If you are thinking about becoming an over-the-road truck driver...

[jmowreader]

Many years ago, trucking schools were...well, you know, SCHOOLS. You went there for many months and, when you were done, you knew a lot about driving a truck. These days, truck driver schools could be described as CDL mills--you learn everything you will need to know to get your CDL, and then you get your ass out on the road with a carrier that's big enough to afford self-insurance and learn to drive a truck the old-fashioned way...by driving a truck.

This could actually be the best way for you to learn. If you learn from books well (as I do), you can be a trucker. If you need to have someone teach you, you won't do so hot.

If you want to drive, bring a few things to the school with you:

1. Know how to use a clutch. If you haven't ever driven a stick, you're screwed from the start. The shift pattern's a little different, but it's not like a deuce and a half--on the old Army M35 truck, a third-to-fourth shift was up, shift to the right, then pull the stick back--not forward, it's easy to forget. On this, the shift pattern at least makes sense.

2. Learn how air brakes work. You WILL be tested by the state on them, and they're asking mechanical questions.

3. You need to be in good but not necessarily spectacular health. As long as you have normal blood pressure, normal blood sugar, and you can see and hear, you should be able to pass the DOT physical. If you currently work for a psychopath, like I used to, take a few weeks off work before you report to driving school. One month free from psychopathic bosses and a LOT of garlic and co-enzyme Q-10 caused my BP to drop from 177/141 (I am NOT kidding, sadly) to 135/88. A lack of psychopathy in your life can do the same for you.

4. Be drug free. There is no option. You can't smoke weed and take cleanse crap--the weed will show up and right next to the weed line on the GC/MS display you'll see a cleanse crap line because it's possible, and sometimes easier than testing for weed, to test for cleanse crap. I also think most people, even here, support this--do you really want to be on the road with a tractor-trailer driver who smokes weed?

5. Visit http://www.cristcdl.com. This will give you practice for your CDL knowledge tests.

[spag68]

1. Truck driving

That old 2-1/2 was nothing compared to the old Mack 5-4 which was found in many old coal haulers. The easiest is the 10 speeds which have 5 gears and a 2 range axle. I really liked the 15 speed tri-axles, they really rocked with a big Detroit.

[jmowreader]

21. That's what I'll be up against...

The trucks here at school all have 10-speed Eatons, and the manual-shift trucks at USA Truck all have the same transmission. It's questionable whether I'll get one of those at work though; apparently all their new trucks have automatics for "driver satisfaction." (What they're not telling you is that it's really for fuel economy: manuals can give you better fuel economy than automatics, unless you can't shift for fuel economy--which takes years of experience, and since this line hires new drivers you know it ain't there across the board--and then the automatic is better. If you can get a quarter-MPG better with an automatic, USA Truck, who has 600 trucks right now and wants more, would save about 2800 gallons of fuel per day, or a million gallons a year if each truck runs 250 days a year. Chop that in half just to be safe because not everyone is new, but still, that's a lot of fuel.)

[NMDemDist2]

2. my hubby got a CDL in 2007

he studied and took the test for a 'learner's permit' then talked one of the big oil field companies into taking him on

he tested 3 months later and passed.

the oil fields are a hell of a place to drive a big tanker, he's glad to be out

he never did go over the road, but since he's a big homebody I think that's a good thing

:hi:

a trucker friend explained it like this. "Think of spending all day every day in a space smaller than your bathroom for two weeks, take 3 days to get everything in your life done, then return to the small space."

it takes a special type personality to be a trucker, I salute you :patriot:

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. This is a great thread!

K&R!

And, THANKS! :hi:

[unkachuck]

4. K&R....n/t

[Ikonoklast]

5. The big non-union truckload carriers run the CDL mills as a profit center.

Due to low pay, horrid working conditions, 100+ hour work-weeks, and absolute indifference by these companies the annual turnover rates in driver employment exceeds 100% in many of the largest carriers.

That is not a mistype. Some companies run closer to a 125% turnover rate per year, for drivers.

After starving out their own employees with low wages, long hours (80 hours a week, legally, but many companies expect their drivers to routinely break the law) no overtime, long weeks or months away from home, these same companies are telling the federal government that there is a 'driver shortage' and the federal government needs to subsidize them in order to keep qualified candidates coming in the front door.

They declare that they need more and more drivers to keep the vital flow of freight in this country moving, when in reality they chase them off as soon as they can in order to keep those schools filled with gullible noobs who are promised the 'big bucks'.

There is no driver shortage in this country. There are more CDL holders currently in this country than there are driving jobs.

Where, one might ask, is the so-called 'shortage'? These are the very same companies that lobbied the government to keep truck driver classified as 'unskilled' labor in order to keep wages low, but are now running out of American citizens to fuck over. They have been trying to get Congress to let foreign drivers in under H1-B visas to get even cheaper labor, but refuse to give in on the 'unskilled' status of their current employees.

They want their cake, and eat it, too. Using visas designed to get highly-skilled foreigners in high-demand, highly educated positions to come and work here, for what they have fought for fifty years to remain as designated by them as 'unskilled labor'.

Paid for by you.

The ATA, the American Trucking Association which only represents the largest companies, but by no means employ as many truckers as all the small trucking companies in this country, has the ear of government because of the money they throw at politicians in order to get their way. So, their CDL mills are subsidized by the taxpayer to the tune of up to half the total cost, around an average of $3000 per pupil.

They see the schools as a 'profit center'. More students, more free federal money. They could care less if any of those people ever turn a wheel in a big truck. They already made a profit off them.

Do you think that they just might have an incentive to have a high turnover rate, just to get free money from the taxpayers?

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. The legal hours limit is 70 hours in 8 consecutive days.

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos/index.htm

They have modified the rules in the last few years and those modifications are in that link, but it still is 70 hrs in 8 days. If you drive the 11 hours allowed in a 24 hour period, you will use up the allotted 70 hours, 4 hours into your 7th day. 70 divided by 8 = 8.75. Drive no more than 8 3/4 hours a day, every day and you will never run out of hours. The thing is, the rules stipulate that all time waiting to be loaded and unloaded, fueling, servicing etc. is "On Duty, Not Driving" time and those hours count against the 70.

(80 hours a week, legally, but many companies expect their drivers to routinely break the law)

The fines for exceeding hours of service regulations are steep, both for the driver and the company so most reputable firms do their best to comply. In all the years I drove, I ran into this problem more in Motor Racing and marketing than I ever did hauling freight.

[Ikonoklast]

8. Oops. Pushed the wrong button.

But, come on. You know that those rules are routinely broken. Those fines seldom come into play unless there is a log audit after either someone turned them in, or an accident.

Many companies just see those fines as part of the cost of doing business. If they meant anything, Swift would have been out of business years ago.

And many drivers fudge detention time spent at shippers and receivers. That unpaid time spent sitting at a dock cuts into driving time, and drivers routinely log that time other than 'on-duty, not driving'.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

14. Most companies don't give a shit about DOT regs.

At least not the ones I drove for. It's been my experience that the first time you mention DOT regs, they'll start giving you lousy loads running around in NJ or some shit. Mention it again, and they'll starve you until you quit.

For a truck driver, complying with the hours of service is about like working part time. I always logged by miles instead of hours and still had to keep two log books to cover for it. Some don't even bother with it. I ran team with one guy for a year and he never filled out one log page. :crazy:

[jmowreader]

22. The rule is just SLIGHTLY different, but you're very close

Hours of service regulations as they currently stand: you can work 14 hours per day, 11 of which are driving hours and three non-driving duty hours--fueling, servicing, waiting for the one guy in the whole store with a forklift license to break free from selling a water heater so he can unload you...when I was still the one guy in the store with a forklift license I always wondered why the store got charged for making the driver wait past a certain time to be loaded. I don't wonder that anymore.

If you go past three hours of non-driving time, THAT eats into your 11 hours of drive time.

Here's what I don't understand, and perhaps someone who's done this can tell me: why isn't it 77 hours instead of 70? (Or 66 hours instead of 60 if you're on a 7-day week?) 11 hours behind the wheel a day, then one off.

[A HERETIC I AM]

25. Agreed, but those 14 hours still count toward the 70.

The 70 hours/8 day limit is the total of all hours driven and worked "on duty, not driving" so if you logged 14 hours total every day, you would be at the 70 hour limit in 5 days.

The last time I was behind the wheel of a big truck was in April of 2006 so I admit I have no experience logging in the newer format. They had revised the rules at that time but were still debating how to implement them. Drivers were still using the 10 hours driving time rule.

As far as the 70 hour limitation, I don't know the history as to why that figure was chosen either, but it has been in place for decades. I first started driving trucks in 1978, locally in Dade County, Fl. I got my first OTR job in 1987 and that 70 hour rule had been in place since the 1930's, if I am not mistaken.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

10. You are correct.

If anyone reading this is thinking about getting into truck driving, take Ikonoklast's post into consideration.

The CDL schools are a ripoff and driving for one of the big non union fleets, which you'll have to do in most cases, is a nightmare. It's like having the mafia for an HR department.

You might think, "They're not going to fuck me over like they did that other guy". Yes they will. Once they get you out on the road, they will put you through the same meatgrinder they run every other driver through.

Find something else to do.

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. If you are thinking about becoming an over-the-road truck driver...

Realize that the overwhelming majority of OTR jobs pay by the mile - essentially "piecemeal" wages. You don't move for lack of a load or because of a breakdown, you aren't making money.

Know that the overwhelming majority of OTR drivers are NOT union members and therefore you are "At-Will"

Know that you are limited to what and where you can eat based on where you can park. You'll pass scores of places you would rather eat in order to get to the truckstop so you can park your 75'(+) long, 13'6" high, 8'6" wide vehicle.

You'll find out that one of the biggest problems trucking companies have is driver retention. Drivers change companies regularly because...well...most of them suck to work for.

Understand what the term "No-Touch Freight" means. That's what you want. Stacking boxes onto a pallet in a trailer at your delivery in the middle of the summer when the inside of the trailer can get to 140 degrees is absolutely no fun at all. Trust me.

Most companies pay some sort of rate to load or unload but it is nowhere near the rate you make driving and it can be back breaking, tedious, hot work. If you are required to either load or unload your trailer, you are essentially being an unpaid dockworker for the shipper or the consignee. Look for companies that advertise "100% No-Touch Freight".

If you drive for a "truck load" carrier, (meaning the entire load goes to one place) you are going to carry everything you can imagine that does not need refrigeration or need to go on a flatbed and those products get picked up and delivered in some of the oddest, most out of the way places you can imagine. They also get picked up and delivered in downtown areas where every single bit of your skill will be called upon to get the truck into and out of. The first time you have to do a "blind side" back up into a spot 2 feet wider than your trailer, you'll know what I'm talking about.

Having to walk across a 10 acre parking lot first thing in the morning in all kinds of weather to take a pee, poop, shower and get a coffee SUCKS! But that's what you'll have to do. And you're likely to have to wait in a line to do at least one of those.

Consignees and shippers can often be difficult for no other reason than they know they can fuck with you. As I said above, unless you're rolling, you aren't making money and some shippers and receivers seem to take morbid glee in delaying you in your attempt to get loaded or empty.

Learn what an engine retarder is and how they work. The "Jake Brake" can save your life but it can also get you killed if it isn't used properly. No amount of brakes can stop a too heavy truck going too fast down too steep a grade.

If you are prone to road rage or quick to anger in your car, trucking is going to be exceedingly frustrating for you. The majority of automobile drivers on the road have absolutely no clue about trucks in general, how heavy they really are, exactly how maneuverable they are and how long it takes to get one going and how long it takes to stop. 0 to 60 in 90 seconds frustrates everyone behind you and they will do the craziest, stupidest things you can imagine to keep from being behind you or try and get in front of you. Many people seem to think that because you have 18 tires, you can stop on a dime. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Inspect your tires EVERY DAY. All 18 of them and keep them properly inflated. Being stuck on the side of the road 40 miles from West Bumfuck, Wyoming waiting for a service truck to come is among the most frustrating aspects of the business.

You DON"T need a "CB Handle". They're stupid. "They call me the Red Rider". No they don't, nimrod, YOU insist they do. Shut the fuck up and drive.

If you have ever seen a thread on DU arguing about left lane driving on the freeway and you were inclined to agree with the "I can if I want to" crowd, 2 weeks on the interstates of this country in a big truck will convince you that every DU'r that ever argued that side was and is a complete dumbass.

Sorry to be a bit of a buzzkill, but that is 20 years and over 1.5 million miles of experience talking. If I had driven freight all that time I would have well over 2 million, but I spent 13 of those years driving in Motorsports. The trucks I drove doing that didn't make money when they moved, they only made money when they sat still and it was rarely more than 50,000 miles a year in that biz. A freight hauler can easily top 100,000 miles in 12 months. Team drivers, almost twice that.

[Fumesucker]

19. A fuckin' men brother..

"If you have ever seen a thread on DU arguing about left lane driving on the freeway and you were inclined to agree with the "I can if I want to" crowd, 2 weeks on the interstates of this country in a big truck will convince you that every DU'r that ever argued that side was and is a complete dumbass."

Truer words have never been spoken, I want these sub-cretins to get in a 70,000 pound rig going downhill, trying hard to gain momentum to get up the next hill without slowing to an absolute crawl and shifting six or seven gears, and have to ride 50 mph in the left lane because another studying-to-be-a-cretin is parked in the left lane.

[NNN0LHI]

27. The "Jake Brake"

Please if you don't mind tell me what a "Jake Brake" is and how they work.

I understand mechanical stuff and how air brakes operate so you don't need to explain the "actual" nuts and bolts of it. Just the general stuff.

I see "No Jake Braking Allowed" signs coming into my town so I kind of figured they must really tear up a roadway.

Thanks in advance.

Don

[Arger68]

28. A Jake brake is a device that changes the

valve timing on a diesel engine, making it use engine compression to slow down, or more for its intended use, help hold a truck's speed down going downhill. The reason many towns don't allow them is for noise, not road wear. Hope that's not too technical!

[A HERETIC I AM]

29. From the Jacobs Vehicle Systems website;

http://www.jakebrake.com/products/how-the-jake-brake-works.php

As Arger said, they are restricted for noise issues, not for any damage they do to the roadbed. Trucks with straight pipes are especially loud when the Jake is engaged.

[lonestarnot]

9. Remind me to stay home when you get on the road!

:scared:

[MindPilot]

24. ??????? Why does that frighten you?

[Hannah Bell]

11. 177/141 to 135/88 in 1 mo. wow, good show. workplace psychopathy is endemic,

unfortunately.

[The_Casual_Observer]

12. & what about all that CB radio jargon?

[Brucie Kibbutz]

15. disregard

double tap :shrug:

[Brucie Kibbutz]

16. What you hear over the CB is disturbing, to say the least.

Not to mention the truck stops. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

[Toucano]

13. Are you sure you don't simply want to discourage us

because you don't want any more competition for making the big bills driving the big rigs?



Joking...joking...

[Brucie Kibbutz]

17. I wouldn't even recommend it to a Republican.

It's that bad.

[travelingtypist]

18. My dad was a trucker for 30 years.

I've worked at several trucking companies, as a biller and in the safety
department. My dad always said I'd be a good OTR trucker because I like
being alone.

I could never get the hang of backing up on the hitch, which is a weird
goddman thing. I drove a F250/5th wheel combo for a while and if you want
the trailer to back up right, you gotta turn the wheel left. It's so
fucked up.

Yeah, I'm a girl. A cute one. :evilgrin:

[reggie the dog]

20. I have trucker friends who smoke weed

they just do not do it while they are driving. They have passed all their tests. I will have to ask them how.

[MindPilot]

23. I really don't see how they can do that drug-free.

I need a couple hits just to make it through my daily commute without turning into a raging homicidal maniac!

I have a great admiration for truck drivers; they can put a 75 ft trailer in a place where I sweat with a station wagon, and stop & go traffic has got to take its toll on the clutch leg.

Frankly though I have a tough time imagining a job more boring, security guard, maybe.

[Blue_Tires]

26. my grandfather drove a cement mixer back in the 50s-60s

not quite the same thing, but he had great memories of doing it...my guess is the conditions and pay were relatively better then than they are now