New Trucker Looking For Advice!

I just got hired on with WE, and ship out to California in a couple of weeks.

I found this forum after reading all the bad reviews about WE, and finally landed here.

After reading through what people had to say about WE, and trucking in general made more sense here; than what all the whiners had to say out there.

Anyway, with all that said. Any advice would be much appreciated and valued.

I've read on here that being productive, reliable, and having good time management will contribute to success in the trucking industry. Any examples or advice on how to do that would be much appreciated.

I figure learning now before I start would be better than learning nothing at all.

After reading on this forum. People know what they're talking about, and have good information. I want to thank everyone for that. Also thank you for the time.

Forgot to add I plan on doing company driving in a dry van.

Thank You!

First off welcome. You will find not only good advice here but it will be real and not sugar coated.

Let's start with the WE thing. Yes they have a bad reputation. And it's not entirely unwarranted. They churn out a lot of drivers in a short amount of time and many of them end up making lots of mistakes. A lot of this is because they'll take people other companies wouldn't touch. The bad safety rating could be from many things though. Whether that's just bad training or just drivers that don't put a lot of effort into staying safe. So while you will end up carrying that rep with you that doesn't mean you have to contribute to the problem.

So to help you along let's start with the basics. Don't sacrifice safety for making good time. In fact don't sacrifice safety for anything. Yes you'll want to make a good impression with your dispatcher , and that will come with time. But you can't become a great driver with a great reputation of your own of you keep hitting things. In fact everything will come with time.

Don't be afraid to question things while you're training. You'll learn more the more you question. If they ever ask you to perform a function without telling you why, ask them to explain why. It's not being condescending or rude. Now if you start questioning things they've already explained, then yeah you're trainer will probably start to dislike you.

Just remember that you're not going to know everything about being a truck driver after you're done schooling. You also won't know everything after you finish with your trainer. No becoming a truck driver takes time AND effort. Focus on your job. Be professional. Be safe. Be humble. Most drivers here will tell you that this career can humble you real quick.

I wish you the best and remember to keep checking in here with any questions.

I'd recommend reading our diaries in CDL Diaries here, start one of your own. Get active in the forum here and ask us. Long term members here are top tier drivers. Many of us came up through this very community and it shows in our performance.

If you haven't already gotten into it,

• Truck Driver's Career Guide
• Brett's Book: The Raw Truth About Trucking (free online version)
• High Road CDL Training Program
• CDL Practice Tests

Paid CDL Training ProgramsTruck Driver's Career GuideBecoming A Truck Driver: The Raw Truth About Truck Driving

Also I'd ask Old School about his book as well. Having am open minded, and soaking up the knowledge in this community saved my career and helped me thrive many times over.

Hey Robert, welcome to our forum and to trucking!

Getting started in trucking is really a radical change for most of us. That's why there are so many failures. That failure rate has convinced people that you have to start at just the right company or you're doomed. There's no truth in that. I started at Western Express, and I have done very well as a trucker.

As you begin this career, don't focus on who has their name on the doors of your truck. Focus on who has their hands on the wheel of your truck. That's where success or failure lies.

It's going to be a hard transition no matter where you start. Settle that in your mind. The problem with most newbies is that they blame each problem they encounter on their employer. Don't do that. Just realize trucking has extra difficulties at first.

Rookies are under a lot of pressure because it's all new, and we're still learning a great deal. Our training only covers the bare minimums for us to get started. We can always improve our performance out here. We can always work at being easier to work with. We can always be safer. After well over a million miles, I'm still learning things out here.

Focus on being productive, safe, easy to work with. Don't be argumentative or disgruntled. Take on each new day as though it were a gift from God to start fresh. You'll be amazed how much a positive attitude helps bring success in trucking, and a negative attitude compounds failure.

I poured my years of success and experience into a book specifically for new truck drivers. If you're interested, it's available at Amazon. Just go to their website and then type Hit The Road by Dale McClure in their search bar. It should come right up. It's available as an e-book or a paperback.

Hang with us here in our forum. There are a lot of voices of reason here who can help you get through that tricky first year. Hang in there. You can do this.

Read everything you can here and don't be afraid to ask questions. When I was starting out I thought every problem that arose causing me frustration and time was unique to me. By getting active on the forum I realized every rookie goes through those same problems, and with time and experience you can usually quickly work through all of them.

I'm not a quitter but had I not realized I wasn't a bad case the trucking gods took a special interest in trying to get me out quick as I came in, I wouldn't have made it. I learned it's just the rookie blues that we all go through, and now I know how to quickly remedy those problems that hung me up so much in the beginning.

Thanks for the replies, I'll definitely check out the links posted.

After reading around the internet, my only concern with WE is the trainers. I've read that drivers can become trainers after only 3 months. That seems kind of a short amount of time, but who am I to judge with no experience at all.

Most of what I read though, was people complaining about their trainers social and political views, and a few about hygiene. I could careless about all that. I only care about their ability to train, and being able to do my job when I get my own truck.

When I get with my trainer, I'm just hoping that I get an experienced trainer. Try to work with them to get the information that I need in the time we spend together. I'm pretty easy going, have a thick skin, and make friends easier than enemies. I think I'll be fine. But that was my only concern.

Truck driver trainers are not trained to teach. Every trainer will have a different way of showing you what they know. Don't let this get to you. Like was said before, ask questions if you don't understand something. While on your trainers truck, be clean and tidy. Also, take a shower every chance you can. If you don't know how to get a shower ask your trainer to show you.

When your on your own, get an Atlas, a CB and a good trucker's GPS. If you want to use an app for GPS, I have use and recommend the Hammer app. I like that I can easily save locations, set the type of truck and the hazmat level. No matter what GPS you use remember they are very fallible. Know your route. Also Google maps is for cars only, DO NOT USE IT.

GOAL any time you are not 110% sure where your truck and trailer are or they are going. Never be afraid to GOAL. When backing take your time and go slow. You will never be good enough not to GOAL.

Try not to let things get under your skin. Communicate with dispatch. There are so many things to affect your travel time that are out of your control. Accidents can close a road down. Construction will slow you down. You will mostly be able to keep a regular schedule, until you can't. Learn how to manage your clock. Learn the legalities of your logs and how to manage them. That is done electronically. Learn how to use your ELD and send messages to dispatch and how to read messages. Sleep when you can.

Pay attention. Check your mirrors, know where your stepping when getting out of your truck or the trailer. It very easy to step down into a hole. You don't want to twist an ankle. Keep a safe following distance, if someone cuts you off, slow down to increase following distance.

Best of luck to you.

I downloaded the hammer app, and will check it out. Also downloaded the trucking parking app that I came across earlier on here. Any other useful apps that I can download now?

Thanks

No one can mention the G.O.A.L thing too much ! It saved my butt more than twice out there when I drove. I remember 1 particularly well,it was late at night after I drove my full 11 hours. I was "trying" to back into the ONLY hole I found. This was in Az. I forget which fuel stop. Problem was, I was trying to cut the trailer, into the slot, with a fenced area in front of me, and a tight fit on my blind side too!

Something was making me not feel right. So I popped the brakes, G.O.A.L, and sure enough, the corner of my trailer was inches away from hitting the sleeper of the guys cab! I about crapped myself hahaha.... And gave a big sigh of relief, and gave up on that spot, drove a bit down and found a big dirt lot, with plenty of spots, just before my clock ran out. I'll never forget that close encounter, glad I listened to my gut instinct too.

I downloaded the hammer app, and will check it out. Also downloaded the trucking parking app that I came across earlier on here. Any other useful apps that I can download now?

Thanks

For scaling loads, CAT has two apps that are useful: "CAT Scale" for locating nearby CAT locations, and "Weigh My Truck" for when you're at the scale. You can input and save your fuel card info to pay and weigh from your cab, and it'll show your weights and email you a copy.

The Blue Beacon app will locate their truck wash locations.

Any truck stop your company allows you to fuel at you'll want to have. I fuel mostly at Loves and I can pay for my fuel and activate the pumps as well as see how many are in line for a shower and book one right from the app.

There's plenty more but those are the ones coming to mind right now.