Profile For Deb R.

I got my CDL training at the Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton, then went to work for HO Wolding, who reimbursed my tuition cost. The college had some kind of arrangement with Schneider to train people, so that may be an option for you. Seems to me you should be able to find something that would work out as a summer gig, maybe not a "dream job", but just get your foot in the door somewhere.

If given the choice, I avoid crowed truck stops like the plague. My feeling is that if I'm ever gonna get hit, that's where it's most likely to happen. Late afternoon/early evening, those places are total s**t shows, and I want no part of it.

"Ask a Veteran Driver" is very good. Respectful posts (moderators will kick out the bad apples), help with all sorts of questions. Very educational.

"Tackling the unknown truckers with pets helping each other" was started at the beginning of the pandemic when we did not know if rules for pets would change; it has morphed into a small-ish group of people who share general info. on things we encounter in trucking, and life style issues (diet / exercise / mental health, etc.)

"Daily Forecast and Road Conditions for Truckers" is excellent! Upcoming weather for the nation, and people post current conditions where they are - weather, accidents, construction, you name it. Super helpful for trip planning.

My company regularly picks up bananas in Freeport, Texas. There are a few drivers who run that exclusively, and they have TWIC cards. Occasionally, I get sent there, and my company pays $80 to the escort truck to get let in. Google says a TWIC card costs $125.25 and is good for 5 years, so I don't know why the company doesn't just have me get one, although then I might need to go there more frequently, and I HATE driving that Dallas/Houston corridor! So, money-wise, if you need to get into a port more than once in 5 years, it makes sense to get the card. Time-wise, a TWIC card will get you in much quicker. I really don't see a downside to it. And FYI, having an escort does not assure that you will get through the port with no issues . . . my first time, I thought the escort was waving me to turn into a scale . . . it was NOT where I was supposed to go . . . eye yey eye, what a fiasco . . .

Oh yeah, I also have a pair of waterproof boots (Bogs) that have saved the day more than once!

I wear jeans and t-shirts, with a fleece jacket that I can use as needed, and a waterproof windbreaker, tennis shoes or hiking shoes. That's it, unless it's super cold and I need a winter jacket. I sometimes wear sweatpants in the truck, but found that I feel too "sloppy" if I wear them outside of the truck.

I paid upfront for a 10-week course at a Wisconsin Technical College. MONEY WELL SPENT. Folks on here sing the praises of company training, but I was extremely happy to have gone the route I did; after graduating, I could go wherever it suited me, and chose a company that offered tuition reimbursement.

To your question - stick with it! It can be surprising discouraging some days, just hang in there. Be stubborn about it, of course you suck at it sometimes, you're on a big learning curve right now. And heads up - that learning curve continues once you are out in the "real world". You will continue to make mistakes, just keep your cool and keep safety #1. One of my instructors said "At the end of the day, if you didn't hit anything, and nobody got hurt, it was a good day." That is so true.

I learned to drive a big truck at age 57, just turned 63 and still at it, I average 3,800-4,300 miles a week. It is achievable if you are determined to do it.

Be aware that parking BT at home may destroy your driveway. Mine is blacktop, was kinda crummy to begin with, but parking the truck here totally finished it off, especially in spring when the frost was leaving the ground.

It might be nice to have a bicycle for exploring.

Love it! My contribution: Flagstaff, AZ, Little America T.S. - really nice 1 mile loop through the pines that starts behind the hotel.

I’ve started with prime but the training process has Been tough especially being a woman

Don't use your gender as an excuse. It's tough for everybody in the beginning.

I miss having running water available whenever I want it.

I drove OTR 4 years for a company who's yard was 3 hours from my house. On my home time, I dropped the trailer at a lot a mile from my house, then bobtailed into my own driveway. If my truck needed service, I sat around the yard while it got done. It worked out, I did not know any different.

The benefits of living near a terminal are few. One is you have a guaranteed & truly secure place to park your truck. If your tractor guess into the shop for a few days, you easily get to go home and that doesn't count towards Home Time. That's about it.

Turns out those were actually big things for me! Now I drive OTR for a company that is 6 miles from my house, and I LOVE it. I did not realize how much I worried about that darn trailer until I did not have to anymore. It will not be my (unpaid) job to dig it out of the snow and clear off the roof after a blizzard. No more wasted time sitting around for routine servicing; that used to totally drive me crazy, now I can just go home! If I need to talk to someone in the office, I have the option of doing it face to face, which is sometimes way better than using the phone.

I would not advise terminal location to be a deal breaker in picking a company, but it would tip the scales for me if choosing between two options.

I have been solo OTR for almost 5 years. Most times, women drivers I see are half of a team; when I do see another solo lady, it feels like we are part of a club. I restrict my out-of-truck time after dark, depending on location. I travel with a dog, so that makes me feel safer and the company is nice, but a dog is a fair piece of extra work. I have only seen a “night worker” one time, and no one has ever mistaken me for one, but I am 61 years old, so that may be a factor, ha ha! I just do my job, and gender has not been an issue for me. Occassionally you can play it in your favor though, by asking the office gals where the driver’s bathroom is, and they may say “oh, honey, you don’t want to use that nasty bathroom, come around here and use ours” and believe me, it is always soooo much better!

I just started hauling produce last week, and wondered the same thing about weights being "off". As it was explained to me, using watermelons as an example, the shipper has x number of melons per box, but the melons have varying moisture content, thus never the same weight. So I was instructed to ALWAYS scale.

I've been on here for more than 5 years, just don't post much in the "ladies" section. I just started with a different company last week, so I'm on a learning curve again!

I did a 10 week course at a Technical College, and it was excellent. I preferred being able to apply at different companies once I had the CDL; not being locked into one company gave me more options. I also found a company that had tuition reimbursement.

What does a dispatcher look like? Ha ha, I have had the same one for 4 years and had no idea until someone showed me a FB photo a few weeks ago. It's weird to not actually know the person you have to work with every day, we have never met.

I had a yard driver approach me and say “you must be new, I can see you are way oversteering”, that actaully helped me a lot - just relax, and don’t crank the wheel so hard. I also went to WalMart and got some small orange cones from the sports section, and set them out for visuals. It’s better when you get on your own and don’t have a trainer watching. Take as much time as you need. Rushing always seems to end badly.

I’ve been to the caves in Missouri, lucky me, my load was a drop and hook all set to go in the trailer lot outside. So I dropped my empty, then bobtailed into the caves to see what it’s like in there. Really something, and would likely be anxiety producing if a person were claustrophobic, and no doubt a challenge with a 53’ trailer! No cell service, that’s for sure. Then I got back outside, hooked to my load, and off I went.