Questions About Truck Driving?
Topic 21237 | Page 1
Hello, love your name and welcome to TT a vet or mod should post links to all the neat info such as the basics and how to go about obtaining your cdl i unfortunately do not have those. But I can try to answer anything you might have, question 1: as I'm a man I cant exactly answer that but as I see alot of women driving trucks (which is a good thing) I suppose it can't be that bad. Question 2: absolutely, with most starter companies one call and you can change divisions, might require a bit of experience before you can do that but you can. Question 3: nope, atleast not any time soon. Hope I helped and if you need anything else just ask, we're all here to help.
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
HOS:
Hours Of Service
HOS refers to the logbook hours of service regulations.
Hi! We have quite a few female drivers on this site. i think women have it easier than men. honestly. Men always jump out of their trucks to help a woman struggling to back in. Guys have opened my reefer doors and pulled my tandem pins, and even had a couple try to cheer me up during my accident as a rookie. Many women team with their husbands, so there are far more women out here than i expected. Plus at customers if i bat my eyes and smile, i know i get in doors faster...or at least get on the persons good side. What drives me crazy is when women come into a man dominates industry the want to bash men for being men. If you want to run woth the big boys, then you need to be able to have the right attitude. Have men been nasty at times, sure. Guess what i did? got nasty right back and drove away. lol When an impatient guy came too close and sisnt give me backing room, I set my brakes and went into the sleeper--right in the middle of the truck stop aisle. He got the hint and backed up to gi e me room. If you are smart, you will be aware of your surroundings. I pull into fuel aisles at night and do my things iside the truck stop then go park and dont get out of the truck again.
Most of the larger carriers have various divisions and routes so you can swap easily. But please stay at yoir first company a whole year. It goes very quickly.
We wont be absolete. I worked for the USPs for 18 years and was told automation would eliminate us by 2001. didnt happen. created more jobs because of the lack of productivity of the machines and new mechanics that needed to fix them.
One thing that really causes problems is unrealistic expectations. check out the links, especially Bretts book for and idea of road life.
Becoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Tandem:
Tandem Axles
A set of axles spaced close together, legally defined as more than 40 and less than 96 inches apart by the USDOT. Drivers tend to refer to the tandem axles on their trailer as just "tandems". You might hear a driver say, "I'm 400 pounds overweight on my tandems", referring to his trailer tandems, not his tractor tandems. Tractor tandems are generally just referred to as "drives" which is short for "drive axles".
Reefer:
A refrigerated trailer.
Rainy relates:
Most of the larger carriers have various divisions and routes so you can swap easily. But please stay at yoir first company a whole year. It goes very quickly.
This is true. I started with Swift, still there three years on. In my first 12 months I started OTR (where most people start), switched to shuttle/ express which gets you home every day, and then dedicated regional (home weekends).
My point is to back up Rainy, that most large companies will have some assignment that will work for you.
And here's the official Trucking Truth First Post Starter Kit for your reading:
- Truck Driver's Career Guide
- Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
- High Road CDL Training Program
CDL:
Commercial Driver's License (CDL)
A CDL is required to drive any of the following vehicles:
- Any combination of vehicles with a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of 26,001 or more pounds, providing the gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of the vehicle being towed is in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any single vehicle with a GVWR of 26,001 or more pounds, or any such vehicle towing another not in excess of 10,000 pounds.
- Any vehicle, regardless of size, designed to transport 16 or more persons, including the driver.
- Any vehicle required by federal regulations to be placarded while transporting hazardous materials.
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.
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Hi. I am new to all this and came across this site while looking for answers about driving a truck. I have a few questions that I am hoping to get answered. I apologize upfront if a topic has been already been started about this.
1.) What is it like for Females? 2.) Can you change your mind? Say I wanted to start out as an OTR driver, but found it too much to handle, would you be able to switch to local or regional? 3.) With the advancement in Technology, would I become obsolete?
Regional:
Regional Route
Usually refers to a driver hauling freight within one particular region of the country. You might be in the "Southeast Regional Division" or "Midwest Regional". Regional route drivers often get home on the weekends which is one of the main appeals for this type of route.
OTR:
Over The Road
OTR driving normally means you'll be hauling freight to various customers throughout your company's hauling region. It often entails being gone from home for two to three weeks at a time.