Comments By Steak Eater

I wish there were more pictures in this thread. Am I missing a thread with them somewhere? I watched the video of the inside of the truck. Very informative.

Reading some of the trip journals has impressed me with the skill with which many of the pros here handle their hours of service clocks. Is that a skill that you learn in training or do you master it while in your own? It's kinda tough to fully understand some of the options without seeing it's use in the real world even after studying the online training materials.

I'm grateful for the additional insight into this profession. Thanks to everyone that posted the threads detailing their day to day experiences. It has helped give me better insight into what the trucking lifestyle consists of.

Reaper, I'm still considering trucking as a career so I don't have much insight into your particular situation, but I will add the following:

One week to go. Keep your eyes on the prize. Keep your mouth shut, do your best, and get this last week out of the way. Keep in mind that 7 more days and you never have to look at this jerk again. For what it's worth I'm truly impressed with your self-control and character you are displaying by continuing to hang in there.

I thought I might be making too much of this and then this thread put me right back into high worry mode:

https://www.truckingtruth.com/truckers-forum/Topic-19656/Page-1/rough-last-week-up-ahead

I truly don't know if I'm better to make this such a big criteria in my choice of companies or if I should just expect the worst and figure on multiple weeks of pure he!!. I'm a pretty reasonable guy but I truly don't know hot I'd be able to put up with the situation Reaper is in. Maybe most trainers aren't that bad?

I totally recommend newbies get the numbers of experienced drivers. At 3am...dispatch isn't going to know how to help you unlock the frozen brakes lol

Now that right there is excellent advice. Thank you!

That was absolutely awesome. I spent most of the afternoon reading that thread. Thanks for posting the link, I wasn't able to find it during my searches for some reason.

After reading both series of posts I'm impressed with how skillfully you both manage your hours of service clocks. Is that an acquired skill that takes a while to learn or something that you are taught in training?

I didn't realize TNT was a company specific term. I meant the training period where a new driver operates as a team with a trainer. In the truck together for several weeks non-stop.

Most truckers I know talk on the phone constantly. That's why the headsets sell so well.

OK, this is going to sound dumb, but I'm curious. Who do truckers spend so much time talking to? Family? Other truckers? Telemarketers?

There aren't enough people in my phone's contacts section for me to talk with for an hour total, let alone during 9 or 11 hours of driving. I don't think I'm particularly anti-social.

ErrolV posted a tremendously helpful series of messages about a week in the life of a dedicated route drive here:

A Week in the Life of ... ErrolV driving GP dedicated

The format he used showing actual hours he worked, hours of service per day, where he travelled, his mileage per day, where he stayed overnight / opportunity to eat, and an end week summary was tremendously helpful to me in getting a feel for the actual day-to-day expectations of this profession.

Are there any "week in the life of" posts or articles (at this site or elsewhere) that explain the OTR profession in a similar manner? I recognize there is no standard work week but I'd like to read a similar description of a week in the life of an OTR driver.