Truck Driver Beginnings: Tips on Surviving the Baby Steps Posted by DC Cargo Mall on February 26, 2014

Truck Driver Beginnings

Tips on surviving the baby steps:

Everything starts with the beginning. Well, there’s a shock. Every beginning though, is difficult, and you can’t just get to the top of a mountain view without first braving the rocks and harsh winds that come prior to it. That first year of treacherous hauling, ignorance, and perhaps getting taken advantage of with your lower hand at experience, may be the hardest but best thing that will ever happen to you.

Experience is something you’ll be forced to buy with time, but learning from your own mistakes has a more competent option: learning from other people’s mistakes. Specifically veteran trucker’s past mistakes. That will offer you the best of both worlds by knowing what not to do in spite of never having tried it. 

In your company’s eyes though, you are still new. They will want to test you out. Before trusting you with their most precious and valuable cargo, they are looking for the following behavioral patterns which are beneficial to ask yourself.

1.       Can they trust you, point blank?

 
2.       Is your freight consistently loaded in line with the rules of safety loading and with the right quality equipment, ensuring no shifting,breakage, or accidents?


3.       Can you drive safely for large increments of time, at night no less?

4.       Are you good with planning the schedule of your route to allow for timeliness?

Just reassuring them with words is not enough. Prove all of these assets to them with action. Be trustworthy, load safe; don’t bypass law even if you think it to be convenient. Drive only in amounts you can handle with adequate sleep because over-doing it will only prove that you are willing to forgo safety. Be on time and plan ahead for anything that may come up- storms, construction road close-offs, and cancellations with reroutes. 

Planning ahead is not just about leaving early. Know your route, make note of truck stop options along the way, and in case your GPS breaks down, bring a map. This way time is not lost searching for stops and more with borrowed time. 

This also means packing the sack with extra pairs of dry and comfortable clothing to ensure a relaxed drive in spite of weather conditions, and prevent you from having to run a laundry load at a truck stop. 

Attempt to bring a balanced food menu of nutrition to keep your brain alert, and an added bonus of not spoiling without too much preservative. Not your brain spoiling, your food. Although we don’t recommend either one.

Try to keep with the same company for at least a year before deciding that you need a change, because you may just be your own problem and starting with yourself can help you survive anything you come in contact with in the future.

Last but not least, when you do find yourself at the threshold of challenge, whether it is a grumpy dispatcher, a HAZMAT load, an impossibly foggy windshield, or a lost in the woods predicament, don’t panic. These challenges are expected in the life of a trucker, now just figure out what you can do to combat it.

Get off at the next truck stop (that you wrote down hopefully!), sit yourself beside that kind looking veteran trucker, and pour out your concerns. Chances are, he’s gone through them himself, and will feel needed and delighted to help. 

Even if he hasn’t a concrete answer, just sharing your burden with a fellow trucker can help to lighten your load (pun intended) and peace of mind does wonders for any trucker stuck on the side of the road with only slippery ice as company. Breathe. :)

5 Vital Trucker's Weather Survival Tips Posted by DC Cargo Mall on January 08, 2014

Officials are warning us of the dangers of this insanely frigid weather as of late.  Particularly in Minnesota, Michigan, and Illinois, residents are ill-advised to combat the weather- the advice is just to ‘stay home!’

Well, what if you’re a trucker and you’re braving the road and the freezing world anyway? 

Here are six ways to survive your trek towards delivering that load, and getting home without being eaten by a polar bear, buried in a pile of snow, hypothermia or having fallen through an ice-hole.

          Stock Up

Fill your truck with a week’s worth of clean drinking water, canned food, prescription drugs, salt to melt the ice on roads, safety-loadingequipment replacements, and battery powered lights and radio. Getting stuck in a blizzard and waiting for help might be the longest wait you’ll have. An indoor generator might serve you well for charging a laptop or phone with which an email or call can be sent to ask for help.

Layers

Just because you are sitting inside your heated truck, be prepared for the worst. When stopping at the truck stop and returning to your truck, you may find that warming up the engine takes twice as long. Plus, the heat could break and you’re left inside feeling like you’re outside.  Wear snug layers, the right way. 

The layer closest to your skin should not be cotton- which does not manage moisture properly for the cold. Opt for wool or synthetic material. The next layer should be another non-cotton warm layer – like a sweater, or fleece. Pack on a coat above that, one that is waterproof and insulated. 

When you can afford to be less productive with your hands, go with mittens instead of gloves. Your own body heat is generated by each finger sharing electricity with the other and warming your hand.  For changing tires, handling load lock bars, and holding other frozen metals, change into a pair of gloves to allow for more finger movement and grasp. If you can afford it, get heated ones. Leather outer, and wool/fleece on the innermost parts make for the warmest results.

Frostbite

Avoid outdoor exposure as much as possible. When outdoors handling cargo, depending on the temperature and wind chill, frost-bite can set in within just minutes. It helps to have quality loading equipment in tow- straps that will not crack from the cold, tie down faster, and be easier to maneuver. Tracks, winches, and other bolt-on’s that have been screwed on securely, because refastening is never easy in harsh weather.

 If your truck is a flatbed, be sure to tarp everything down securely, and check for holes in your tarp. Be aware of the first signs of frost bite: a prickly or itchy sensation will begin. Next, your skin will turn red, white, pale, and then grayish-yellow. Then it will begin to look hard and waxy. After that follows numbness and blisters, (which should not be popped!) please do not let it get to this point!

If anything of yours is soaked, you are in the wilderness and you need it dried for warmth: Light a small fire in a safe place outdoors. You can also use the fire to warm up drinks, hot water for tradition soup, or for warming the colder places on your body that win blood flow slower – your hands, feet, nose, and ears.

Emergency

If you are stuck near a thin glassed ice river and your only option is to move outdoors toward humanity, lay flat and crawl over the ice instead of walking. This way your weight is distributed evenly and will put less pressure on breaking the fragile ice.

Use snow-shoes to walk through deeper snow, as regular boots will not suffice it.

Snow Blindness

Traveling in ‘whiteout’ conditions can be dangerous for several reasons – one of which is that the lack of contrasting colors makes it impossible to judge the nature of the terrain.

Another is the reflection of the sun’s ultraviolet rays off a snow-covered area. This can cause snow blindness.  

 Watch for symptoms:  A sensation of grit in the eyes, pain in and over the eyes that increases with eyeball movement, red and teary eyes, and a headache that intensifies with continued exposure to light. Prolonged exposure to these rays can result in permanent eye damage.   To treat snow blindness, bandage your eyes until the symptoms disappear.

For prevention of this condition – wear sunglasses! If you can’t find yours – improvise by cutting slits in a piece of cardboard, thin wood, tree bark, or other available material.

Additionally, you can place soot under your eyes, as this helps to reduce shine and glare.

Then again, if you can, stay indoors.