My Cooler Broke Down, Lost My Food

I'm here at pur Denver yard with bread, peanut butter, water, snack bars and some cheerios, thats pretty much it, we are supposed to have a van here , but no van. Its pretty sucky right about now, just have to vent, maybe I'm just hangry.

I'm used to making proper meals with healthy ingredients and having a full kitchen which I don't have and frankly it's torqing and annoying me off to no end. Ive been questioning if I'm cut out for the OTR lifestyle for this fact alone....

I know I sound whiny, but I needed to vent.

Couldn't make it to a Walmart the way things are and May doesn't allow bobtailing for personal reasons unless PC to safe reasonably distanced location to reset or avoid HoS.......sucks.

Anyway...night

Seriously? They don't let you PC to walmart? Even when your out on the road? That can't be right...surely. well you can always order some delivery. I'd have to get clarification on that. How do they expect you to shop for food, clothes and other necessities needed while living on the road? Man cannot survive on truckstop shopping alone.

Is doing an online order and having it delivered an option? Whether it be for groceries or a decent meal there are lots of delivery services in many cities that you can have nearly anything brought to you.

Hang in there Moe. Things will get better. Its very possible that OTR isn't the right fit for you. Just put in a year or so and find something that fits with your lifestyle.

In the age of corona pretty much everybody is delivering. Especially Walmart. Only issue you may run into is how soon they can get it there. Maybe worth trying to figure out where you will take you 10 for the next day and see if there is a Walmart within I’d say 10 to 15 miles. My grandmother does it often. Hang in there Moe. Sucks for everybody in the beginning. Think back to how crappy that spotter job probably was.

I'm used to making proper meals with healthy ingredients and having a full kitchen which I don't have and frankly it's torqing and annoying me off to no end. Ive been questioning if I'm cut out for the OTR lifestyle for this fact alone....

Moe, I understand you venting about this. You can vent in here - it's okay. What you don't want to do is make career decisions based on the way you are feeling from venting. It is a huge mistake.

We all have issues out here on the road. It comes with the territory. I remember my trainer was obsessed with having a clean windshield. I'd scrub it clean for him while at a fuel stop, and five miles down the road we would hit a bug or two. He would come unglued and couldn't stand the sight of those bugs on his windshield. He would actually stop to clean it again because he would allow it to irritate him so badly that he couldn't continue on down the road. It was irrational and unproductive.

We all get it. You want to eat your own healthy food. A cooler can be replaced. You can plan your next trip with a 30 minute break at a Wal-Mart. You can work around your company's goofy policies. We all do that. Remember, you are in charge of your truck and your fate. You make choices and decisions that make this career work for you. It is very wrong to let a minor issue upset you to the point where you start convincing yourself that you are not cut out for this OTR lifestyle. I eat very good on the road. I make the decisions that lead to that, Heck, when I was a rookie I used an ice chest for a cooler. It worked fine and I never had to worry about it breaking down. Get creative. Be your own solution.

Making a career decision based on one bad day's experiences is rash and irresponsible. You are finding out now why we always encourage you guys to make a one year commitment. It just takes that long to learn how to handle yourself out here. I have found this career to be so rewarding, but had I listened to my instincts during my rookie year I would have quit this job a hundred times over. There were just so many things I didn't know how to handle yet. It would disturb me to no end sometimes if they didn't get me home on time or if I had some issues I couldn't get resolved quickly. I took all those difficult situations and looked at each of them as a way to learn how to be creative and resourceful out here. You are the one who will make this career work for yourself. It won't be your company or your coworkers. Learn to roll with the punches, stay content with your lot, and make changes to the things you can. There is a lot you can do to just allow things to roll off of you.

Remember what I told you about my trainer's obsession with having no bugs on the windshield? I started allowing that to bother me once I went solo. Then I realized this is stupid! I am going to have bugs on the windshield. I can't let that issue slow me down. I started letting bugs pile up on the windshield. I'd purposely drive with bugs piling up. I would purposely ignore them just to practice setting my mind a certain way. I wanted to be productive. I didn't want to be aggravated with each little distraction that came along. That was counterproductive. Try to control your own mind and your emotions. That is part of the biggest battle out here. If you can control your angst, your thoughts, and your emotional reactions, you can conquer anything this career throws at you.

And I did just that, thank you for letting me vent. I was able to communicate the deal and my weekend dispatch approved some emergency PC time to replace food, I prayed real hard about ut last night too after I vented. Thank you brother

I'm used to making proper meals with healthy ingredients and having a full kitchen which I don't have and frankly it's torqing and annoying me off to no end. Ive been questioning if I'm cut out for the OTR lifestyle for this fact alone....

Moe, I understand you venting about this. You can vent in here - it's okay. What you don't want to do is make career decisions based on the way you are feeling from venting. It is a huge mistake.

We all have issues out here on the road. It comes with the territory. I remember my trainer was obsessed with having a clean windshield. I'd scrub it clean for him while at a fuel stop, and five miles down the road we would hit a bug or two. He would come unglued and couldn't stand the sight of those bugs on his windshield. He would actually stop to clean it again because he would allow it to irritate him so badly that he couldn't continue on down the road. It was irrational and unproductive.

We all get it. You want to eat your own healthy food. A cooler can be replaced. You can plan your next trip with a 30 minute break at a Wal-Mart. You can work around your company's goofy policies. We all do that. Remember, you are in charge of your truck and your fate. You make choices and decisions that make this career work for you. It is very wrong to let a minor issue upset you to the point where you start convincing yourself that you are not cut out for this OTR lifestyle. I eat very good on the road. I make the decisions that lead to that, Heck, when I was a rookie I used an ice chest for a cooler. It worked fine and I never had to worry about it breaking down. Get creative. Be your own solution.

Making a career decision based on one bad day's experiences is rash and irresponsible. You are finding out now why we always encourage you guys to make a one year commitment. It just takes that long to learn how to handle yourself out here. I have found this career to be so rewarding, but had I listened to my instincts during my rookie year I would have quit this job a hundred times over. There were just so many things I didn't know how to handle yet. It would disturb me to no end sometimes if they didn't get me home on time or if I had some issues I couldn't get resolved quickly. I took all those difficult situations and looked at each of them as a way to learn how to be creative and resourceful out here. You are the one who will make this career work for yourself. It won't be your company or your coworkers. Learn to roll with the punches, stay content with your lot, and make changes to the things you can. There is a lot you can do to just allow things to roll off of you.

Remember what I told you about my trainer's obsession with having no bugs on the windshield? I started allowing that to bother me once I went solo. Then I realized this is stupid! I am going to have bugs on the windshield. I can't let that issue slow me down. I started letting bugs pile up on the windshield. I'd purposely drive with bugs piling up. I would purposely ignore them just to practice setting my mind a certain way. I wanted to be productive. I didn't want to be aggravated with each little distraction that came along. That was counterproductive. Try to control your own mind and your emotions. That is part of the biggest battle out here. If you can control your angst, your thoughts, and your emotional reactions, you can conquer anything this career throws at you.

You can also plan a 30 minute break, maybe a bit longer, pull into a Walmart, run in, shop and roll. If I need to and need a place to park, I park in the truck area. I make sure I'm out of the way. I put a note on my driver's side window with my phone number. I state that I'm shopping inside and will be gone as fast as I can. Please call if truck needs to be moved. Never had a problem.

You can also plan a 30 minute break, maybe a bit longer, pull into a Walmart, run in, shop and roll. If I need to and need a place to park, I park in the truck area. I make sure I'm out of the way. I put a note on my driver's side window with my phone number. I state that I'm shopping inside and will be gone as fast as I can. Please call if truck needs to be moved. Never had a problem.

If you're allowed to use the split sleeper option and have the time, I'd think about making it a 2 hour break at Walmart just so you're not feeling rushed.

You can also plan a 30 minute break, maybe a bit longer, pull into a Walmart, run in, shop and roll. If I need to and need a place to park, I park in the truck area. I make sure I'm out of the way. I put a note on my driver's side window with my phone number. I state that I'm shopping inside and will be gone as fast as I can. Please call if truck needs to be moved. Never had a problem.

If you're allowed to use the split sleeper option and have the time, I'd think about making it a 2 hour break at Walmart just so you're not feeling rushed.

I make a list, so I can shop quick. Not all Walmarts will allow you to park, so the quick in and out usually works. Some will let you stay overnight. It's all about trip planning.

You can also plan a 30 minute break, maybe a bit longer, pull into a Walmart, run in, shop and roll. If I need to and need a place to park, I park in the truck area. I make sure I'm out of the way. I put a note on my driver's side window with my phone number. I state that I'm shopping inside and will be gone as fast as I can. Please call if truck needs to be moved. Never had a problem.

If you're allowed to use the split sleeper option and have the time, I'd think about making it a 2 hour break at Walmart just so you're not feeling rushed.

I make a list, so I can shop quick. Not all Walmarts will allow you to park, so the quick in and out usually works. Some will let you stay overnight. It's all about trip planning.

Since Wilson lets us use PC, I usually try to find a nearby grocery store to where I'm doing my 34 at for the week and bobtail over there. Haven't had an issue with a truck stop not letting me drop the trailer if I tell the manager I'm staying there and will be gone a couple hours tops, even with occasional posted 'no drop trailer' signs. Gives me something to do and lets me get some walking in.