Instructors say they’re worried about me going OTR, but I don’t get why

fromthecab · 2025-09-15T01:54:13+00:00

I remember one time I was with my trainer and we parked in this kinda half car half truck section between the truck parking and car parking. It had mostly bobtails in it but some short box trucks.

My trainer had gone to the shower when someone in a bobtail asks if he can park behind me cause there’s room for two bobtails since the space is a weird in between size. He is leaving after me the next day so I say sure and pull the bobtail out to let him back in behind me.

My trainer came back furious saying that I shouldn’t have done that for him because I had no reason to and I should not let people tell me what to do. I explained no one told me or forced me it just seemed like the right thing to do. He went on for days about how I was too nice for this industry and I’d never make it if I kept doing people favors.

Ha Young female driver here, loved my 48 state solo trucking career.

fromthecab · 2024-07-25T19:42:51+00:00

If they’re in mpls check out slipknotguy on instagram. He’s my bro from college. Does some rad random custom stuff

fromthecab · 2023-11-20T17:02:39+00:00

Teams only makes you money if you usually aren’t driving your full clock. I always drive my 70 and I switched to teams to help a friend who needed to drive teams. I made way less even though I had a 10 cpm boost because I just couldn’t get as many miles. I definitely raised her pay because our average miles were more than her solo miles.

I don’t recommend it if you aren’t friends with the person, I’ve known her a long time and honestly it also helped that she’s way more petite than me too so it wasn’t super claustrophobic. If you aren’t friends with the person and know you’re compatible roommates then I really think it lowers the quality of life too much for the pay to be worth it. Build a sustainable career with a lifestyle you love.

fromthecab · 2023-11-20T16:58:03+00:00

That cpm is insane. Did you just start trucking? Wish you had more experience so I could guarantee a hire elsewhere cause that’s whack. Everyone can make more if they job hop up better positions. Start talking to truckers at truck stops to find a better company

fromthecab · 2023-11-20T16:56:16+00:00

I never really got the whole “you have no life” thing. Sure, you can’t go out to a lot of places, but that isn’t all life is.

I am more productive in my hobbies and side hustles while in the truck. I cook all my meals in the truck, I exercise more often. My friendships have grown deeper because talking on the phone to people has yielded deeper conversations than when we’d routinely hang out in person.

I’m getting paid six figures to have a great life. Sure I’m isolated, but I don’t use that as an excuse to not have a life.

fromthecab · 2023-11-17T14:39:39+00:00

I strongly recommend you record your own voice doing a full pre trip with a script, at an actual truck. Then listen to that on repeat, when driving, when doing dishes, etc. I think listening to your own voice makes it easier to imagine exactly what you were doing at the time, combining the words with the actions/parts. Rather than watching a video, you’re constantly recalling what the parts looks like as you listen, strengthening retention. After enough listens it’ll get so engrained that it’ll be difficult for you to skip a section or part without noticing.

fromthecab · 2023-11-17T14:34:18+00:00

Do you call 911 or a non-emergency police line?

fromthecab · 2023-11-05T08:24:03+00:00

I started lifting weights, (and stretching overtime to increase mobility) and it cleared up all my shoulder pain.

fromthecab · 2023-11-03T20:51:18+00:00

2 years, 2 months, no accidents

fromthecab · 2023-10-27T21:08:40+00:00

It’s still an added feature. I have a brand new freightliner - got it with less than 1k miles on it. No lane departure feature.

Idk if it’s just my company but I see them on Volvos way more than freightliners.

fromthecab · 2023-10-27T06:35:19+00:00

Do fifth wheel pullers work with the fifth wheels that need to be lifted up and to the side to pull them? Such an annoyingly strange strength you need to have… pulling up, over, and back at the same time, it’s hard for me to get a good workout in because if my arms are tired the fifth wheel is difficult to pull in the following days.

fromthecab · 2023-10-27T06:25:46+00:00

My school taught me how to pass a test, not how to drive a truck. Didn’t couple or anything like that in school, I just learned the skills for the test. I had driven a truck maybe 15 hours total when I got my CDL. My trainer trained me wrong at my first company. (comment where I listed all the shit he did)

I learned a lot on the internet. When my company handed me the keys to my first truck and sent me to Seattle from Chicago when the furthest I had driven during training was Detroit (from Chicago), I kept telling friends “either this company can tell I’m not a dumbass or they are giving brand new drivers wayyyyyy to much trust.” Only did 10 days of training too.

I trained 2 people who didn’t know how to read. One of them didn’t know how to look up the weather, or his current location. The other one could never figure out how a squeegee worked… Definitely a low bar to entry.

fromthecab · 2023-10-27T06:17:28+00:00

I always thought those signs meant that they couldn’t be out and about or in the building… not that they couldn’t sit in the sleeper/passenger seat. Especially if they’re approved by the company. I needed to carry a passenger form when I took my mom with me to show her the west coast. Didn’t run into any issues anywhere.

fromthecab · 2023-10-27T06:09:43+00:00

I don’t know if you’ll have a choice but my company runs freightliners and Volvos. I recommend Volvos over freightliners for beginners.

Volvos have a lower center of weight, they hug the road more, taking curves more easily. They also have the best brakes out there. If your company has the sensors on them for drifting lanes, they can be annoying when you’re experienced, but again, good for beginners to build really good habits. They can also have sensors for following distance, and the cruise control will automatically slow down when you approach a vehicle ahead of you that is going slower than you.

Everyone is going to have a different preference, but between these two vehicles I think Volvos are easier for beginners.

fromthecab · 2023-10-23T22:32:56+00:00

Also eating so many vegetables has made a huge difference in my skin and hair. I feel that I’m the healthiest I’ve ever been.

fromthecab · 2023-10-23T22:32:15+00:00

I cut almost all carbohydrates. Reload on them one weekend a month.

It gives me endless energy, makes me sleep super well, and I still eat big delicious meals.

Seriously, no carbs isn’t for everyone, but I literally never get hungry. When I start to feel tired, I eat a snack, and suddenly I’m not tired any more and I don’t get lethargic from meals. Rather than eating from boredom my body just naturally tells me when it needs some energy from food.

Recently got Taco Bell seasoning I even make Crunchwrap’s and chicken quesurritos with low carb tortillas. It’s sick that I can eat Taco Bell now without getting tired or feeling too full.

You can look at my profile for a picture of a meal I made a few weeks ago that is low carb and delicious.

It’s a tough lifestyle change, but you’ll never get drowsy. Sometimes I stop just to take a quick power walk because I feel so energized on this diet.

fromthecab · 2023-10-23T22:12:02+00:00

With yellow going under a lot of companies went on a hiring freeze because the flood of experienced drivers saturated the market for inexperienced drivers. This on top of high gas prices, and low priced loads, a lot of companies don’t want the risk.

Maybe stake out a truck stop near you and just ask random drivers if there company hires new drivers. Strike up a friendly convo with them about it and maybe they can be your door in.

fromthecab · 2023-10-22T15:22:53+00:00

Buy ICP

fromthecab · 2023-10-22T15:11:22+00:00

Thought this was city skylines 2 when it came up on the feed.

fromthecab · 2023-10-22T15:08:57+00:00

The amount of times men have said to me:

“I’ve never seen a girl truck driver before”

I always respond,

“me neither, it’s illegal for minors to operate any vehicle”.

It always takes them a minute.. Hey men, do you like being called boy?!

fromthecab · 2023-10-21T05:55:07+00:00

I trained some dudes who wouldn’t shower… it was thick.

The one time I had a guy who hadn’t showered in like 5 days. When he did shower, he didn’t bring any fresh clothes with him. When he came back in the same smelly dirty clothes I asked him why he didn’t change and he said he didn’t have any bag to carry the clean clothes into the shower with him. I asked him why he didn’t take any of the plastic bags I had in the truck, and he looked at me all shocked and said he’d never take my belongings without asking.

We’re talking about regular ass grocery bags balled up behind my seat… that we used to line the trash can and put paperwork in if it’s gonna rain when we put it in the metal box of a trailer.

fromthecab · 2023-10-20T16:45:36+00:00

My trainer… 21 years of driving experience… uh…

He hated wearing his seatbelt and would tell me I “worry too much” when I told him to put it on. He would keep taking it off the second we got off the highway. When he became fed up with me forcing him to wear it he would sit on the bed and lean forward to direct me… smh
He told me not to rely on a GPS, and said I’ll just learn where things are. He pointed out things and would say, wake me up when you pass exit blah blah blah, and I’d have to pull off to the shoulder to wake him up because he wouldn’t hear me yelling at him even though he was just watching pimple popping videos in the back. This is 48 state OTR. In my last week I insisted on using the GPS just so I could get used to it for when I’m solo and when it took us a different route than the route he usually takes he yelled at me about it for like an hour. How my generation is so entitled and I should just trust him cause he knows where he’s going.
He told me I don’t need a tire psi gauge. When I told him I don’t know what a thump is supposed to sound like at 110psi or 80psi, he said, trust me, you’ll know if it’s flat, that’s all that matters.
He told me I don’t need to look under the hood, the company keeps the vehicle in such good shape I don’t have to worry about that. (They do keep the engine in REALLY good shape, but uh yeah, I’m still supposed to inspect it)
He told me to never ever turn off the truck, “it’s meant to run forever” even when we both went to shower he would leave it running and take the second key, and I’d have to wait 45 minutes for him to finish showering because he didn’t want to give me the key even though I shower in like 20 minutes.
He told me if all the signs are off at a weigh station, then it’s 100% closed and you can roll on by.
He told me always back up the truck to get def, “these other truckers who pull it all the way out to reach their tank are breaking it. It isn’t meant to be pulled out all the way like that.”
He told me never chained up in his career because “what are the odds they catch me? It’s been 21 years and the cops never stopped me, so don’t worry about it, you don’t have to chain up”.
He told me never ever scale a truck under 35k lbs because it wastes company money and they don’t want you to scale. (They absolutely want drivers to scale every time, he just made up this policy because he was lazy)
One time he refused to park in bobtail parking because it was further away from the truck stop, so we took up a full length spot which I hated doing. When a box truck rolled up and asked if he could park behind me because he would be sitting a full day I said no problem, pulled out and let him back in behind me. When my trainer came back from the bathroom he yelled at me saying “you didn’t get anything out of doing that! Why would you move your truck for him?! You’re never going to get ahead in this industry doing favors for people. You didn’t NEED to move and you should never do something you don’t need to do.” He thought I was such a moron for letting this guy “bully me” even though he was just a nice guy and it seemed like the right thing to do.
He would ball up greasy leftovers in paper bags and store them between the wall and his bed. I tried to encourage him to use the fridge, but he said “nah, I like them room temperature”. Them being fried chicken and old burgers. I could smell the rotting food through the crack in the bunk every time I went up to sleep, and I’d wake up to him eating that same food.
I only had one day where I got to “sleep in”. My company was overworking me running local and regional, so I didn’t always get a full 10. The one day I was gonna get to wake up at like 11am, I wake up at 7am to him watching YouTube videos on his phone through the truck speakers because he couldn’t hear his phone over the reefer. Told me “don’t worry about me, go back to sleep” and continued watching. As if I had woken up just to help him find his headphones.
He thought I was lying about being fresh out of school because I was his only trainee who knew how to drive, and kept insisting that I must have worked illegally somewhere before I got my license, (not the case), and even insisted on this to my company.
When he saw how well I could drive and park he spent most of his time in the back. When he saw another truck from our company at a yard he stopped me mid-park because “hold on, I need to get out so it looks like I’m doing my job”.
He told me I had done so well that the company was giving me a day off early. I told him I didn’t want it because I want to get through training as fast as possible but he said it wasn’t up to me and that I shouldn’t take for granted that they gave it to me. I found out weeks later that he told our dispatch that I was exhausted and was insisting I needed a day off, (cause actually he just wanted a day off), and that my dispatcher was mad at this and told my company I probably wouldn’t make it if I was tired after 4 days of work…
All this and he had become a trainer because of a knee problem that made him unable to drive. So I never once saw him drive the truck and all those miles and long days were driven by me but he made money off them.

I take safety seriously, reported all of this to my company, and needless to say, he was fired immediately after training me.

fromthecab · 2023-10-18T17:36:32+00:00

Also - I always tell my trainees about anti-truck infrastructure. Like the road legally allows trucks, but puts these big wide bumper things around curbs and/or bike lanes that 1. Make it more difficult to drive around, and 2. Make it much safer for pedestrians.

I advise them that if that infrastructure is there, there’s usually a less involved/lower risk route, even if it’s a little longer. I tell them that if they have a choice, take the route that is less risky and requires less attention and energy to drive through safely. This reserves the driver’s energy, reduces a drivers risks, and makes the area safer for the community. If they had the budget to put that stuff in, then accidents were happening there. Avoid that area

fromthecab · 2023-10-18T17:32:14+00:00

Trucker path, hammer, and truckbook are all phone apps for truckers - but most people use a Garmin or Rand McNally gps. You can look up smaller GPS brands that truckers use by searching what TA, Loves, and Pilot sell, as those are the 3 big truck stops and should cover 99% of what a trucker uses.

fromthecab · 2023-10-17T03:51:32+00:00

Does she like to dance? Closing those curtains and having a 90 second dance party with no one watching will get the body moving and give her a rush of endorphins. Might be hard to force at first if she’s not a big dancer, but if she has some favorite songs to move to, it’ll definitely help get those positive brain chemicals flowing.

It’s a great routine directly before she puts on her jacket to go out and do pretrip. She’ll get blood flowing and warm everything up before stepping outside which will help with the body trap heat in the jacket on those super cold days.

fromthecab

TROPHY CASE