Comments By Feanor K.

Honestly I would go for the automatic training. As people have said already, most companies have switched over at this point, and the rest are in the process. Furthermore, removing the factor of shifting will make your training experience sooo much less stressful and increase your chance of success on the first test. Not only will it remove a whole skill to master, it will free up a lot of mental energy for other things, like backing. Just speaking for myself, learning to shift was my biggest obstacle through school and training both.

Aha! There's one less that I'll have to ask about, not understanding that esoteric trucker terminology....

This is advanced stuff, had me stumped too

Was reading and couldn't help notice this.

Got up at the TA, --> pro-trump<--, then rolling around 2315. Rolled about a half mile to get fuel across the freeway at the Love's.

Was that intentional, or a hilarious auto-correct ??

Naj, I'm going to second something Old School said earlier. Training is not at all the same thing as solo.

IMO training is the most stressful, difficult part of the process. I and many many others had a miserable time in training, and if that's all there was to it, we would probably not be working in this industry anymore.

But training is only temporary. Things WILL get better, if you stick it out. Treat it like a jail sentence if you must. Just get through the tough part, and you can be captain of your own ship.

I came VERY close to quitting a couple times during my training, but I knew that if I did, I would be closing the door on trucking for good, I would never work up the motivation and nerve to go through it all again. So I stuck to it, just to give it a real shot if nothing else, and experience all aspects before I gave it up. I am very thankful I did. I now have a fantastic job with all the home-time I could want, good pay, satisfying work, and increased confidence in myself.

I would advise that you stick it out. You don't have to commit to anything more than a day and a week at a time. Wait until a good day, if you still feel like quitting on a good day, then go for it, but if you quit when you are demoralized and down on yourself, you may miss out on seeing how great this job can be.

Interesting I was just on the Kitsap Peninsula this last week. Beautiful place, but has some tight spots. Sounds like you did a great job. You have a great attitude for this, and if you are willing to grind through the rough times and endure, I think you will be very happy with your decision.

For me it was:

1: Money. How much is in my control and could I make enough to make it worth it.

2: Big cities and trying to navigate them in a truck.

3: Could I maintain my projects/hobbies while on the road.

Thanks for the info guys, just something I always been curious about

PNW Winters can be difficult, but the year makes a lot of difference. My first year driving out of North Idaho I only had to chain up once, going into Montana. Made up for by the beautiful scenery and generally good parking (larger cities like Seattle/ Portland still suck) in my opinion.

I have always wondered what it is like operating cargo trains. I noticed a member commented in another thread they had worked in that business (I believe), so rather than derail that thread I thought I'd start one.

So anyone got any insights into what it is like working with/ driving those beasts and how it compares to the trucking lifestyle/pay id love to know!

Securement and tarping/untarping efficiency is important. Many other factors you can't control - speed-limit and traffic + hours of service.

The factor you can influence is how quickly you get in and out of a customer, and Flatbed usually has a lot more power in this than say a dry-van. This is because a large portion of your load/unload time is your own securement/tarping. It's the hardest work you will do, but if you bust your butt and get it done, you will have many hours to relax in the driver's seat as reward.

Good flatbedders have this down to a science. The key is to aim for 0 wasted time. This means throwing straps, edge protectors and sometimes even beginning tarping while the forklift driver is still loading you, or making sure you have all of your tarps/straps/edges rolled and put away before you are fully unloaded.

The difference here can be very substantial. An average driver might take an hour to an hour and a half to get at a customer, while a great driver could get the same load secured and tarped and be on their way in 30 minutes. This really adds up, especially in regional driving.