout the day.
My husband and I talked about getting back into a truck and what it would take. The biggest part would be getting the doctors to release us to drive again. It was nice talking logistics again.
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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I'll will give this a try. We haven't hiked near creeks or anything like that, but she isn't too keen on the park. She is a greyhound mix and loves to run like crazy. We don't have a lot of room for her to just run (she loved the salt flats, she is FAST). We've been trying other things to keep her stimulated, we tried cutting back stimulation too at one point thinking she was overstimulated. That was NOT it. We know drives in the car calm her down while we are going, she actually seems to sleep while the car is moving. This is her in the passenger seat of one of the trucks.
She's is about 50lbs or so, she's gained weight since we have had to park. I'm starting to be able to take her on longer walks but not as much as I would like. My balance is not quite what it needs to be.
Wanted to thank you for at least responding. Everyone at our house (and our neighbors houses) are doing our best to help her get through this time but a couple of times I've wanted to kill her. She ate the siding off the house! Literally ate it. And no, she gets very high quality food so it wasn't that. Blue buffalo, she loves the stuff and it's good for her.
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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I've done my best since our wreck to get over the problems caused by it. The brain injury is still holding me back and keeping me parked and will likely do so for a good amount of time. Btw, if you are EVER in question about using that safety net while you sleep, put that dang thing on!! Rope burn is 100 times better than flying through the windshield. I sort of did both. Another thing, don't get out of the truck until you are sure everyone behind you has already hit you, or stopped. In fact, don't even unbuckle.
While my husband and I were trucking we had a trucking dog that we had adopted. She had separation anxiety and the trucking life seemed like a fix for her problems and it was! She was an amazing help to us in the truck. I don't know how many times she sat out side my bathroom door at nights at those creepy rest areas. I know she foiled one guy who either had bad intentions or just seriously bad manners. She gave us a reason to get out and exercise and she guarded the truck better than an alarm would while we were out of it. She had WONDERFUL manners in the truck. Unless you wanted the passenger seat. Then you may have to convince her it was in her best interest to move and let you sit.
She knows dozens of tricks and commands and is an awesome dog. This is the part that gets bad. Since the wreck, she hasn't been herself or rather she can't be herself. She keeps trying to get in vehicles to go somewhere. I don't think she really cares where. She chews stuff up around the house, destroys fencing, and won't listen for any reason any more. Now let her in a car and all those manners she had comes back. We've talked to our counselors/psychiatrists/neuropsychs and even talked to a doggy psychiatrist. It's almost been two years since the wreck and she is not adjusting to being off the road at all. She is not happy sitting at home and I don't blame her. I sincerely miss the road and wish I was back out there but I would be a danger to other people on the road (I forget what I am doing while I'm doing it, I get lost in my own yard, I forget who I walked in a store with if I lose sight of them, and the worst of all is I zone out. Sometimes for a few seconds, sometimes I lose hours)
I would like to know if anyone would like to give her a test run. She is current on her paperwork to travel and if it doesn't work out you can bring her back. I'm not sure if this is appropriate here but I can't just send her to the pound and hope they find a trucker. We don't know how else to find her a trucker or someone who runs around in an rv all the time. If you have any suggestions please let me know. Unless it's medication, we tried that and had a dog rug basically. She didn't like it and neither did we. We want her happy and everyone around us thinks she needs back on the road. Most of them think I need back out there too but at least I can understand why I can't be out there. I can't explain it to her.
Thanks in advance.
Posted: 9 years, 3 months ago
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Best truck for big and tall driver
Hi folks, What is the best long haul truck for big and tall drivers (I'm 6'7" and 330 lbs) regarding driver's seat, legroom, bed size and general comfort? Thanks Richard
My husband is 6'2" and 295. He's a bit smaller but in his opinion the volvo was more comfortable than the freightliner and the kenworth was the most comfortable. We were only in a freightliner (2014) a volvo (2013) and a kenworth (2015). All three were brand new but the kenworth was the only one that was not part of a large fleet. It was custom for us.
Posted: 9 years, 3 months ago
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I've written a new article entitled Is Trucking Worth It Anymore? where I discuss my opinion on today's trucking industry and whether or not a career in trucking is worth doing any longer.
Every one of us has a different personality. We live under different circumstances and have different life goals. Some people want adventure and travel, others want a quiet life at home with family and friends. There are a ton of jobs to choose from, but in the end trucking isn't the answer for most people.
If you're an experienced driver, what advice would you give people considering a career in trucking?
If you're considering a career in trucking or you haven't begun just yet, what are the major factors in making your decision?
This is such a tough decisions for so many people. I'd love to hear what it came down to for you and how you feel about the industry today.
I On this particular subject I have to say something. For me, I have done lots of things, I have been at the top in auto collision. Some of my work was featured on the cover of Luxury Auto magazine for some carbon fiber I did on a lamborghini gallardo. I've worked as head pastry chef in a four star kitchen. I am a published author. So far in my life my absolute favorite thing was sitting behind that big steering wheel. I cannot begin to describe the feeling I get when behind that wheel and controlling that truck precisely how I want to. To know that I have every inch of that beast purring how I want it to is an amazing feeling. The feeling of accomplishment I got whenever I delivered a load on time. Didn't matter how many times I delivered on time, each one was a victory. I could go on and on. This job was hard, insanely hard. It was challenging but that made each success so much sweeter.
So, is this career still worth it? For me it was. It was almost two years ago that I started my path to become a trucker. My road has ended. If I had known two years ago how it would end, would I have done it still? Yes. Because for some of those people out there, it isn't going to be the money that makes it worth it. It's going to be the ride.
Posted: 9 years, 4 months ago
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In cab cooking and nature's calling
As for the restroom, everyone is assuming that your stomach is cooperating. Here is a tip that I hope you remember. Don't drink tap water everywhere. Stick to filtered or bottled water. Even in the U.S. switching water systems can cause upset stomachs in some people. And trust me, if you are one of the people that have the fortune of finding that one source of water that disagrees with you, there aren't enough rest areas in AZ or NM.
I found out that the tap water from the TA in Colorado (the name of the place just left, it was my first stop when I left Texas. I'm sure it will come back shortly) disagreed with both my husband and myself. A small wastebasket on the side of the road with a trash bag was the emergency toilet until we could get to a place where we could properly dispose of the waste. (yes by flushing it down the commode) It sucked. But not everything is going to be sunshine and roses all the time and sometimes your bowels are not going to cooperate with your delivery schedule.
Most of the time though, everything will work out. There will be plenty of time to make it to the restroom and back on the road. As a woman, my restroom stops (this included parking the truck) took me an average of 7 minutes. Btw, you learn some really random facts about yourself as a truck driver since you have to keep logs. I would have never known that about myself otherwise.
Posted: 9 years, 4 months ago
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Just thought I would add something not legal, just something I thought of. Would they be able to have in cab/sleeper berth camera for married couples? Or does Swift carry team drivers? Because there are times when I am sure they wouldn't want to catch us on camera. :)
Or what about the lonely guy who finds a girly mag? Is there a privacy button for biological functions?
Seriously I am rather glad we didn't have an in cab camera during our wreck. I was asleep and nude. I wouldn't want to see my naked self bouncing around back there behind the net. Which by the way, use that damned net! It's annoying but it kept me in the truck!!! And be prepared for rope burn!
Posted: 8 years, 2 months ago
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Practicing.
Lol. :) Yeah That can happen. I'd be careful and get yourself a permit and medical card just to be safe. It would be just the worst luck if you screwed up and ran over a pole or something while driving a commercial vehicle. Better to be safe than sorry. Always.