Comments By David

So by this time my wife and I are thinking we are about out of there. Darkness had already fallen and I know that it is I who will be first to drive. We'd been up since about 5:00 in the morning but I was wired at the idea of finally getting to drive and was ready to go. It was then that we find out we'll be waiting 3-4 hours on the paperwork and are told we'd better try and get some sleep.

At about 1:30am we awaken to the truck moving. The trainer had gotten the paperwork and was already headed for the gate. He stopped on the way out so we could all use the bathroom and asked if one of us was ready to drive, to which I quickly volunteered with one request...COFFEE! We checked out and headed to a truck stop down the street for some much needed caffeine and then I took over. Like the truck we took our road test in, this truck has a much tighter shifting pattern than our old Volvo at school but, with a little grinding here and there, I got us out of there and onto the freeway without issue.

With a weight of a little over 66,000 the first thing I noticed was that driving a loaded truck really didn't feel any different from driving the empty truck in school. Within the first hour I was shifting the truck nice and smooth and thoroughly getting a kick out of the whole experience. I got my first experience pulling some hills on I-10 heading for Arizona and quickly got the hang of it. By the hour and a half mark my wife had already gone back to sleep and the trainer was complimenting me on my ability to handle the truck. Needless to say this is nothing like CDL testing! Out here it's your ability to handle the truck safely that counts, not a bunch of nit-picky BS! Shortly thereafter he tells me that, if I'm comfortable, he's gonna grab some shut eye and that all I have to do is say his name and he'll wake up (He wasn't kidding. He jumps up instantly if you so much as say his name or if a message comes across the Qualcomm). He explains the procedures for the weigh station at the Arizona border and proceeds to go to bed. I find myself driving across the desert, thoroughly loving life for another 45 minutes before my wife joins me in the passenger seat. We watch the sunrise while trucking across the desert until finally reaching Phoenix in morning rush hour. By this time I'm thoroughly comfortable with the truck and handled the traffic of Phoenix like a pro, if I do say so myself. I make it to Eloy, Arizona with about 5 minutes left on my clock before my mandatory 30 minute break. As nobody had slept much at this point, my wife was to take over from here.

We get fuel in Eloy and both my wife and I practice a few 45˚ alley docks (we're required to do a certain number throughout our training and they must be at different locations each time). Then my wife takes us out. I stay up for about an hour as the trainer rides shotgun and wait untill I see her driving comfortably, and enjoying herself, before finally deciding to go to sleep. About 20 miles outside of Wilcox, Arizona I awake to my wife saying "What the hell just happened". Like the trainer I instantly wake up the moment something is amiss. The truck had completely died at 65mph and she had to coast to stop along side the freeway. The truck then restarted and we made it another 10 miles before it happened again. We got it started again and made it to the truck stop in Wilcox where our trainer called breakdown.

Needless to say we were told we could not drive the truck and they would be sending another team to get the load. Once the team arrived they'd be sending a tow truck to pick us up and take us to Freightliner in Tucson. As it turned out the other team ran out of hours and didn't make it to us untill 2:00am this morning. The tow truck arrived around 7:00am and, after getting hooked up, we had a nice ride in a pretty sweet Peterbilt back into Tucson. (Did I mention it's about 110˚ outside during all this? Thankfully the truck would idle fine.) So we spent the entire day chilling at Freightliner only to be told that we'd need to get a hotel and they'd get to us in the morning tomorrow.

So here we are. At a hotel and anxious as hell to get back out there. On the bright side we probably missed that storm coming up out of the Gulf but at this point we have no idea what the plan is going to be. Hoping the truck is fixed right away in the morning and we'll get another load from someplace local and continue on towards Tennessee.

Man, this sure brought back memories from when I was training.

Welcome to trucking... enjoy!

Are you looking for flatbed companies that have their own CDL training? Are you planning on getting your CDL they a private institution first?

Companies that have their own CDL training and are flatbed. Roehl, Prime and Maverick come to mind.

Flatbed companies that hire newbies straight out of school: Melton, McElroy, TMC, Western Express, Maverick, Roehl, Prime.

Swift, Werner, and Schneider have flatbeds as well, I believe.

I hope this helps.

pretty much sums it up in a nut shell.......

if you don't think going to a private school is financially possible... Do take a look at Paid CDL Training Programs as mentioned above; Swift, Werner, Shnieder and Prime have flatbed divisions that will take you to their facilities, train you to drive, help you get your cdl and then employee you at the end. You just sign on the dotted line, and agree to stay employeed with said company for a minimum of 1 year and that basically pays your schooling. nothing comes out of pocket..

Theres quite a bit to read here,

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road Training Program

Truck Driver's Career Guide

• Trucker's Career Guide: Choosing A Truck Driving School

Forgot to say, the above is just from my experience and what i've been told..

IF your company allows off-duty driving, it will not start you 14hr clock... this is considered "personal" transportation.. and again depending on the company, you either get 30min or an hr... if it's 30min then you need to get to the TS in 15min and be able to return to the location you went off duty driving too within the remaining time of 15min (15+15=30)

so if you are in say Kansas City, KS and you know theres a truck stop on the other side of the boarder 10 min away... you drop to line 5 (Off Duty Driving), send a message to your DM "hey, im off duty drivng to the TS 10min away to get food/bathroom whatever, while i wait for a load.." then you head out.. your QC unit will keep you on Off Duty while you drive.... when you get to the TS, go to line 1 (Off Duty) always make sure... then go about your business.. make note of the time it took as it should be close to the same to get back... (10 + 10 = 20 with 10 min to spare)... when you get the load as per DOT, you have to return to the start of line 5...so drop to line 5 again, send DM message " got the message for load, heading back to previous location to start clock" and head back.. when you get to the very start, goto on duty do pre- trip and be on your way....

line 5 is a great tool when you use it right... but the thing about it is, you CAN NOT be under load with it. must be MT or BT... always check with DM too..

Had almost the exact same experience a months or so ago at an Americold in City of Industry. Gave them my appointment confirmation number, they said no good. Got my FM on the phone, told him the number didn't work. He got hold of the CSR she gave him a different number for me to try. Gave the clerk that number, and that worked...sort of. It showed an appointment for exactly one month later. Got my FM back on the phone and told him, he got hold of the CSR. The CSR spent the next 7 hours trying to get a reply from Americold, who went complete radio silence and refused to return her calls or emails. I had arrived at 7. The planner finally surrendered at 2:30, pulled the load, and gave me a different pickup at a different location for the next day.

Oh, and did I happen to mention where I'm heading to pick up from tomorrow morning? 😂😂😂😓🙃

Did i miss it or are you waiting for someone to ask where at?

my guess would be back to Americold.....

... Running water and a German Shepherd

I love German shepherds.

and now i have to do this....

His names Beau and is 2yrs old. Yes White German Shepherd....

I feel like I've been in CR forever. I needed to come in for routine service, an alignment, new tires but also my bunk ac has been on the fritz. So they sent my truck over to Truck Country for the routine service and ac work. They got my truck yesterday morning. Thought they'd found the ac problem by 5pm ish and didy oil change.. realized bunk ac still wasn't working right, kept my truck overnight, brought it back late this morning. Bunk ac still a no go. Our shop manager had them come back to get my truck and it's over there now. Sure hope they get it fixed as I'm completely bored. Supposed to go home this weekend, but I've been here going on 2 days and thinking.. why bother going home now.. already itching to be back on the road.

CR = Cedar Rapids, IA? im over in Des Moines.. i drove for Heartland Express last year, was not impressed with Truck Country there in Cedar.... they tend to take their sweet time.. Had to have 2 sensors on the engine replaced and pretty much sat there..... did do a few "local" runs with a day cab but was only 100-200Mi trip so it was mainly to keep me occupied ...

Good luck there...

Where are you mounting said antenna? If it's suction cupped to windshield or door Windows, could be that it's not up high enough and gets nocked out everytime a teuck passes by... id try getting it up hogher, maybe suction cup ot to the outside roof of truck...

Depending on the truck you drive, it could be as simple as grounding the antana with a wire to the frame.. if you have like a frieght liner, then Good luck.. damn trucks are mostly fiberglass now.... trying to ground it it is a pain.... i just get one of those antana mounts for the mirror;

and it grounds pretty good IMO...

I favor rest areas over TS... I like the feeling of sleeping in "nature" when at a rest area.. there are some really nice ones out there. for example, i5 in Dunnigan, CA has/had? a rest area that was surrounded by trees, couldn't really see the highway. one of my favorite place's to stop when in the area. its been awhile though, not sure if it's still operational. I try to avoid TS's except for fuel and i'll shower on my 30min break. now if a TS is like within 50mi of a stop and there's now rest areas, then i'll stop at the TS but park as far away from other trucks as i can. i dread having to back between two refers... =D