Just got back from a ride along, I'm happy to say I had alot of misconceptions.

Raycubed

Active Member
It was kind of a last minute decision that was made the night before we left. I had all sorts of excuses for reasons not to go, needless to say I ended up going home that night and grabbing my laundry and sheets, pillows and whatnots.

My first and and biggest misconception was the "dreaded truck stop showers" I had built up visions in my head of what they'd be like that didn't differ much from a screening of Shawshank Redemption. I had envisioned anything between one giant room with nothing but multiple shower heads and broken tiles to something out of the sitcom MASH. (keep in mind I currently have no delusions of grandeur, I have read the "worst Truck Stops thread" lol)

The friend that convinced me to go travels with his wife and she reassured me that most were "not bad at all" I told myself "we'll see,we'll see". Out of preference he only stopped at flying J's, the first one being in Kansas city. Being the first night I was in no need of a shower but was dieing of hunger. We grabbed a bit of food from the hot bar and called it a night.

Juuust as I start to close my eyes and drift away, which took awhile as I was getting used to my new bed for the next 10 days. we were awoken by a KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK on the drivers door, being in a new place in a new situation I was a little disoriented at first, propping myself up asking "wtf! is that". Warren my friend sighed and said "damned lizard" he rolled down the window and asked her to go away (perhaps not in those exact words) I think I ended up falling asleep about an hour afterwards.

The next morning came waay to early. Warren said he wanted to get out of KC and after that we could stop somewhere to grab a bite to eat. We hopped out of the sleeper and I got a crash course in a PTI and we were good to go.Virginia....here I come.

Day two set in and I was having all in all a good time. Good tunes and good conversation seemed to make the miles fly by. before I knew it the sun was starting to set and it was time to find a place to park for the night. We were just inside of Indiana (I think? I need to get better at remembering where and what road) but it was time for the "dreaded shower".

Warren was nice enough to let me use his points for my showers and it was off to the lounge to wait for our numbers to come up. I can't express how pleasantly surprised I was when I got to my shower (I don't think i'll ever forget the shower number (7) as I was so worried I'd miss the call overhead). Needless to say... I was impressed, the shower was cleaner and nicer than some motels I've stayed in. I felt like a million bucks.

Thankfully night two was nothing but peace and quiet. No one beating on the doors, no subwoofers from people cruising around the stop. But for the life of me I could NOT sleep, every muscle in my body ached like I had done hard manual labor that day. Come to find out I wasn't letting the jump seat do the work I guess I was fighting the bumps and the bucks. Thankfully, by the end of the trip I had become accustom to letting the seat do the bouncing and the rocking.

I believe it was day three as we started to roll into West Virginia. I'd never seen the Appalachian mountains and was in awe of all the hills and trees with their fall colors. I was instructed (tongue in cheek) not to call them mountains as I have not seen the Rockies yet lol.

By day four I was shocked as to how much money I had already spent (misconception No. 2). I thought for some reason I would be able to live "relatively" cheaply but before I knew I had already blown 45 bucks. Lesson learned....bring your OWN food Ray....plus the hot bar stuff is good in all....but not THAT good. Of course being a cigarette smoker did not help the $$ situation much, Second lesson learned is to buy a carton of smokes before hitting the road. I was surprised to see how much the cost of cigarettes varied from state to state.

Misconception No.3 (The Drivers)

In my mind I had pictured everything from the haggard Richard Petty looking types to the sweat pant/sweatshirt rolly pollies that look like it would be easier for them to roll to the stop than walk.

All in all, SOME not all of my misconceptions about the drivers were indeed true. But what I did find was a majority of the drivers seemed to take care of themselves. Heck, I even saw one guy at a fuel island that hopped out of his truck wearing a white collared shirt and khaki slacks.

For some reason I had it in my mind that most drivers were just kinda grumpy and wanted to get to their appt. as soon as possible without conversating to anyone. FALSE! what I found was a group of men and women that were quick to smile and joke or shoot the breeze with if they had the time. I found a group of men and women who the most down to earth people I had ever met in my 27 years on this globe. I'm proud of the work they do and I realize the United States would be a drastically different place without these men and women.

I could probably go on and on about my trip but to make a long story short I've got my CDL handbook here beside me in preparation for getting a learners permit, so the next time out I can get some drivers seat time. Oh and I still need to find an office that can perform my DOT health card exam.

I hope to catch ya guys on the road.

Safe Travels all

-Ray
 
Excellent! Thank you for posting that. It gives me some insight as to what is thought about us and the industry.Ya , It doesn't take much too blow a bunch of cash in a truck stop.Good luck in CDL school. Thanks Again for the thread and sharing your story, I may go back later and read it again
 
Yeah, definitely, thank you for this post. Very eye opening and interesting for all of us considering entering the business. I hear there are some kind of "no lot lizard" stickers one can put on the door or window of the cab, I don't know how well they work though
 
I hear there are some kind of "no lot lizard" stickers one can put on the door or window of the cab, I don't know how well they work though

Yeah, I've heard of that too.

I'm happy to report out of the 10 nights at a truck stop it only happened once. from Nebraska to Virginia down to Texas then back up towards Nebraska. I was pleased about that
 
Yeah, definitely, thank you for this post. Very eye opening and interesting for all of us considering entering the business. I hear there are some kind of "no lot lizard" stickers one can put on the door or window of the cab, I don't know how well they work though

The lizards don't read. It's best to steer clear of certain truck stops. The J on Front St. in Kansas City is towards the top of that list. It's been a crap hole as far back as I can remember, even in the Conoco days.
 
You can get your physical and drug test done at an occupational health clinic such as Concentra and the like. I wouldn't worry about the drug test. Your employer will do that.
 
Yeah, definitely, thank you for this post. Very eye opening and interesting for all of us considering entering the business. I hear there are some kind of "no lot lizard" stickers one can put on the door or window of the cab, I don't know how well they work though

Those stickers don't work. The lizards know that a lot of fleet owners & drivers' wives will put them on the trucks.

I just avoid parking in lizard-infested places.

Put one of these stickers on instead:

View attachment 18451

If a lot lizard is underage, perhaps she'll go ahead & knock on the truck & ask me to help get her home to her parents. (Not likely) But older lot lizards (over 18) who see that are probably going to get the hint that I'm not interested & if I happen to think she looks like she might be under 18, I'd have the place crawling with cops in 15 minutes if she bugs me.
View attachment 18451
 
Nice story.

But.

Why did it take 4 days to go from Kansas City to Virginia?

I get from Seattle to central Connecticut in 4 days and a couple hours. Did you guys take the scenic route?
 
Nice story.

But.

Why did it take 4 days to go from Kansas City to Virginia?

I get from Seattle to central Connecticut in 4 days and a couple hours. Did you guys take the scenic route?


lol, More than likely my time frame is off. However we did have to stop along the way to exchange trucks with Ryder. My friends regular company truck was in the shop at the time and the Ryder Freightliner we had had a pretty serious oil leak and a nasty A/C groan. They switched us out for a 2012 Volvo, Took a while to get all the stuff moved over to the new truck.

On the plus side the top bunk still had the plastic wrapping on it :) and that "New Truck Smell"


Oh and he works for a local company here in Omaha I believe his company truck tops out at 70.
 
On the plus side the top bunk still had the plastic wrapping on it :) and that "New Truck Smell"

I'm always a freak about the interior of a company truck when I get out of it.

Since 2005, I've been in 8 or 9 of their trucks. All except for the brand new one they gave me in 2006, they were all dirty when I got into them. All of them were like brand new when I gave them back. I smoke in the trucks too, which is why I clean the hell out of them so they don't bitch.

I never took the plastic off the passenger seat, or either of the mattresses in the new one & I had it for about 200,000 miles.
 
I'm always a freak about the interior of a company truck when I get out of it.

Since 2005, I've been in 8 or 9 of their trucks. All except for the brand new one they gave me in 2006, they were all dirty when I got into them. All of them were like brand new when I gave them back. I smoke in the trucks too, which is why I clean the hell out of them so they don't bitch.

I never took the plastic off the passenger seat, or either of the mattresses in the new one & I had it for about 200,000 miles.

Ditto, I left the plastic on the bunk and just put my foam topper and sheets over it. I figure I'll give the next guy a pleasant surprise when he gets it.

On an odd note, as were were heading to North to Brule Nebraska to pick up a load of pumpkins just west of Ogallala our Wiper motor went out while it was snowing! On a 2012! I climbed up in the engine bay to check it out and all of the "Transmission assembly" or linkages were still intact! my diagnosis was a bad spur/worm gear in the motor itself which the tech who came out agreed.

Here's where it gets funny, The nearest motor was 200 miles plus an extra day out. My solution? Tie a bit of rope on those wipers and just yank em back and forth!...Granted we had to roll with the windows down for a bit but it got the job done! I loved seeing the reactions of the other drivers....Thank god we didn't get stopped by D.O.T. or have to pull in to a scale house.

If I can figure out how to post the video on you tube I'll show y'all my red-neck fix
 
Here's where it gets funny, The nearest motor was 200 miles plus an extra day out. My solution? Tie a bit of rope on those wipers and just yank em back and forth!...Granted we had to roll with the windows down for a bit but it got the job done! I loved seeing the reactions of the other drivers....Thank god we didn't get stopped by D.O.T. or have to pull in to a scale house.

If I can figure out how to post the video on you tube I'll show y'all my red-neck fix

I've gotten some strange looks from people in cars before when I was leaning out the window during freezing rain or heavy snow to grab the wiper blade as it gets to the left end of it's stroke & lift it up & let it slap back against the glass to knock ice/snow accumulation off of it.

I've also had to lean out the window with my little hand-held squeegie & wipe the stuff off that accumulates on the glass in that narrow strip between the edge of the windshield, and the area the wiper blade covers.

One time at a rest area I got a strange look from another truck driver when I was standing on the left steer tire with a propane torch waving it back and forth to thaw out the washer fluid jets.
 
I've gotten some strange looks from people in cars before when I was leaning out the window during freezing rain or heavy snow to grab the wiper blade as it gets to the left end of it's stroke & lift it up & let it slap back against the glass to knock ice/snow accumulation off of it.

I've also had to lean out the window with my little hand-held squeegie & wipe the stuff off that accumulates on the glass in that narrow strip between the edge of the windshield, and the area the wiper blade covers.

One time at a rest area I got a strange look from another truck driver when I was standing on the left steer tire with a propane torch waving it back and forth to thaw out the washer fluid jets.
I drove an old frieghtshaker that, If you turned the wiper dial the other way it would smack the wiper against the bottom of the windshield frame. That seemed to help get the snow and ice off the wipers.

An old cornbinder I drove had the wipers hung from the top of the window hanging down, They where powered by air and it seemed to work pretty well. But they replaced all of that with new designs that snow and ice just stick to.

I have also like you had to climb up on the steer tire but i just waved a Bic lighter over the jets to get them thawed and trying not to melt them at the same time. Gotta do what we gotta do to keep moving.
 
An old cornbinder I drove had the wipers hung from the top of the window hanging down, They where powered by air and it seemed to work pretty well. But they replaced all of that with new designs that snow and ice just stick to.

I used to have a 73 Deuce and a half military truck that had pneumatic wipers, Kinda odd when you started them up. Sounded like a steam locomotive going up a steep hill lol
 
lOh and he works for a local company here in Omaha I believe his company truck tops out at 70.

Although my truck will roll out at around 90 or so, I usually run at 68 even in states where the limit is higher than 70. It takes about 44 hours of drivetime to run from Seattle to Hartford.

I used to have a 73 Deuce and a half military truck that had pneumatic wipers, Kinda odd when you started them up. Sounded like a steam locomotive going up a steep hill lol

Most trucks used to have air powered wipers. And the right and left had individual controls. Trucks today are more like big cars. Electric wipers, window washers, cruise control, etc.
 

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