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Hellion has contributed to 255 posts out of 3925 total posts
(6.50%) in 1,597 days (0.16 posts per day).
20 Most recent posts:
Hi Ladies;
Last week I got caught at the IN coop nearly 2000lbs overweight on my drives (I was under gross weight). Does ANYONE have a clue what my fine may be? It's not on the ticket.
I'm guilty as h*ll. Basically, I zoned out - was thinking about the nap, shower AND weighing the truck I was gonna do at the next truck-stop (20 miles up the road) and completely forgot there was a coop to pass. Of course, it was open. And I drive that section of road every week. I'm such a doofus.
Ladies, help? Please? Just a clue...
Thanks
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Unless you're in a car (and even then...) NEVER, I repeat, NEVER EVER rely on a GPS. They are a tool. Your best friend for navigation is the Rand McNally trucker's atlas, and phoning the shipper/receiver for truck specific directions. (and even that can fall down, as I got directed incorrectly by a temp this week. I checked with my Rand McNally, and sorted my own route).
My best suggestion - get out of that gig before you make yourself unemployable to reputable firms by having no knowledge, or worse, all the wrong knowledge.
Getting stuck in a parking lot? It happens to all of us once in a while. Glad you made out ok! Keep the rubber on the road, and good luck!
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Hi Lee;
I know this is late, but I just read it. Ladies! Did anyone help this poor gent out in time??
First and foremost - is this your first ever job in trucking? You're out there with no back up, or mentor, or anyone to ask questions of? That's insane!
I can't answer all questions, but maybe offer some pointers. Personal use of your tractor: You have 75kms (I'm Canadian, but I work cross border and I know the HOS rules for both sides - mostly the same) which is roughly 50 miles personal use per day. THAT'S IT! "No Trucks" signs usually mean it. Regardless of whether you have a trailer or not. I've even heard of some jurisdictions ticketing a trucker in his own driveway as he wasn't "meant" to be on a residential street. Play it safe, and stay on the truck routes, and access routes.
The Rand McNally Trucker's atlas will be the best money you'll ever spend. I don't care if you've got a GPS, (I do) but that big ole paper atlas is invaluable. There's your weight limits, low clearances, fuel taxes, weigh stations, local DOT websites where you can find out about local rulings, you name it - a trucker without one of these is not a professional driver.
As to the rest - well, you probably are figuring that out about now. I'm crossing my fingers for you. Hope things are working out, but I get the feeling you're in deep and may need a helping hand to get out.
Hey, Lady Godiva! Miss Impala! And the rest of my sister-drivers! Any pointers for Lee?
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Right off, I'm sorry, I don't have any ideas for you. And if I did, they probably wouldn't apply in WA, as I'm writing from Canada.
But - DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!! If you're that determined to drive a big truck, with the rest of us big girls and boys, you will make it somehow.
Good luck girl! See ya out here on the road sometime.
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Anyone else got this month's copy of Road King/Driver's Seat?
Anyone else notice the ad in the Petro side for the Iron Skillet's homestyle meals?
Anyone else notice the "Creamy chicken and noodles" photo and description?
If you haven't, it's a beaut! I looked at that photo and said to myself "What the devil is that on top of the noodles?" Ladies - you will NOT believe this... "Fresh baked biscuits and home made mashed potatoes smothered with chicken and noodles in a rich cream sauce"
That's 3 (THREE??!?!) different forms of carbs on one plate. And practically no fibre. We need carbs. I'm sick to death of no-carb and low-carb diets, but NOBODY needs 3 carbs on one plate.
Thankfully, there's the TA's "healthy choices" (not enough of em) and the chicken and shrimp stirfries are really quite nice. Lots of veggies and no green peppers (which I loathe). So, if you want a healthy choice - TA! If you want to be a typical fat, unhealthy trucker - Petro.
PS - guess where I'm parked tonight? Yup - a Petro! But I was eating from my fridge.
Sorry - I just had to share...I'm a touch outraged. Ellen - perhaps you could point this madness out to the powers-that-be?
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Then go for it. And yes, you're making sense to me. Especially the bit about short-term pain for long-term gain. But, me - I'd do the 7/3 thing! I start to get real squirrelly living in my truck for more than 5 or 6 days. I'd be even worse if I had to share that small space with another human.
Drive safe. See ya out there on the highways and bi-ways
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Well, I won't see it because I don't have cable or satellite when I am home, and get more and more disillusioned with TV when I do see it somewhere. Anyway...
I'm sure we all saw the post on Ellen's forum, and it came to my email about yet another Trucker Reality show. Now, I may just be on a major downer, but frankly, my favourite mom 'n' pop diner is my own fridge and microwave. I just can't afford to eat anywhere else. I can feed myself healthy food for less than $50 a week by prepping food at home. I run with a couple of drivers who like to stay out longer than me. They pretty much live in their trucks and don't have kitchen prep available to them, but even they manage to eat healthy for about $75 to $100 a week by doing some prep in the drivers' room at one of our terminals. That's 3 meals a day, and snacks!
I haven't been driving too long, but from all I've heard, life on the road sure has changed from what these productions seem to want to portray.
Here's my typical day, and the food that goes with it:
Up between 5:30 and 6, shower. Pretrip truck and head down highway munching on a banana and some granola, washed down with a tetrapack of OJ.
Arrive at receiver preferably less than an hour from wherever I spent the night. Unload. Get my backhaul, head for shipper. Somewhere around now, it's lunchtime. Either pull into a rest area, or prep lunch while on a dock. Eat behind wheel - usually a ham sandwich with tomato and cucumber slices, bottle of water and a Halloween-sized Kit-Kat, because every girl deserves a little chocolate in her day.
Arrive at shipper. Use washroom, grab afternoon snack whilst loading. Usually fruit or granola. More water.
Sometime between 6 and 8, arrive at wherever I'm spending the night (preferably a truckstop so I can shower in morning without starting my 14-hour clock), fuel up truck, park and heat up dinner in microwave. Stirfries, spaghetti and meat sauce, home-made soup with a whole-wheat roll, or any manner of asian curries with steamed rice - all with fresh veggies, fruit for dessert and either water or juice.
Now, is that unusual (other than my disgustingly healthy eating habits?)? Where is the time to stop for a meal? I eat two meals a day behind the wheel. Sure, I could hit the restaurant for dinner, but usually, the menu leaves me unimpressed. I'm picky in that I really am NOT a huge fan of western food. Given my preferences, I'd be eating Vietnamese, Thai or Indian most nights. Much healthier and tastier. And usually what I eat in my truck.
Or maybe I'm just a grumpy old grouch. I dunno, but I do know I'm not the only driver who doesn't have the $$ to spend on "road food" and still pay the bills back home in this economy.
Ladies? Thoughts? Comments? Just wanna tell me to "shaddap!"
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Edited by Hellion on Oct 20, 2010 at 07:25 PM
My question to you, Amanda is "Why trucking?" It really is a tough one to deal with small kids on. I don't have any, and I have great support at home for my dogs and I'm only out a week at a time and I find it real difficult to give my (non-human) kid the attention she deserves and still do all the chores I need to do when I'm home.
If your heart is set on piloting a big rig, have you considered doing local or regional work that gets you home more? Possibly even every night? Even if just whilst the kids are little, and then move over to OTR as the girls grow? Why team driving? Team is tough, living in a small box for 2 weeks at a time. I can't do it - I get homicidal! And, as a single, I'm actually home more.
I know I sound like a nay-sayer, but there's no point in getting into this industry with your eyes closed, spending a ton of cash to get your CDL and then realizing after the fact that you can't hack it.
That being said - if your heart is truly set on the open road - go for it girl! You can achieve anything your heart desires with the right mindset.
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
There are more and more companies hiring right now, Daphne. In the GTA, too. As you already have your AZ, I'd suggest applying to companies that run both straight trucks and day cabs. Canada Cartage, Midland, Challenger (maybe), TST, maybe TDL (Tim Hortons group), Simard, DB Schenker. Just keep your eyes open on who's running both types of truck and get in contact with them, then you could transition internally. That's who I could think of right off the top of my head.
I work for a smaller outfit (200 trucks between 4 terminals) out of Brampton and our day-cab drivers are over-subscribed as our highway guys discover they want home more often, and management is smart enough to accommodate a good driver instead of losing them to another company. They work long hours (often going to their 16-hour max). Will that still work with your kids? I have friends who drive straight trucks, and their day is much more of a regular shift than those of us who drive things that bend in the middle! I know we get trapped on docks for much longer often than my straight-truck driving brethren.
The work is there. I don't know who'd be hiring, but good luck.
OK, gotta scoot. I'm on vacation, and my idea of fun is to drive from west of Hamilton ON all the way to Montreal in one day. Do-able - but this IS my vacation! I must be nuts! Gotta hit the hay - don't want to be stuck in GTA rush hour! Yuck!
Good luck, girl!
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Oh, I like this one:
1. Get my private pilot's license
2. Motorcycle the coast of Italy
3. Working retirement (I don't wanna get bored) to Vietnam and/or Cambodia
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
I'm with LG on this one... feel free to use me, too!
Hellion is an Ontario, Canada based OTR driver who tries to get home for the weekend to see her dog. In what little spare time she has, she can be found glued to her stove, a book or a computer, with her dog not far away. Or trying to find the elusive work/life balance we've all heard so much about.
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Yes! Measure yourself. You're toning and building muscle. It weighs about three to four times as much as fat does. Also, try for three smaller meals as then your body won't try to "hoard" that one big meal as fat.
I just dropped 3 sizes. My doc tells me I'm in perfect health. I feel great. I know I look good (is a bad week when I don't get hit on at least three times these days).
Portion control. 3 smaller meals a day instead of a snack and a pig-out at the end of the day and only healthy snacks. I'm not kidding, ladies. I wanted to lose some weight, but wasn't sure how much effort I was prepared to put into it, so whilst I was figuring that out, I started to watch how much, and when I was eating (I eat healthy anyway, I just like the type of foods that I should be eating, so that worked out OK).
And I'm just as lazy-a$$ dry-van puller who never does her own loading/unloading.
Keep it coming girls! We're good at what we do, and we look good doin' it! Those humpty-dumpty shaped good ole boys don't stand a chance!
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
In the latest Mark's Work Wearhouse flyer their Carhartt line has women's coveralls, and they advertise sizes 6 to 20.
I, on the other hand, don't wear 'em, but have found the need for a couple of pieces of "nice" clothing (top, jeans/pants or dress/skirt) that can stand being folded for long periods of time in a closet. It's nice to get out of work-wear when you've got a layover somewhere (or your better half surprises you by showing up at a truckstop and taking you out to dinner somewhere other than the truckstop's restaurant!)
For the Canadians - the answer is Mountain Equipment Co-op. Oh, and Mark's WW is also a Canadian only store. Some, y'all come north for the shopping - the dollar's practically at par right now!
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Hi Ellen!
Was good to see you and chat at Truck World this weekend. Hopefully, you got lots of visitors. I forgot to ask who else showed up.
I did the rest of the show in about 30 minutes. Apparently, Freightliner took "18 months" on the inside of the Cascadia. But there's been so many complaints about space for the microwave that they've compiled a list of models that fit in the microscopic hole for one.
They did a great job on fit & finish, ride quality and handling; but I really think they dropped the ball on the design of storage space.
I hope you got home safe. Now, go sign up for Skid School, like I was telling you. And good luck on the motorcycle thing. I love my bike, I just don't get to ride as often as I'd like.
Take care
H
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Hey Dawdles... my Columbia's under-bunk storage was goofy, but the Cascadia's is great. Now what the H Freightshaker were thinking when they made the cupboards smaller and made the hanging closet the highest (and shortest) closet in the truck... that's a whole other question.
Am off to the Toronto truck show to ask 'em just that!
FYI - my extinguisher is mounted off to the side of my side box, but my first aid kit was getting in the way until I took matters into my own hands and moved it.
How'd you like the ride? It would take quite a bit to get me back in the Columbia
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Go for it! I just got home a couple of hours ago.
Of course, I jumped in the shower for ages. It's either our well-water washing away inches, but I decided to try out a pair of jeans I haven't been comfortable in (face it - haven't been able to do up!) for about 18 months. Guess what... they do up! And I'm not turning blue in the face, either.
Ladies: my secret is very simple. Portion control. (And the desire to still deserve to wear a bikini and not look like a beached whale!)
Keep it coming (off)
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Been meaning to post these links for a while, but finally remembered...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDN6A_NttKo&feature=PlayList&p=3F883A5D3F7FCDEF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=6
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkhlE1plOPk&feature=PlayList&p=3F883A5D3F7FCDEF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT1-ufydN6s&feature=PlayList&p=3F883A5D3F7FCDEF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=7
Top Gear is a British TV show that (once upon a time) was actually sensible... but then it got reformatted into something much less sensible, and much more fun.
I should point out that Mr Clarkson did get raked over the coals by quite a few ticked-off folks about his "murder a prostitute" comments. Frankly, considering the over-the-top and totally irreverent sense of humour on this show... I wasn't offended. And it is (an unfortunate) stereo-type.
Enjoy the clips. I love the comments about the "understeer".
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
LostPiggie! Don't just weigh yourself... MEASURE yourself! If you've done extra exercise, muscle mass weighs more!
I have a friend who's a dispatcher (don't all laugh! She's one of the good ones) who's waaaaaay overweight. Poor girl's tried everything, but finally seems to be getting ahead. Anyway, I was at her place one evening and she's bemoaning the fact she hasn't lost any weight, but she's been doing more exercise, and watching what's she's eating. So I said "Debs, how're your pants fitting?" She says "Looser". So we got out the tape measure. She was down 6" overall from the previous month! Now we say "Screw the Scales - where's the Ruler?" The scales are important, but they're not everything.
PS - caught sight of myself in a shiny window in a TA in IL. Damn! But I'm looking good for a woman of 42! Musta lost some weight myself!
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
DMLA - Thank you, sister! Just the thought alone is heartwarming!
TP - you mean you actually SOUNDED like you knew what you were talking about after having worked all day? You're a better woman than I! I can barely string three intelligent words together after a hard day. Good for you! Too bad about the 20lbs and the hat, though! I guess it ain't a perfect world, eh?
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
Just stewing some more... about that work/life balance thing.
I remember once being able to balance work and personal life. Now it's a fight just to retain friends and maintain relationships.
A very good friend of mine refused to get off her butt to come 25 miles to our house for dinner one night (when I get home I love to see my friends, but also value my home time with family both human and canine) as she'd driven back and forth to her mother-in-law's twice that day. Combined distance of about 50 miles. My DH understood, but she never has, why I was a bit upset. I'd woken at 4:30am just west of Flint, MI; and had busted butt to be home by early afternoon so I could get some decent face-time with said family and friends. That was a drive of 200 miles, plus another 60-ish in my car to get home.
And I find this fairly typical. Most of my friends that I do see on a regular basis are either fellow drivers (we toss a coin to see who visits who) or have relations who are drivers and understand the demands of the job. Some friends will even meet me at a truckstop for coffee/meal just to touch base. Them, I cherish as it's a welcome break and a touch of (in)sanity.
Work/Life balance... yeah... heard of it. Remind me about it, again?
It ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it.
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