Trucker Warren, From The Begining

The thing that bugs me is when someone sits right off your left tail. I turn my blinker on so that they will go. Some times this backfires and they will slow down to let me over. Now I know that they are just being courteous and I appreciate it, but I am talking about situations where it is obvious that they should go. Like when they have been there for 10 miles.
And I am only talking about the open road, not in town. In town if my blinker is on, it either means I want to get over or I forgot to turn it off, opps.

The other thing is when you are trying to set the cruise control to 68mph and the speed limit is 75 and some guy in a car sits in front of you and speeds up and slows down, you start trying to pass him, inching your way by and a slight hill comes up. You start to fall behind and you are blocking traffic. DAMNIT, you fall back behind the guy who is now going a bit faster then you, you set your cruise and next thing you know, you are on his butt again. I have to keep 9 seconds of following distance between me and him. So I slow down to increase the distance. Next thing you know, you are doing 60 and here he comes again. You speed up to try to pass and the whole darn thing starts all over again. Sometimes I just want to pull over and let him go.
Anyway, it's not really that big a problem, a friend was asking me if I had become desensitized to crazy drivers and what bothered me out there on the road. So I thought it would be good reading.

Category: General

I stayed with an old friend last night. I am his daughters god father and rarely get to see them. We had a great BBQ but I could not sleep a wink last night. Strange, but I found myself longing to be back at the truck. I will likely take a short nap in a bit.
Since I had some extra time I thought I would update a few pictures.

This one is at a rest stop in NC.


Some where in the Mid-West



This one was taken in Utah on US28 near I70

Category: General

I enjoy reading the comments and answering questions that my readers ask. Mark Stetson posted the following comment which I will reply to:
Hi Warren, I'll bet there are plenty of "pucker factor" moments involved during your first year. I've read that accidents increase after the first year due to getting "comfortable". How well are you adjusting to being away from home? Do you think that your stamina for driving long periods is increasing? Is your trainer letting you do more and more of the trip planning, backing, etc with him becoming more of an observer? Please keep up the blog and TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF! Mark

I have heard that too. Hopefully that won't happen to me. I raced desert for many years and was usually in the top 5 of my class (last nine years were expert). Since I started riding and racing desert at the age of 4, I have a total of 30 years under my belt and have been retired for the last 6 years. I am happy to report that I was never hospitalized as the result or racing or riding and have never even broken a bone. Don't get me wrong, I have had many wrecks, but the results were minimized as I used extreme caution. I believe that if I bring the same mentality to truck driving as I did to racing, (being overly cautious) I should be alright.
Being away from home has its challenges. I do get homesick from time to time, but I have a very loving and supporting wife at home. I have a very deep trust in my wife. I have been in relationships in the past that I couldn't have done this due to lack of trust. I know that I am blessed to have the wife that I do and she is behind this 100%. I send her post cards from the different states that I've been to and she follows along on the map.
I do feel my stamina has increased since I have been out here. At first it seemed like I had to stop to pee all the time. I've learned to control those urges and adjusted my fluid intake as well as the types of fluid I consume.
There has been so much to learn. At first I had these training modules to complete. I was supposed to get them done in 4 weeks. They are books you have to read and then take a quiz on the qual-comm afterwards. Then you call into head quarters and they ask you some additional questions. You get paid $75.00 for each module you complete. I finished them in one week and now I have more time to learn about the trip planning. My trainer has given me the opportunity to handle more and more of the planning, trip pacs, qual-com, Ect.
Thanks for the comment and questions Mark. Keep them coming.
Warren

Category: General

Hi all:
Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but we have been on the go. My driver/trainer is on home time right now and I am sitting at a truck stop in Portland, OR. We arrived here yesterday afternoon. I drove last on Saturday night/Sunday morning and have pretty much slept since then. I am amazed at how much sleep I have gotten in the last 2 days. I must have been pretty tired. You don't really notice it creeping up on you, but exaustion hits like a ton of bricks when you least expect it. Friday night I drove I70 thru Colorado up in the mountains. I really hate that section. It was stormy and dark. I dropped down at about 15mph. I kept thinking in my mind that this would be a scarry section in winter (I am not looking forward to it). I thought we would just go up and over the pass, it was about 170 miles as it turned out, thru the pass. When we went thru there my first week, my trainer lost the brakes. I wanted to make sure that didn't happen to me. There were trucks flying by me on that pass and you could smell their brakes. Well, that's it for now.

Category: General

Hello all:
Adaptation to life on the road has it’s challenges. Some things can be hard to take care of on the road, but cleanliness shouldn’t be one of them. Personal hygiene is something that most truckers take seriously. I thought I’d share with you how this is accomplished on the road.
Most truck stops have showers, some nicer then others. You can get a “Frequent Fuelers” card from places like Flying J, TA, or Pilot fuel stations. When you fuel your rig with 50 gallons or more you get a free shower (normally 8 or 9 bucks), what a deal. The showers are cleaned and sanitized after each use (I recommend wearing shower shoes just the same). They supply towels, bath mat, soap, and have a toilet in every shower room. Sometimes they even give you little Hershey Kisses. Bathroom Stalls at about half of the truck stops are somewhat private. I keep bottled water on the truck, not just for drinking, but for brushing my teeth.
There are Laundromats located at most all truck stops, so getting your clothes clean is not a problem. So everything is still like being at home, it’s trying to fit it all together between stops that’s the challenge. I think of it like a big camping trip that has ran into overtime. Having those amenities on the road makes it easier to do your job and feel your best.
Here are some pictures of one of the shower rooms.

These were taken at Bosselmans Truck Stop in NE.



It kind of reminds me of a hotel room bathroom



Here's those Hersheys I was talking about


If you have any questions of comments on this segment, feel free to make a comment right here on the site or by emailing me at:
warrentrucker@yahoo.com

Category: General

I think that most of us, me included, take many things for granted. Life on the road will quickly make you aware of these things. In the next few weeks I will be covering the adaptations I have had to make to life on the road. The first thing that popped out at me was diet. What can I eat, how will I store it, how will I prepare it, Ect, Ect.
My body didn’t react well to certain truckstop food (don’t eat the pizza at Flying Js). I had to learn this lesson twice. Wal-Mart is now my choice for food. I will buy enough cold food to last about 5 days and also stock up on canned food. We have a 12 volt food warmer that fits the short cans of Progresso Soups perfect and in about 30 min you have a nice warm meal. Throw in a DelMonte mixed fruit pac or a hunts pudding SnackPack and you are good to go.
We have a 40qt 12volt cooler that will keep things 40degs cooler then the outside air temp. This works well for lunch meats and drinks. Space is a concern and that is why we only keep 5 days worth in the cooler. I buy water by the case, apples, bananas, poptarts (I know, not good), tortillas, Propel Sports drinks, and other items of low cost. Speaking of costs, I have found that shopping this way will only cost me about $30.00 for 5 days. I will eat out two meals in those five days but only if I can do it for around $5.00 and as long as it is not truckstop food. This should bring you to a total weekly (7 days) food bill of about $60.00. Not bad considering my first 2 days on the road cost me nearly $60.00!!!!! I was going to go broke in a hurry that way.
Join me next time when I talk about personal hygiene. I will have some pics of what it is like in side a truckstop shower.

As always I invite your comments or suggestions:warrentrucker@yahoo.com

Category: General

Hi all:
I am sitting at a truck stop in Memphis, TN. We have a load going to GA. tomorrow so we are hanging out here. It has been fun for me traveling across the country. I have a few pictures to share today as well. I wanted to take some time to respond to a couple emails I have received. Sorry it has taken so long to post but that is life on the road.
I’d like to thank the following for their recent emails and comments.
Ken and Karen
Mark Stetson
Trucker Doc
John
Rick Armstrong
Thank you for you prayers, thoughts, comments, concerns, and encouragement.

Rick Armstrong has emailed me a couple of questions that I thought I would share with you.

1) What are you using for your internet connection?

I have Sprint PCS with Vision. I use a program called future dial to connect and it doesn’t cost me a thing. You can get the software and the USB to phone cable for $40.00 at Radio Shack.


2) Are you able to sleep ok in the truck, both while moving and while stationary at a truck stop?

I have had no problem sleeping while the truck is moving, except for the other night there were some cans rattling around in one of the cabinets and we couldn’t find the source. My trainer finally emptied out the cabinet and I went right to sleep. Ironically, I have trouble sleeping when the truck is sitting still. I guess the swaying of the truck helps put me to sleep.

3) Is your trainer helpful to you in developing your skills?

Yes, he is helpful, but as I have mentioned before, everyone has their own way of doing things. It is helpful to hear all the different opinions and then you just pick and choose what works best for you.

Okay, so here are some pictures for you.

Here is the Arch in St. Louis, MO.



This is me at a truckstop in WY.



I thought this was a good shot of a Wyoming sunset thru my left mirrior as I headed east on I80

Category: General

Greetings from Grand Island, NE. It is 3:00am and we are doing laundry and taking showers. I have and something on my mind that I want to write about. I am going to do a series of segments on adapting to life on the road. I have had to learn and adapt to many things since I've been out here and thought it would be good reading.
Right now we are sitting at Bosselmans and they have a WiFi hot spot. My phone is faster then their Hot Spot but fro some reason Sprints network won't let me log on so I will post the new segment later as well as some pictures.
Thanks for all the email, I will respond to that later as well.

Category: General

We made our delivery in Spokan, Wa. this afternoon and then we picked up a load from a guy that was broke down about 10 miles from where we were. It dilevered to Wilsonville, OR. Our next load picks up in the Tri-City area in Wa. and delivers to GA. on the 21st. My trainer lives a few miles from Willsonville so he decided to stay the night at home and I am waiting it out at the truck stop. It's kinda strange to be all alone all of a sudden but I am enjoying it just the same.
Thanks again for all your comments and emails, it makes it all worthwhile.

Category: General

First off, I would like to say thanks to Trucker Doc, Trucker Tom, Ken and Karen, and PGuerin for all your recent comments.

I am writing you from the sleeper in our 2004 Freightshaker Century Class S/T. We are rolling down I-94 just west of Fargo North Dakota. We just left Fargo where we fueled and showered. I have been surprised at how nice the showers actually are. We picked up in Franklin, WI. at 4:00 this morning. We had a window for pickup between 12-6am. We checked in at 12 and they told us to go wait and they would wake us up in the morning when the load was ready. After we left I went back to sleep and my driver trainer drove us to almost Minnesota on I-94. I drove from there to Fargo.
I have been enjoying myself on the road and am looking forward to getting to Washington State. Trucker Tom once said that half the fun is not knowing where they will send you next, he was right.

Here are a couple of pictures.

Vail, CO.


Just outside of Fargo, ND. No that is not a lake, it's flooded.


Well, that's it for now.
As always, you can make any comments or suggestions here on the site, or email me at:
warrentrucker@yahoo.com[/img]

Category: General