Re: ot truck driving school ????

Posted by trucker40 on February 12, 2009 at 22:50:17 from (69.152.168.168):

In Reply to: ot truck driving school ???? posted by jd2wd on February 12, 2009 at 19:31:34:

I have seen lots of guys that went to truck driving school,but have not met very many that went on and really became a truck driver.Like others said you want to find an old guy to teach you.Not an old guy thats been driving 5 years,an old guy thats been driving a long time.You want one thats good natured because I have seen a lot of times ones yelling at guys trying to learn.I think if you can find an old man to show you how after 2 weeks its time to find a different old man to show you 2 more weeks,and you want to run in the mountains somewhere the second 2 weeks.Then you might maybe able to keep from running over other trucks and stuff,but you will probably run the right wheels of the trailer over lots of stuff,so pick a job where you can learn.Depending on you,and how much you learn you may want to go back to the first one or find a different old man to run 2 more weeks and learn about times to drive in traffic,how to adjust your brakes,anything he can tell you about the tricks he knows,and you actually want to keep notes just like you did in school if you learned while you were there.I spent a few months running to the same places a couple times a week for a while.It was to Wichita,Ks from Missouri,so it was an overnight run.The stuff I didnt know it wasnt like being in Chicago in rush hour asking directions,getting in a wreck like Ive seen driving school guys do more than once.Also doing that it wasnt too hard to park at the places I went to,lots of room.Until you get onto backing up precisely its good to have a place like that.Ripping the truck next to yours mirror off backing in to the dock is embarrasing,expensive,and if you do it 2 or three times a week because you are a rookie,they might fire you,or the insurance company will make them fire you because you cost them too much.A big company is not going to give you much consideration because you dont have any experience,but they will say they dont do it,and turn around and give you a bad DAT(kind of a black list) rating and it will be hard to get a job for you.Sure they kind of expect you to have accidents,but be extra careful,get out and look before backing,even ask for somebody to watch for you on the CB if you see they are awake setting there.
Chances are you will be a sorry driver for the first 6 months,then you maybe can get on to the traffic and stop being lost so bad all the time.If you make it for 6 months you probably can do it for 2 years before you get disgusted.You also either need a real understanding family,or be single and able to handle being gone for 3 weeks probably,maybe more.Always keep looking for a better job.Stay where you are long enough to get experience,but dont stay for loyalty.They will tell you lots of different lies usually,and you will hate the company or the dispatcher at times,but they have things they are obligated to do to keep the company in business.The way its described is like this,the company/dispatcher/owner is kissing somebodys(insert shippers name)@ss,and using your lips to do it.If you are lucky you might find a small outfit to put up with you a while.If you do,dont make them mad,and try hard not to run over stuff and not knocking down light poles everywhere you go and you might want to come back there if you buy your own truck and lease to them if they like you.Actually thats the best way to drive a truck is own it.When you get 6 months under your belt you need to put a 100 dollars a week in a savings account.In a year you will have 5000 dollars in that account.If you want to be a truck driver save a couple more thousand and buy a good used tractor for about 30,000 dollars with 3000 dollars down and borrow it from a bank with lower interest than a company like Freightliner or Kenworth.
I could tell you lots more,but it is not an easy job.For every 10 people that try it 8 quit and one of those 2 quit after 2 years.I always wanted the money,didnt really care about any of the rest of it,so as soon as you can if you stick with it try and find a union job.Drop and hook,run hard but legal,and save your money to buy your own truck.A union place was about all I could stand really,the gutless other ones kind of get to you after a while.When you haul a trash(load that does not pay you much,makes you mad,and is more waiting than running) load over and over,set in the parking lot for 2 days to get unloaded,tell them that you arent happy about it and dont want to go back,in a few weeks there you are again.They will all tell you what they think it takes to tell you what you want to hear.Hang up with you and tell somebody else the opposite.You dont want to take it too serious,figure they are going to lie to you,that must be a requirement to be a dispatcher,but some guys are so bad they have to lie to them to get them to do anything.After a while you will kind of remember seeing some of them parked in a truck stop,maybe close to the same place,every time you come through.I honestly dont see how people like that keep from starving to death,or why the company even would put up with it,but they are out there parked/hogging the front row of every truck stop,inside playing video games or gambling machines.Just walk on by that stuff,its not going to help you anyway,if you arent working,sleep.For the most part you need to run about as many hours as you can legally to make enough money.Its hard to do at first because you dont know how to get around good,but the wheels need to be turning for you to make a living.If you cant hack it,you would be better off getting a job doing something else because its a hard job,and stressful,and nobody cares about you.They treat you like a robot and thats on a good day.
The CB radio is your friend,so are books on tape,AM radio.Bad weather,park if you are scared.I would rather run 65 in the hammer lane fully loaded knowing the inexperienced guy is not going to pull out in front of me in rain,snow,whatever,as those are the scariest things I had happen.Also have seen a few times pull into heavy rain and slam on the brakes,or fog,or ice.They are so bad at this in the daytime I can tell just about what they are going to do if I see the rain or fog coming up and try to pass them if I can.I drove in an ice storm in Iowa the very first week in a tractor trailer on my own.I had the whole tractor trailer sliding sideways down the highway.I wanted to get off the road but every exit had a wreck on it,and I drove for hours,even stopping on the highway a few times to calm down all the way to Missouri from up by Souix Falls before I found an exit I could get off the road.By then the road was dry.Stuff like that if you live through it can really get your adrenalin going.Its like this lead,follow,and if you cant do that,get out of the way.I could write lots of stuff about it.Ask whatever you want and maybe I can answer,but for the most part a truck driving school is not the good deal for you they tell you it is.Its good for them because if you make it they get you cheap for a year or 2.Believe me if you count all your hours the pay is not that good unless you own the truck,have a union job,or work for an outfit that drops and hooks a lot,likes you,and pays you well,treats you right.Places like that are real selective usually,so a good job,and good help,are very hard to find.There is not a nickels worth of difference in most of the big ones,and ones that offer the schools,go that way and in 2 years you will be done with truck driving.Do it the way I said,plus you need to be mechanic enough to change tires,oil,and look your truck over all the time,and own your own,and you will be lots happier,home lots more,and make fairly good money.You might be home one day or maybe 2 a week on a union job.Way better than the big time companies that look fancy and keep you running 3 weeks or more then home 2 or 3 days and back out.There is no comparison in the pay,at least where I worked for a union,probably twice as good as one the others.There are good non union companies,that pay good,but they dont hire guys that dont have good experience.After a while if you choose to do this,you will understand why they want 2 or 3 or 5 years of experience.That weeds out a lot of bad drivers for them and their equipment looks a lot better than the ones that have inexperienced drivers working for them.Following too close is the worst thing you can do,especially on 2 lane highways or any highway in bad weather,in your car as well as a truck,but I have come very close to wrecking from following too close.You can go down a mountain too slow lots of times if you dont get your brakes too hot,but you only go down a mountain too fast one time.Remembering and doing those things there go a long way toward keeping you alive.The CB has saved me lots of times from having a wreck,getting a fine,being tied up at a scale house.It also works to get directions,figure out where you need to go,its just a useful tool.Some truck driving school graduates have told me their teacher told them not to listen to the CB.Sure there is a lot of nonsense on it,but at times it really helps.Cops have CBs,so dont talk about your log book on it,or how fast you are going,and dont use your name or real phone number on it.
I mean there is a lot to learn.You can do it,but its not for everybody.Its up there as one of the more dangerous jobs you can do too.I know this is way too long,but its not even a good start at what you have to know.You can do it,but it can get miserable for a while,and you dont want to team for 6 months,or put up with a "trainer"that might tell you what you need,or might not.A trucker most likely will teach you what you need to know.Truck driving school might be your last resort if you cant get on to it on your own.Also practice backing up in a big empty parking lot at first to get on to it before you try getting into a dock.I had a hard time at first backing up,everybody does,because you cant see all that you need to when you back up.Its harder than lots of truckers make it look.

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• trucker40 novel writer buickddeere 08:36:43 02/14/09 (0)

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