Here Is An Innovative Way To Make Flatbed Tarping Much Faster And Much Safer And More Productive For Business.

How much trickier a 53-foot trailer is to maneuver, I don't honestly know. I have no load tarping experience

EXACTLY....you have NO.experience.

No you would not be a better candidate than a newbie who never drove..That means you already have bad habits that the company will.have to re train you to break. That is one of the hinderances about going to a local school then going to a company. my company pays LESS to those who come in wiyh a CDL because they need to be retrained and often need the attitude dropped.

As a trainer i will tell you, i would not want a know it all on my truck. You have already demonstrated you know.more than all of.us combined. Obviously, it must be true since you drove your 5 ton truck. Big freakin deal. You are WAY too over confident to take this job or the training seriously.

instead of studying the test or pretrip you are laboring over stupid stuff which wouldnt affect you for MONTHs perhaps years.

im done.

Stop feeding the troll, y'all...

I never once claimed to know everything about everything. If I were to hypothetically attend a CDL school, I would keep a humble attitude and my mouth shut for the most part and do as I were told. I would not boast one bit about my military experience. I would only mention my military driving experience if the trainer were to ask me about it. A prospective employer might ask in an interview about previous experience driving trucks in general. I would be honest about it and not lie about anything.

I can say one thing: the service taught me how to back a vehicle with a trailer. You cut your wheels right if you want the back of the trailer to head left and vice-versa. This rule will apply to any motor vehicle with one trailer in tow, regardless of size class. A veteran/retired CDL driver I knew years ago told me to go down the grade in the same gear you climbed up to the summit: don't ever touch the gearshift lever going down hill. You may never be able to get back into gear. I learned this in the army. One time I was driving a 5-ton truck with another 5-ton truck in tow with a tow bar. I went over the summit and tried to shift from 2nd to 3rd because I mistakenly had thought 2nd was too slow even for the downgrade. I had climbed in 2nd. The truck horrifically accelerated while now coasting from about 20 mph to 30 mph in nothing flat with another 20,000 pound vehicle on my tail pushing me. The 5-ton truck I was towing was fully loaded. I was desperately trying to get the 5-spd. manual transmission into 3rd but was stuck in neutral. I panicked and hit the service brakes hard to get slowed down again to get back into 2nd where I should have stayed in the first place. I would have been in real trouble had my brakes failed. I have always hated to rely solely on the brakes for heavy trucks on a downgrade.

Todd, we've kind of given you a hard time, and for the most part you've taken it pretty well. Let me explain something. We really enjoy helping newcomers into trucking find their way to success at this. There are far more people who fail at this than those who succeed. It's a greatly misunderstood career. If it seems we've been less than helpful with you, it's because you exhibit the classic mistakes that go before a major fail in trucking. We ended up taking the approach with you that we think might help others recognize how not to approach this career.

The classic rookies who consistently get sent back home, running their mouths about how cruel and unfair the trucking industry is, are the ones who are convinced they know better how these trucking companies should be run than do the people who've been running them for decades. I've never seen any newbies succeed who came into this career making demands (like letting them know you refuse to work anywhere that won't provide fall protection). People have been confusing "driver demand" with the ability to "get what they want" forever it seems. It never works like that. These trucking companies have seen all manner of people come and go, and they've gotten really good at recognizing those whom they consider will be way more troublesome than profitable. You quickly established yourself in here as "one of those."

All this is meant in sincerity and kindness because your last post gave me a little glimpse into yourself that gives me hope for your success. You've got to be a sponge, and willing to learn and be pushed way beyond your comfort zone if you seriously plan on making a go at this. Keep your eyes and ears wide open, taking in everything as a rookie and keep a guard over your mouth. Listen and learn. Save the act of sharing your knowledge, whatever it may be, for a time when you actually have demonstrated some degree of accountability and success at this career.

I hope you can come to enjoy this as much as most of us do, but you've demonstrated all the classic mistakes that veteran drivers easily recognize. I think if you'll read back through these conversations we've had with you, ignoring how logical and reasonable your own comments sound to yourself, you just may learn a few things that will help you.

Todd, we've kind of given you a hard time, and for the most part you've taken it pretty well. Let me explain something. We really enjoy helping newcomers into trucking find their way to success at this. There are far more people who fail at this than those who succeed. It's a greatly misunderstood career. If it seems we've been less than helpful with you, it's because you exhibit the classic mistakes that go before a major fail in trucking. We ended up taking the approach with you that we think might help others recognize how not to approach this career.

The classic rookies who consistently get sent back home, running their mouths about how cruel and unfair the trucking industry is, are the ones who are convinced they know better how these trucking companies should be run than do the people who've been running them for decades. I've never seen any newbies succeed who came into this career making demands (like letting them know you refuse to work anywhere that won't provide fall protection). People have been confusing "driver demand" with the ability to "get what they want" forever it seems. It never works like that. These trucking companies have seen all manner of people come and go, and they've gotten really good at recognizing those whom they consider will be way more troublesome than profitable. You quickly established yourself in here as "one of those."

All this is meant in sincerity and kindness because your last post gave me a little glimpse into yourself that gives me hope for your success. You've got to be a sponge, and willing to learn and be pushed way beyond your comfort zone if you seriously plan on making a go at this. Keep your eyes and ears wide open, taking in everything as a rookie and keep a guard over your mouth. Listen and learn. Save the act of sharing your knowledge, whatever it may be, for a time when you actually have demonstrated some degree of accountability and success at this career.

I hope you can come to enjoy this as much as most of us do, but you've demonstrated all the classic mistakes that veteran drivers easily recognize. I think if you'll read back through these conversations we've had with you, ignoring how logical and reasonable your own comments sound to yourself, you just may learn a few things that will help you.

This right here.^^^^^^

I see a lot of me, in you, when I first joined this TT family. Everyone here, wants to see everyone who comes in here seeking information, to succeed. Keep asking questions, and really taking to heart, the wisdom that is shared, and pretty soon, you will have a truckload of cigars, to share.

Todd, we've kind of given you a hard time, and for the most part you've taken it pretty well. Let me explain something. We really enjoy helping newcomers into trucking find their way to success at this. There are far more people who fail at this than those who succeed. It's a greatly misunderstood career. If it seems we've been less than helpful with you, it's because you exhibit the classic mistakes that go before a major fail in trucking. We ended up taking the approach with you that we think might help others recognize how not to approach this career.

The classic rookies who consistently get sent back home, running their mouths about how cruel and unfair the trucking industry is, are the ones who are convinced they know better how these trucking companies should be run than do the people who've been running them for decades. I've never seen any newbies succeed who came into this career making demands (like letting them know you refuse to work anywhere that won't provide fall protection). People have been confusing "driver demand" with the ability to "get what they want" forever it seems. It never works like that. These trucking companies have seen all manner of people come and go, and they've gotten really good at recognizing those whom they consider will be way more troublesome than profitable. You quickly established yourself in here as "one of those."

All this is meant in sincerity and kindness because your last post gave me a little glimpse into yourself that gives me hope for your success. You've got to be a sponge, and willing to learn and be pushed way beyond your comfort zone if you seriously plan on making a go at this. Keep your eyes and ears wide open, taking in everything as a rookie and keep a guard over your mouth. Listen and learn. Save the act of sharing your knowledge, whatever it may be, for a time when you actually have demonstrated some degree of accountability and success at this career.

I hope you can come to enjoy this as much as most of us do, but you've demonstrated all the classic mistakes that veteran drivers easily recognize. I think if you'll read back through these conversations we've had with you, ignoring how logical and reasonable your own comments sound to yourself, you just may learn a few things that will help you.

This right here.^^^^^^

I see a lot of me, in you, when I first joined this TT family. Everyone here, wants to see everyone who comes in here seeking information, to succeed. Keep asking questions, and really taking to heart, the wisdom that is shared, and pretty soon, you will have a truckload of cigars, to share.

No thanks on the cigars, Daniel. I don't smoke. I may never succeed at any trucking attempt but I will not likely die of lung cancer.

I never thought that what "I know" from previous career experience could actually be a HANDICAP to entering the CDL trucking experience.

It sounds like those who employ in this field want to tear down any newbie and reshape their minds from the ground up. One could have 10 years experience as a medical doctor, lawyer, airline pilot or ship captain and they wouldn't care one way or another, maybe. I personally think going from doctor to trucker is a big career step-down. Somebody must have badly botched his medical practice.

How do I get into the MIND of a veteran trucker?

Todd says :

One could have 10 years experience as a medical doctor, lawyer, airline pilot or ship captain and they wouldn't care one way or another, maybe. I personally think going from doctor to trucker is a big career step-down. Somebody must have badly botched his medical practice

Why would they care that you were a pilot or lawyer? That experience means Absolutely nothing in this industry. How does knowing how to perform open heart surgery make you capable of driving an 80k pound vehicle SAFELY on the road? Also, assuming a doctor failed because they become a truck driver is extremely offensive. We have a couple RESPECTED members here who spent many years as nurses and chose this career due to burnout. Take a look at this thread that talks about what people did Before becoming a truck driver. We also have members here who are very respected that owned their own succesful businesses.

Im not sure if it was intended or not but what you said came across as saying truckers are uneducated and cant succeed at anything else.

I never thought that what "I know" from previous career experience could actually be a HANDICAP to entering the CDL trucking experience.

It sounds like those who employ in this field want to tear down any newbie and reshape their minds from the ground up. One could have 10 years experience as a medical doctor, lawyer, airline pilot or ship captain and they wouldn't care one way or another, maybe.

Ahhhh........now you're starting to get it!

The simple fact of the matter is that there's nothing like trucking. Nothing. I don't care what you've done in your life, trucking is going to be wildly different in so many ways than anything you've done, and wildly different than you expect it to be.

It's not that people want to tear down your mind. We want you to go in with an open mind, eager to learn, and ready to accept the fact that trucking isn't like you expect it to be, nor is it going to bend to your will. I've said many times that trucking is going to change you, but you won't change trucking. You either accept it for what it is and get out there and make it happen, or you can be hard headed and fight a losing battle while complaining and blaming and criticizing everyone and everything around you every day of your life. And trust me, the trucking industry has no shortage of hard headed complainers. They're horrible people to be around. They're miserable, they hate everything about trucking, and they love to tell you about it.

So all of your high minded ideas of what trucking should be or what you'll accept or won't accept doesn't mean a hill of beans to anyone. You either jump in and do whatever it takes to get the job done safely and consistently or you move on to something that suits you better. Trucking is a "take it or leave it" kind of industry. Yes, there are a lot of different jobs with different types of lifestyles and duties, but none of them are easy and no one is really interested in hearing how you think things should be.

Now keep in mind, everything I'm telling you is from my experience. These are not my rules. I'm not calling the shots in this industry any more than any other driver is. I'm just telling you that this is how it is so either take it as it is or move on, but there is no in between.

I personally think going from doctor to trucker is a big career step-down. Somebody must have badly botched his medical practice.

Again, that doesn't mean a hill of beans to anyone. I drove rigs for 15 years and it was the adventure of a lifetime. I could tell you exciting, funny, and fascinating stories of my wild and crazy adventures for months.

Personally I wouldn't want to work in a sterile environment caring for a stream of sick and injured people. It would be horribly depressing and would grind my soul into a pile of ashes.

Todd asked:

How do I get into the MIND of a veteran trucker?

It’s easy. If you are actually sincere with that inquiry...

Conduct yourself with a modicum of respect and humility. For starters don’t condescend as if we are “beneath” any prior vocation or profession and that marginal success in trucking, implies catastrophic failure in something else. Quite the opposite is typically true...idiots don’t last out here.

If you really want to learn something in this forum, drop your ego and assume that most of what you know or experienced in the past is irrelevant in your desire to become a trucker.