Finally Solo

Well i am finally a solo driver. It has been a long road to get here learning wise and i know ill learn more everyday. Im actually on my 3rd solo load right now. My first load was from Wisconsin to Indiana, and thankfully there was a nice prime driver to help me get backed in to the dock lol. I had trouble because the way i parked screwed my set up. So he spotted for me. My second load was an egg farm and i had to drive a 70 ft rig down some roads that i know werent made for it. Slow and steady is all i have to say if i had been going fast i think i would have taken out that stop sign and the telephone pole lol. Now im off to New Jersey. I really hope they have overnight parking at this receiver or im gonna be in trouble with trying to manage this time thing. That is honestly the biggest problem i am having with trucking. Well that and directions but the directions should be fixed soon.

Parking was a huge thing for me in the first few weeks, not knowing where or if I could get somewhere. Best thing I did was spent $5.00 on the "pocket truck stop guide" awesome tool for planning your overnight stays. Also I started running about 3:00am so I would get into a truck stop early......lots of open parking spots!

I'd recommend downloading trucker path if you have a smart phone

Well i am finally a solo driver. It has been a long road to get here learning wise and i know ill learn more everyday. Im actually on my 3rd solo load right now. My first load was from Wisconsin to Indiana, and thankfully there was a nice prime driver to help me get backed in to the dock lol. I had trouble because the way i parked screwed my set up. So he spotted for me. My second load was an egg farm and i had to drive a 70 ft rig down some roads that i know werent made for it. Slow and steady is all i have to say if i had been going fast i think i would have taken out that stop sign and the telephone pole lol. Now im off to New Jersey. I really hope they have overnight parking at this receiver or im gonna be in trouble with trying to manage this time thing. That is honestly the biggest problem i am having with trucking. Well that and directions but the directions should be fixed soon.

No shame in that. I had to do the same thing for awhile, have someone spot me while backing. You know something I learned about the cualcomm gps we have is that it almost takes you right to where you need to go everytime. Something that helped me out was when im about 5-10 miles away from where I was supposed to, I turn the volume up. My trainer always had it muted and I never knew it would tell you your destination was on the left or right. My rand mcnally gps will usually get me right in the vicinity, but the cualcomm almost always takes me to where the guard shack is.

And I can only speak for myself, but those first couple weeks or so solo were rough. I was slow at everything. Parking can be a pain for sure. I usually luck out one way or another it seems. If I'm real tired, I'll park it any space I can find at a truck stop or rest stop. No one has ever told me to move yet

When I first started, I was hesitant to park anywhere other than a major truck stop or rest area. Now I'm getting a little more creative. Like tonight for example. I'm delivering lumber to a Pro Build. If they had room to park in their driveway I would have parked there, but they don't (I called ahead and checked). So I looked on Google maps and saw a JC Penny 2 blocks away. I called them, spoke to the manager, and got permission to park behind the store. It being a Sunday night, combined with the fact that I'll be gone 2 hours before they open, well they really had no issues.

I'm finding it's often nicer to park away from the more common places. You get more privacy, peace and quiet, and you often get access to things other than a convenience store, like the Shopko across the street.

Yeah im still slow at trying to find a parking spot, and id love to be able to run at 3am but so far my appointment times have stopped me from doing that. Like today for instance i have 12 hrs left on my 70, i cant get anyone on the phone at the receiver to see if they will take me early and my appt is at 5pm. Its also in jersey where theres no parking anywhere. So im thinking i have to wait til the last minute to start my clock get in and deliver this and hope i can get out before i run out of hours. This is the crappy part of trucking im assuming. As for the directions we have CoPilot on our pc but mine wasnt installed right so it doesnt work very well. As soon as i come back from hometime my fm is gonna set me up an appt with a shop to get it taken care of.

Yeah im still slow at trying to find a parking spot, and id love to be able to run at 3am but so far my appointment times have stopped me from doing that. Like today for instance i have 12 hrs left on my 70, i cant get anyone on the phone at the receiver to see if they will take me early and my appt is at 5pm. Its also in jersey where theres no parking anywhere. So im thinking i have to wait til the last minute to start my clock get in and deliver this and hope i can get out before i run out of hours. This is the crappy part of trucking im assuming. As for the directions we have CoPilot on our pc but mine wasnt installed right so it doesnt work very well. As soon as i come back from hometime my fm is gonna set me up an appt with a shop to get it taken care of.

Regulations say as long as you're free to leave, aren't working (hazmat MUST remain on-duty): You can change to off-duty or sleeper berth.

It's what I do when I'm forced to wait at a Ma & Pa Mexican shipper. Then I proceed to take a nap. :)