Sunday, October 20, 2013
Senior Moments in Truck Driving
You know I do a lot of talking on here and every week when I post we seems to get a decent amount of views. No one ever comments or ask a whole lot of questions, so this week I am interested in hearing from you - doesn't matter if you're a student, veteran truck driver or anywhere in between. Now we all have senior moments, as they've come to be known, where we forget something or do something completely foolish. Just recently someone was telling me one such story. They could not find the keys to their truck. Come to find out they had left them in the door of their truck. What are some of your stories? I love a good story. You can learn a lot from listening to other people's stories. The only thing we ask is that you keep it kind and not judgmental if you comment on a story. We've all made a mistake or two or more out there on the road.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Handling the Home Front
So how do we turn this into the best of a very difficult adjustment? Trust me I remember the stresses of the adjustment period all to soon. First, I made it very clear to my wife that if she wanted me home safe and sound I needed to be able to focus on my driving. Be as honest as you can with them without fueling the fire. For example, my wife knows that she has to wait for me to call her when I'm trying to drive through storms, tornadoes, rough traffic areas, etc. I answer tell her "Not a good time, I'll call you back." and she knows to leave me alone until I call her back. I also try not to increase her worry about me. There are plenty of stories about me driving through areas with tornado warnings or other things that would keep her from sleeping a wink while I'm away. So I don't tell her. She knows things happened but she knows that it isn't a good idea that she knows what they are. Second, you have got to have a plan on how the household will be run. My wife handles everything except the bills. And she knows how to get the answers to questions she has about things like the cars if I'm not available. Third, is handling when you are on your way home. Everyone gets excited about going home and having their trucker home. As a trucker's wife/girlfriend, she needs to learn that nothing is certain until you actually walk through that door. It is extremely frustrating, but us drivers have no control over the weather, traffic, or the dispatchers. My wife gets a general idea of when I'll be home in the morning so that she can plan accordingly. She does NOT tell the kids at this point. Later in the day, once I know that my day is done and I'm a few hours out from home she gets the first eta. The kids are the last ones to find out because they are too little to understand if there is a delay. No good comes from telling them early and then having something change. That just makes them very upset and adds unnecessary aggravation to my wife's day. There's plenty of fuel folks to ignite the fire with. Trust me, I do not take pleasure in telling students to keep information from their wives while they are training. But I have both my family and theirs to think about and my life is in the hands of students when I put them behind the wheel. I do what i have to makes sure everyone gets to go home in the end. So as always folks be safe and safe travels to all of you.
How do you more experienced drivers and truckers wives/girlfriends handle these difficult areas?
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