Saw this post on Facebook or somewhere and saved it because it's SO true and sharing it with this group.

1- Cover your ass. Take pictures, get it in writing, scale everything, get a dashcam and run it all the time.

2- NEVER trust a dispatcher.

3- Never enter any place you don't know how to get out of. Throw the brake, set the 4 ways and walk yourself in. always make sure you can get out.

4-. Don't screw over the next guy. Leave the truck clean, get out of the fuel island, fix the incorrect directions/address, don't leave trash, etc.

5- Get out and look/don't hit anything.

6- We are all truckers and in this together. Help a brother/sister out. Let them merge, explain how to get places, help them back, etc.

7- Thou Shalt Not Lease.

8- Never do favors for dispatch. (also never do anything for free. need that empty moved, no problem, how much you paying?)

9- Trip plan everything. Even short little runs. How are you getting in, where are you going, when will you be done? When do you need to leave by, where's your parking? What's your secondary parking?

10- Protect your license like it's gold. If you don't think it's safe to drive, don't. Ain't nobody going to die cuz your semi truck load of Huggies is 5 hours late.

Anyone else agree with any of these? My favorite is the second one for sure.

What are the certifications or licenses that are typically required in this industry? Would OSHA 40 Hr Hazwoper and 1 Hr Forklift training suffice? Or do I need more training and certification? What I do know, is that to be an operations manager, foreperson or supervisor in whatever field, you must be certified and/or receive a permit in one way or the other. This isn't something an average teenager with a driver's license can do so easily. The very last thing I want to hear from someone my age from a recruiting assistant is that if I can drive or have a driver's license. I'm certified by the labor department for crying out loud!

I was driving back home around 3 in the morning and I had not seen my family for over 4 weeks so I decided to take a short cut through some pretty isolated back roads that I didn’t know too well. It was literally in the middle of NOWHERE but I figured if it got me home faster it would be worth it.

So I get to this part of the road with all of these old creepy trees on the side. I hadn't seen a house or anything in hours, it was just miles and miles of nothing. Then out of the corner of my eye, I notice what I think is a body hanging from a tree on the side of the road in my rearview. I do a double-take because when you are tried your mind can play tricks. I blink, look again and still see him clear as day. I put on my break, backed up quickly and drove over ready to call 911. Then the guy is just gone. Totally gone! I got the hell out of there, but I know what I saw.

It's truly amazing that you can have a perfect driving history. Never miss a day at work but fail a single random drug test and basically find yourself unemployable in the trucking industry.
This happened to me. Lost my job. Immediately completed the DOT SAP requirements and passed a second test within 30 days but no one will hire me during to stick company policies.
I'm in northern California. Looks like I will have to change careers just to put food on my table.
This really sucks.

So my new dispatcher is a real pain in my ass. Last week I get my load assignment but the delivery time was nearly impossible to make. I would literally need perfect weather and road conditions to be able to make the deadline not to mention drive non-stop without at least one fuel stop and a bathroom break. It just wasn't possible and I ended up looking like the jerk who couldn’t handle things. This isn’t the first time this has happened. What do I tell this dispatcher? I am sick of this!!!

I would like to tell about a incident that happened to me on Wednesday morning at a live truck stop on I 40 west of Knoxville I am a 33 year veteran and a owner operator for 13 years I stopped to get fuel and the islands were all full I was sitting back waiting for one two open two driver went right around me ( pissed me off ( immediately ) so I pulled up behind another truck PTL driver I sat there 10 minutes still not moved yet told the fuel desk to tell the person to move it or I would move it myself 8 more minutes passed called fuel desk said tell this person to move or I’m calling a wrecker after 5 more minutes he came out flipped me off and left it took all I could do to keep from kicking his ass so ppl why why why do other drivers do this to there fellow drivers we are all running elogs I was not taught to do this job that way I have developed a real hatred towards new drivers and I don’t want to feel this way but the stuff they do to others drivers is horrible

Last week after passing the scale I was pulled over for a DOT inspection. Figured it was routine when the officer asked if could see the inside of my truck. I got nothing to hide so I said sure. I was not carrying anything I shouldn't, but all of a sudden he starts rifling through my stuff and finds a large plastic cooking knife that was next to a spatula and some seasonings under my seat. I have a microwave in the back and sometimes I cook stuff in it. I am not a criminal but this guy said I was lucky he didn’t arrest me right there. For what? Carrying a large plastic knife??! He also told me he could put me out of service. My wife and kids need me and we NEED this money so I was polite and listened to everything he said, but it sucked. I wish I had told him NO when he asked if he could look around. Would that have been worse you think? Did I do the right thing?

So I just finished getting loaded and I looked at my GPS routing before pulling out and it was showing the shortest route to a near by state route. I didn’t blindly follow the gps but rather pulled up the road on Google and scrolled through the street view to make sure that there wasn’t any signs showing that it was restricted or weight restrictions. No sings showing so I proceeded down the road. I came to an intersection one block from the state route. After pulling through the state route a guy in a white pickup truck pulled me over and told me that I was on a restricted road to which I replied there was no signs posted. He said “I know, we stopped putting them up because they kept getting taken down, but I can give you a website to go to and it will tell you all the roads you can’t be on.” He then took my information and wrote me a very hefty ticket.

Okay, so we went to court and because it was a civil issue, we still had to pay a fine but the judge reduced it by 60% which gave me a little breathing room but it was still steep if you add in the attorney cost.