Truck driving is a lifestyle that many truckers must acclimate to, which includes what works best for them when first embarking upon their career. Our instructors were discussing some of the questions they get asked. Some of them were about meals and how to stay active while on the road, especially for a long period of time. The instructors felt that they needed to also know how to deal with stress. There are several ways that you can make healthier selections, stay active, and ways you can decompress from strain/stress on down time.

Health and Wellness is an important subject topic and has been explored more over the last decade as research has begun to uncover the underlying causes to back pain, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and even mental health. The way to decrease your chances to encounter these things is to be proactive. Eating healthy, being active, and learning how to cope with the stress and strain you may encounter both in trucking and in daily life.

We are first going to speak about meal preparation. Mr. Bailey’s first piece of advice is to “buy an inverter if the truck you are driving does not have one”. Speaking with a few career drivers, they have refrigerators, microwaves, and sometimes even small crock pots in their trucks. Ideally, you should try and plan your bigger meals ahead and always have snacks in your truck. This affords them the opportunity to prepare meals beforehand, place them in the fridge/freezer, and then warm them up. A tip from Mr. Reese is to “split these meals up to put in the freezer/fridge in baggies instead of containers so you can utilize your room”. Keep paper bowls in your truck along with spoons/forks. There are some healthy recipes at the end of the blog. Below are some additional suggestions.

Other meal items:

Oatmeal

Canned Soup

Tuna packs

Lunch meat

Wheat bread

Snack Items:

Canned tuna

Nonfat yogurt

Fruits

Vegetables

Low-fat cheese

Canned nuts

Meal replacement bars

Sunflower seeds

Water

Some drivers are known to make the best use out of their truck. They will purchase bands that they can utilize to exercise with along with dumbbells. Others will have a bike rack on their truck and ride a bike during their off times. Some opt to go for a run if they are parked in a safe location. Lastly, some drivers have shared that they will get memberships at a few gyms around their same pickups/drop offs and utilize those.

It can be difficult being cooped up in a truck for hours and hours on end. That can weigh heavily on the mind, the stress of the job along with stressors from home can cause anxiety and other issues such as depression. Therefore, it is important to set your truck up with items that you can enjoy when you have down time during your trip. Items could be iPad/tablets with games or books on them, books, video games, television, and/or crossword puzzles. Keep in contact with your family while you are on the road. This can help decrease the stress levels from home situations if you are an active part. Having a good, trusting friend to talk to during life stressors could be another way to help alleviate the stress. Lastly, being able to get an adequate amount of sleep has a lot to do with the mind. Overall, being able to relax and get your mind from the stressful situations can increase your cognition, awareness, and overall performance.

Following these basic tips can help eliminate several various issues, help with clarity, and make your truck driving experience more pleasurable. Keeping your mind, body, and social life healthy will improve your overall performance. By taking some of these things and applying them to your life, you could have more energy, feel more control over your life, and have a more positive outlook on things. Taking care of yourself should be a priority, there is only one you.

Recipes:

Taco Soup    https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/simple-taco-soup/

Breakfast Casserole   https://www.wholesomeyum.com/recipes/low-carb-breakfast-casserole-with-sausage-cheese-gluten-free/

Chicken salad  https://ifoodreal.com/healthy-chicken-salad/

Vegetable soup https://www.cookingclassy.com/vegetable-soup/

The first day of any job can make the most confident person a little apprehensive. Just imagine being responsible for a 13,000+ lb. truck, not counting the trailer or what the driver may be hauling, on your first day. To get more insight on helpful tips for those starting out, I sat down with Mr. Reese. He has been driving trucks for 14 years and has been instructing for almost 11 years. Even with efficient and knowledgeable schooling; Mr. Reese explains that it is still difficult to anticipate what you may encounter or what you may need to know before you get started.

Scale houses

Mr. Reese explained that he had wonderful training and felt comfortable behind the wheel. But he wished he knew how scale houses worked. When pulling up to his first scale house, there was an officer waiting for him as he pulled on to the scale. He explains that they watch you to ensure you are in the truck and that they make sure you have your seatbelt on. They are looking at the condition of the truck.  Your logbooks must be correct, the weight must be correct, and the bridge law must be correct based on the state. Mr. Reese added that newer scales are even equipped with heat sensors that can check the brakes on the truck to determine if brakes are in adjustment or not along with the ability to x ray your load. This kind of technology was not out when he first started driving trucks, so even now “you have to adapt to the new regulations, laws, and all of the new technology that is coming out. It’s a constant learning game and you have to stay on top of it” says Mr. Reese.

Secure your load

Another thing that Mr. Reese highlighted was getting used to carrying loads. While in school, you do not haul anything in the trailer. He was able to share a story where he took 10,000 lbs. up north for his first load, but came back with 45,000 lbs. The load consisted of baskets of clutch parts. The shippers were supposed to put a board down and didn’t (chock his load) between the five baskets in the front and the five they loaded in the very back. Well, since this was his first trip and he had never really hauled anything before he didn’t know it was supposed to be chocked. As he approached the scale house, he had to put the brakes on suddenly and the baskets in the back of the trailer came flying to the front of the trailer. It hit so hard, he thought he got hit by a car. As he looked in his mirror, he could see some of the basket sticking out. Then once he pulled upon the scale his truck, itself, weighed 54000 lbs. due to the load shifting all the way to the front. “As a rookie you may not know what to look for but luckily the officer at the scale was understanding. I spoke to an older driver that helped talk me through chocking a load and I never made that mistake again” explains Mr. Reese. He went on to explain that since the occurrence of that incident he ensures he always has a hammer and some nails; possibly some extra boards. But if not, he will find a hardware store and buy lumber in order to chock his load.

Knowledge is key.

Getting used to living in the truck.

Getting used to living out of the truck can take a little time. It was a learning curve figuring out how to prepare food, so you are not spending a lot of money. At first, his wife would make him casseroles or something he could warm up in this small heater box he had. But that didn’t work because sometimes it would sour. The cooler worked well, but he would get tired of eating cold food. So, he did what he would typically do when he needed some guidance and talked to a seasoned driver. The driver was able to show him how to install and hook up a microwave, which solved a lot of the food problems. Another key to learning how to live out of a truck is being prepared. You may not always have access to showers, so its important to keep hygiene items in the truck as spares. Also, you should always have some type of food incase of inclement weather (i.e. you get snowed in somewhere). Mr. Reese went on to elaborate on boredom and not knowing how to unwind after spending all day on the road. He recommends what he did: have a TV/DVD player or some type of entertainment (i.e. book). Mr. Reese said, “It’s good to forget about driving for a while and relax. Set your truck up dependent on you and not anyone else, because at the end of the day you are the one living out of it and working in its daily.”

Mr. Reese explains the best thing to remember when starting out is what an older truck driver who had driven for 20+ years told him, “Look ….if you will just listen to your truck, it will tell you everything you need to know”.

 

Imagine waiting on your shipment, and it pulls up on a horse and buggy. Or, what if you had to wait a month for your shipment? Living in a very technologically advanced world affords us the ability to have our purchased items the next day, or sometimes even the same day. The same holds true to those who need shipments hauled for them. Over the road drivers can make it from Seattle to New York in about a week, team driving could take ideally three days. Back in the 1900s, it would take about a month.

The evolution of trucking is very interesting. In the 1900s the trucks were very slow and had solid rubber tires. As time progressed, truckers adapted to their conditions and eventually headlights and better tires were manufactured around 1912. By 1914, they were running about 15 mph. Finally, in the 1920, the first semi was introduced. In the 1930s, Motor Carrier Act was passed which is where safety regulations begun; which eventually lead to the creation and implementation of the hours of service.

In the 50s, a great invention was produced: refrigerated trailers. People could now enjoy foods that may from one coast to the other. The construction of highways had increased the profits of the industry as well. In the 60s- 70s; trucking movies and songs begun to gain popularity and highlight the industry. It was known as the “trucker culture”. CB radios and the slang that went along with it gained a lot of popularity, not only with the truckers, but with the public. Toward the end of the 70s, one of America’s favorite trucking movies was released: Smokey and the Bandit.

The 1980s deregulation occurred which led to some changes within the trucking industry. The unions begun to decline drastically. This opened a door for the trucking industry and the railroad to begin discussing a trailer-on-flatcar network, which ended up growing 70%. Not only did the rail service have success, but also did smaller carriers and others who wanted to open a trucking company previously but couldn’t due to not having permissions from the other companies. The number of carriers increased from 20,000 to 40,000 from the 1980s to the 1990s. Shippers also were much happier with their decreased costs and the carriers’ willingness to negotiate since once hidden costs were taken out of their fees by deregulation.

Toward the end of the 20^th century, big box stores such as Walmart and Target heavily impacted the trucking industry in a positive way. The need for the store merchandise resulted in more jobs for truckers. Once the internet started getting more and more popular, online shopping increased trucking needs even more.   At the beginning of the 21^st century, there were an estimated 26 million trucks on American roads. The trucking industry continues to grow in the year 2019. The average income wages continue to hold steady, but the number of needed drivers continues to rise. It is estimated that over the next 10 years, the trucking industry is looking at a 25% growth (ATA).

The trucking industry is very crucial to our way of life, especially with the comforts that we all enjoy daily. Commercial truckers carry about 70% of what you eat, own, wear, and drink (ATA). It is estimated that if all trucks halted their shipments, that grocery stores would run out of products within 3 days (Market Insider). So, the next time you pass by one of these 18-wheelers, let it be a reminder that they are the backbone of the United State’s market and our ability to function in our way of life today.  

Allow Us to Introduce Ourselves

SBL Truck Driving Academy is a commercial truck driving school located in Greer, SC. SBL wanted to do something to set them apart from most other schools, so SBL tailored a program to fit the needs of a student, not just the regulations set forth by South Carolina. SBL has created a program that prepares entry level students to prepare for their CLP and CDL, but it doesn't stop there. Additional time is spent on topics they are not tested on and skills they will need to know in order to be successful in the industry. Talk about a sturdy foundational lay out for someone going into the industry for the first time! Along with the entry level offering; SBL also offers advanced courses, a refresher course, and other specialized courses that can be created based upon a carrier's request.

The purpose of our blog is not only to help those who are looking to make a change, but to help give knowledge, tips, and updates to our community on commercial truck driving. The first few weeks will be insight from our very own instructors, compliance manager, and director. They will be discussing what they wished they knew about the trucking industry when they first started out along with exploring some of their own interests, such as "how trucking got started" and "old technology versus new age". Then, we will be moving onto topics such as driver's health and wellness, regulatory changes, what the industry looks for in truckers, and Truckers Against Trafficking.

So stay tuned for some informational items along with some guidance on how to be successful in trucking!