Everybody sees them. Some people fear them, some people have great respect for them. They bring us goods. They help us move. What am I talking about? I’m talking about the Tractor-Trailer trucks that move goods thousands of miles everyday.
A little while back I was an operator of one of those massive vehicles. Living the life as an over-the-road truck driver is not as easy as it seems. Most people think you sit behind the wheel and drive all day. Well, I mean that’s partly true. Well, actually that’s mostly true. Anyways there is really a lot more involved in a typical day for a truck driver; and as much as there are drawbacks to this kind of life, there are some great rewards to it as well.
Let’s start with what it takes to become a driver. My journey started off in Wisconsin with a company called Roehl. It’s started with four weeks of very intense training. Not only do you learn about the safe operation of the vehicle, you are learning about running a business. Even with a company, ever driver is their own business owner. Driving goods from place to place per assignment from a dispatcher is one thing.
Managing time and daily operations is another. I was also taught the very strict laws involved in operating a vehicle over the road. The two most important pieces of training however; were the driving (duh, lol) and safety inspections. The amount of work that goes into operating a vehicle is very intense that simply saying it’s sitting behind the wheel and driving is only a piece of the career.
For the year that I drove my truck was my home and my office. I spent about two weeks at a time out on the road and came home for about two days before heading out again. Surprisingly, living in the truck was very comfortable. The interiors of the cabs are designed to be smaller versions of camper trailers used for camping. There were times that I felt like it was a cozy home; and there were times that I wished it included a bathroom.
But outside the lack of facilities, The bed was extremely comfortable. My particular mattress was a memory foam, probably better than the one I had at home. After a few personal touches to the inside of the cab it was literally my home away from home. I was able to add some comfort and convenience features to my cab to really make it home. For instance, for those nights that it was hard to sleep or during downtime in my cab I had my TV and PlayStation for entertainment. It truly does make a difference to have one on board. I have heard that some companies installed TV’s and even satellite services onboard some of their trucks. I wasn’t that lucky, but between a small TV, a PlayStation, and a phone with unlimited data, video entertainment was not difficult to come by.
Some of the other important things I installed in my truck was a refrigerator and a microwave. Learning how to cook over the road was a very interesting experience. My little microwave was a definitely a huge help. I also had appliances like my NuWave Induction cooker and a George Forman Grill. These gave me the ability to have semi-home cooked meals onboard my truck. But let’s face it; there are so many good restaurants out there that it was really 50/50 on what I ate. For the most part it was cooking daily. It was another time where ramen noodles became a good staple (and I so want to thank the creator of the Rapid Ramen Cooker. That particular line of products helped me get through some hard cooking decisions). The living part of being in the truck was not so hard. Others than having to find truck stops and wait for showers to clean and shave. For some people, that’s breaking point in itself.
Driving was the name of the game and getting goods to where that need by a specific delivery time was the goal. Here’s where things get interesting and at some points frightening, especially for other drivers on the road. Most truck drivers are extremely responsible operating their trucks. Keeping within the speed limit, carefully maneuvering through highways and cities, and being aware of other vehicles on the road.
For most company trucks, Limiters are installed to keep the truck below certain speeds. A lot of the independent drivers out there don’t have that equipment in their trucks. They’re mostly the ones that are driving fairly recklessly on the road, mainly speeding. These are the drivers that make everyone on the road fear truck drivers. But there are strict laws throughout the country that have to be followed. For instance, in the USA you are only allowed to drive for a maximum of 11 hours a day and work a maximum of 14 hours a day. This does limit how many miles you can drive a day, but it also ensured safety for everyone on the road. But some companies out there do push their drivers to surpass those laws so that deliveries can be made before time commitments (because the company and dispatcher gets bonuses for deliveries before their set time). This has led to main accidents on the major highways. Also, many other drivers drive far too aggressively around trucks that in order to avoid collisions, drivers make some risky maneuvers. So, when you see a truck, please be careful around them.
When you do get to your destination, there’s a lot of paperwork that needs to be done and sometimes a whole lot of waiting around for warehouse workers to unload or load your trailer. It’s usually a good time to eat or take a nap.
But driving wasn’t just about the deliveries; being over the road offered some amazing views and scenery. Some of the sights over the road were absolutely breathtaking. Even at certain times of the day. Truck stops were also something to behold as well. Two in particular were South of the Border on the South and North Carolina border; and the Iowa 80 truck stop, which is one of the largest truck stops in America.
But there were many drawbacks.The biggest one is always loneliness. Being away from family and friends and knowing that while you’re gone, their lives were going on and you are missing out on so much. That’s why even for the two days of being home I tried to spend as much time with my family as I could. But my family supported me in this journey by calling and letting me know about things happening at home so that I wouldn’t miss out (even though I still did). And that really is the most important thing about being a driver; the love and support of family and friends is extremely important. Without them, it’s hard to do the job.
That’s the very small peek into being an Over-the-Road truck Driver. It’s a hard and, at some points, a dangerous life. But it can be rewarding, mostly dependent of how you look at it. But if not for anything else, it will always be memorable.
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