How I know I'm an Inexperienced Truckdriver

[RadarRider]

Well, I've been working for my new trucking company solid since I've gotten out of school. I've found there's a big difference between what you learn in school, & what you learn from experienced drivers & my own experiences on the road. I'm slowly but surely learning how to become a better truck driver each & everyday & I absolutely love my job....however, in the whole 1 month & 1 week I've been working for this company, I've found many points that tell me(& every innocent motorist that's been around me when I'm driving!)----------------I absolutely suck!!! Don't get me wrong, I love my job & wouldn't trade it for the world, but here's some of the instances I've gotten myself in that show I've got a lot to learn & I hope they make you laugh. Just be nice if you post. Here goes:

1. When I have a 53', no matter how wide I take my turns, I still manage to run over a curb and/or someone's lawn.
2. One of the #1 rules of driving truck is never to get yourself into a situation where you have to back up......well......I get myself into one of them everyday.
3. I don't use road atlas' to find my deliveries/pick-ups...........I use a Tom-Tom.....that thinks I'm a hybrid, not a 27' or 53' trailer standing 13'6".
4. The most commonly used phrase I'm yelling inside my cab is "Where the hell's 3rd!?!?!?!?!" *GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR---------IIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNDDD!!!*
5. I hold the record @ work of pulling down the most phone and/or cable lines @ about 9 my 1st week driving alone. 2nd to my record is a guy that pulled down 2.
6. I also hold the record crushing customers wheel chocks they provide @ their docks because I forgot to remove them when I leave.
7. Dispatch? Who the hell's that?
8. When I've got a pup trying to blind/sight a dock, I look like a gigantic tail of a dog wagging.....& no matter how hard I try lining the trailer up with the lines on the sides of the dock, I'm STILL crooked.
9. My left calf is about the size of my thigh because I still haven't gotten powershifting down 100%.....yup, I'm still double-clutching.
10. The 1st truck I had looks like an infantry soldier in the bush........from whacking low-hanging tree branches.
11. I still trust the dockworkers @ my barn to load my truck correctly according to the manifests.......then I find out after I've unloaded 1800lbs. of freight by hand because it was loaded in the nose that I should just load the damn truck myself.
12. Sometimes I find myself pushing in the maxi brake and the tractor protection when I'm unhooking..........."why am I losing air pressure????"
13. If you're ever in RI, MA, or CT & hear on the radio there's a major traffic jam on a main road instead of a highway.....it's not an accident, it's me trying to alley dock off of the street.



That's it for now. There are probably many life lessons of driving truck I am sure to learn, so stay tuned for more A-truck bloopers!

[RRonning1984]

That is so great dude and I can relate to some of it. The one thing I always loved about log trucks is we never had to deal with loading docks!

[GoFastPadre]

Hey man we all have to learn and experience is the best teacher by far. Keep a positive attitude about things and they will come around for you. I work on high speed envelope converting equipment and the first time I saw one I almost turned and left because I thought I would never learn how to run one. I have been at it since 1991

[RadarRider]

Originally Posted by RRonning1984

That is so great dude and I can relate to some of it. The one thing I always loved about log trucks is we never had to deal with loading docks!

Sometimes I say to myself: "I should've been a sea captain"

Originally Posted by GoFastPadre

Hey man we all have to learn and experience is the best teacher by far. Keep a positive attitude about things and they will come around for you. I work on high speed envelope converting equipment and the first time I saw one I almost turned and left because I thought I would never learn how to run one. I have been at it since 1991

Thanks a lot, GFP! That's the kind of advice I like to hear. When I 1st started, I felt like the only idiot behind the wheel of a rig & watching truck drivers with 48' & 53' that take turns or make maneuvers blindfolded while I'm sitting there grinding gears & missing turns. I appreciate a post coming from an experienced driver that gives good advice instead of pointing & laughing @ those that are in the shoes you were once in.

[bockhold]

only cory could do that

[StarDriver]

I remember when I started, of course, I didn't have to worry about curbs, you just dropped it in the ditch......

Plus, I started driving in the winter in Iowa, kind of like Ice Road Truckers, I just didn't go on lakes.

[szyd]

Practice makes perfect man keep up the good work

[CoalRollinRoosterCruiser]

Ya gotta start somewherez


Once you get away from double-clutching, you will NEVER go back. i promise you that

But that all comes with time. You'll get the hang of it

[ford_trck]

Originally Posted by RadarRider

4. The most commonly used phrase I'm yelling inside my cab is "Where the hell's 3rd!?!?!?!?!" *GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR---------IIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNDDD!!!*

9. My left calf is about the size of my thigh because I still haven't gotten powershifting down 100%.....yup, I'm still double-clutching.

12. Sometimes I find myself pushing in the maxi brake and the tractor protection when I'm unhooking..........."why am I losing air pressure????"

1st I only have a class B but on the 1st note every truck is different to drive. Some trucks come out and go in gear easy and then others are a beotch to get out of gear and go in easy and the situations go on from there ETC. I have been in your shoes on #4

#9 You will love powershifting to me it's easy but it comes differently to everyone. Every once in a while I still work on a truck that I can't get right and have to clutch to get out of gear

#12 I have seen more than my fair share of people pushing in the trailer brakes and saying where's it coming from. Funny yes do the feel like a tard when you tell them what they did yes. Good luck with your journey's and I will be sure to stay away from the east coast

[JakeLewis79]

That's not too bad. Except the pulling down wires part j/k We had a new guy come to work for us and he never laid his load bars down in the freezer after his route, so twice I got hit in the head with a load bar when I opened the door. Well, I got tired of this real quick, so I switched his red and blue air lines around where they screw into the back of the cab. He pushed in that red button and couldn't figure out why he couldn't go anywhere. I heard it took him over an hour before he got rolling. Oh yeah, it was raining when he was out there trying to figure it out.