A DAY IN THE LIFE...

[RedRaven]

You know in reading the "RULES", I failed to come across any reference to a limit on the number of words that can be used in a post...

But, I did find this in the "RULES"...

B. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned (and your service provider being informed).

2. Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning.

3. Members are asked to not act as "back seat moderators". If members note an issue which contravenes something in this policy document they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a member of the Moderator Team. Only do this if a moderator team member has not replied within 6 hours. Members who consistenly "act" as moderators may be warned.

[Mack2]

If you don't like what I post, don't read it, and don't respond... That way you won't have to waste YOUR time... :wink:

I wasn't talking to you. I was responding to Mackman, Wildkat, and Shawnee.

This time I was talking to you.

[RedRaven]

A day in the life of a woman truck driver...
I'm sure there are members who do not drive OTR, Local, or at all.
Who would be interested in just what it's like for you on an average day, as a woman truck driver...

What is your average day like?...

What are the physical demands of your job?...

What are the pro's, and con's of your career?...

What was your best, and worst day like?...

How long have you been a truck driver?...

How do you work things out with your family, or spouse, or children?...

If your single does this career have any impact on your social life?...

Would you recommend your career to other woman?...

When I created this topic, I wasn't creating it just for myself... I had read in another forum that there were a couple of woman who were either interested in pursuing this as a career, or who were presently in the middle of schooling, training, etc... That I thought they would like to hear from woman who are actually already out there driving, and or, are o/o's, that the information would be of interest, and benefit to them...

Well, maybe someone may still be interested in answering these questions to help these other individuals learn more about what your average day is like, and your life is like, as a Woman truck driver... :wink:

[Roadhog]

Mack...hell...how can one argue with someone who constantly edits
their post to something completely different as the topic seems
to go against them.
You see an even greater quagmire. x4

...cute trick... :wink:

oohhhh...hell...maybe I am just having a cow? (sound familiar...RR?)

Sorry for the hijack...I'll come back and change this later. :?

[Scoe]

:wink: 8) :shock:

[Mack2]

You know in reading the "RULES", I failed to come across any reference to a limit on the number of words that can be used in a post...

But, I did find this in the "RULES"...

B. You agree not to post any abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, sexually-oriented or any other material that may violate any applicable laws. Doing so may lead to you being immediately and permanently banned (and your service provider being informed).

I haven't done that.

2. Members should post in a way that is respectful of other users. Flaming or abusing users in any way will not be tolerated and will lead to a warning.

Haven't done that to you.

3. Members are asked to not act as "back seat moderators". If members note an issue which contravenes something in this policy document they are welcome to bring it to the attention of a member of the Moderator Team. Only do this if a moderator team member has not replied within 6 hours. Members who consistenly "act" as moderators may be warned.

Haven't done that ethier.

[Mack2]

Oh and now I get to blame somthing on women.

I get my arguing style from my sister.

[4roses]

OK I'll take a swing at this ... and maybe Shawnee, wildkat, and Born2Drive will add to it .... I KNOW we're all busy people and it uses up our valueable time with our family or resting to answer so many questions at once but here goes ...

What is your average day like?...

An average day consist of driving in all kinds of weather, doesn't matter how tired you may be, you could be sick to your stomach, have a migrain it doesn't matter ... the load has to get there on time and in a safely manner ... watching out for the 4wheelers that try to make you stop on a dime or run off the hwy in order not to hit them, looking for an address that the consignee gave and the sign is soooooo tiny you can bearly see it while dodging traffice and holding up traffice because your slowing down to read that darn sign. But if you miss it then you may drive a mile before you find a safe place to turn around and go back to where that tiny sign was. ..... and if your lucky ... the state isn't doing construction once you get close to your consignee and there's a detour - - with a big sign saying .... No Semi's Allowed :!: ... this has happed before. ...
Then you realize your fuel stop is coming up ahead - good deal - you think hummm maybe I can grab a shower and something to eat after I fuel ... you dodge the 'billy bigrigs' racing through the truck stop and see and empty spot to pull into and think - kool - this must be my lucky day 8) ... once you get over to that spot ... it has a big orange barrel in the lane saying closed ..... dang it ..... now you have to back up and go around the bldg once more and get back in line to fuel ........ well heck ....... there went your time to shower and eat ... Guess there's no shower today
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What are the physical demands of your job?...

the first thing that comes to my mind is ... pulling the 5th wheel pin .. not all of them pull easy ... so you get out your trusty 5th wheeler puller - grab hold of the handle and brace your feet up against the tire and pull with all your strength .... it doesn't always work, so you have to get back in the tractor and move the tractor up and little or back alittle ... depending on the pin your working with. ..... :evil: .... the doors on the back aren't to bad unless --- when you/or the driver before you that had the trailer backed up and bumped the dock to hard and now the door is not alined and doesn't want to close completely for you. So you push and push and ask other people to help you push on this door until it can be closed completely and locked. ... Physical .... if your back is out, or you have a bad knee .... trust me each time you go to get out of and into your tractor ... it will be painful. Because you pull yourself up into the tractor. I call that Physical :!: Lets not forget ... if your the lucky driver that has to unload your trailer .... it's not hard but you can be tired when your finished - then you have to get back into the truck and driver another several hours in order to get to the next pick up.
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What are the pro's, and con's of your career?...

Pro's .... hummm ... I enjoy being in a different place every couple of days ... enjoy watching the changing of the season each year as I roll down the hwy .... the money can be good if you know how to budget yourself and not spend it in the TS becasue your bored or lonely. ... Con's ... your away from your family for quite a long time ... you get 1 day off for every week you work .... and most OTR's work 2-4 wks before going home ... so after being out for a month ... and only being home for 4 days ... it just doesn't seem like enough time off. You may get a FM that only gives you 2000 miles a week and you have a big bill coming up that needs to be paid but the money isn't going to be there ... sorry :?
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What was your best, and worst day like?...

Best day ...rolling down the hwy without construction going on or an accident to slow me down. .... Worst day - the day my co-driver insisted on driving down Donner Pass (which she hadn't ever done) and burned up our brakes ... smoke and flames coming out from under the trailer and no place to pull off .... I Prayed real hard that day, all the while I'm looking for a place to jump out of the truck if it starts to roll over the side of the mountain.
************************************************** ********

How long have you been a truck driver?...

several
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How do you work things out with your family, or spouse, or children?...

Lucky (or not) I'm single and never had to worry about a spouse ... children grown doing their own thing and everyone is happy :wink:
************************************************** **********

If your single does this career have any impact on your social life?...

What do you think :?: :?: .... sure it does. You can't have a social life ... there's no such thing. Here today and gone tomorrow oh well .... thats the life of a trucker.
************************************************** *********

Would you recommend your career to other woman?...

Yes, only if she truely understands the adjustments she will have to make in order to live the life as a trucker. It's not easy ... but there are good days which make it worth while ... for me anyway 8) ... I would NEVER recommand this job for a female with SMALL CHILDREN at home ... they pay dearly for you not being home with them .... beleive me I've seen to many females do this ... and their children grow up with alot of insecuritys and problems with commitment .... because if your mother will leave ... anybody will leave you. Isn't a mother suppose to love her children more that Anything else in life ???? ... (guess this is a petpeeve with me ... shame shame)



Dang my fingers are tired ... how about a much shorter list the next time :wink:
_________________

[Shawnee]

I don't think I can say it better than you 4roses but I will add some things from my own experience

AVERAGE DAY:

Go pick up my load, load probably won't be ready, drive all night to avoid morning traffic at US border, get a little sleep, fix up log book, drive some more, maybe find time to eat and shower. Most of my customers are regular customers but sometimes I have to go to a place I have never been, and getting lost scares me more than all the bad weather, I have been stuck in some pretty bad situations and trying to get yourself out of a jam is more nerve racking than driving in any bad weather.

There are days when I can't always have a shower, I have to make do with a wash cloth and soap, I have even washed my hair outside with a bucket of water, trucking is not for the sissy girls, that's for sure.

Trucking is not the glamorous lifestyle some people think it is,


PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

- I don't have many physical demands anymore but I have a very bad back and just sitting in the seat for those long hours can be extremely painful


BEST AND WORST DAY:

-best days are when I have the entire road to myself, one night I was driving across Saskatchewan and I never saw a single car or truck for hours, the northern lights were out, it was just beautiful, there was nothing out there except for me and the road,

the worst days are when I get lost in some big city and come up to unmarked bridge.

HOW LONG A DRIVER?

-Long enough

HOW DO YOU WORK THINGS OUT WITH FAMILY OR SPOUSE:

I don't have children, If I did I wouldn't choose this as a career, I believe that if you choose to have children you should also choose to raise them.

My boyfriend also drives, we are both home every weekend, It doesn't really affect us at all,


WOULD I RECOMEND THIS CAREER TO OTHER WOMEN:

No, I probably wouldn't, most of the women I know are sissies and wouldn't like it, most can't stand to drive that long, It takes a certain type of woman to be able to handle this job, I have seen a lot of women come and go because it didn't turn out to be the fun job they thought it would be.

I definatly wouldn't recomend this to women with children, I don't care what anyone says, leaving your kids with a grandparent is no replacement for a mother, children need their mothers to be there, like I said before, if you choose to bring children into the world, you should also choose to raise them and be there for them

[Ridge Runner]

Mack...hell...how can one argue with someone who constantly edits
their post to something completely different as the topic seems
to go against them.
You see an even greater quagmire. x4

...cute trick... :wink:

oohhhh...hell...maybe I am just having a cow? (sound familiar...RR?)

Sorry for the hijack...I'll come back and change this later. :?

At first I thought I read the orgional post wrong the first time. Like you I responded and then later came back and deleted my response because the poster had changed the orgional post so much that my post either made no sense or looked like I was making crap up to pick a fight. I guess in the future we need to "quote" the orgional post in the response to keep from looking like an *****.

[RedRaven]

First ladies, I would like to thank you all, not only for your positive support, but, also for the terrific posts to the questions... 8)

After reading the answers you certainly impressed me... 8) All that you do, and have to go through on a daily basis was very enlightening, educational, and inspiring...

What it shows is that you truly love what you do, even though some days may be difficult. That there may be some sacrifice, in order to pursue this career... That one really needs to know what it is they want in life, and to really think about whether this is the career for them...

I can empathize, and relate to the physical demands, time, and effort you have to put into your career, along with the personal sacrifice... My own past work experience in animal related careers, forced me to choose between social life, friends, even family sometimes... Working 6 to 7 days a week, having only 2 major holidays a year off (Thanksgiving, and Xmas), and my birthday if I asked ahead of time...

I thought about all the other things I could have been doing for a career, and what some people thought I was missing out on being devoted to my work... But, I suppose that is when you just really think about your career, and realize that it's not just a job, it is something that gives you great personal satisfaction. That there just isn't anything else you would rather do for work, even on your most difficult days... :wink:

I also got from your posts, that if you want other things in your life beside your career, that you have to find a way to balance them out... Whether working locally, or shorter hours, that you can make it work... It just depends on what you want at the time...

Thank you all again, I think a lot of members who maybe seeking guidence, will find your very thoughtful posts to be a valuable resource to them... I know I did... :wink:

[wildkat]

OK I'm just a tad slow here.... Been too damned busy!

Well here goes...a day in the life of Wildkat :-)

As some of you already know I am an owner/operator for Grimshaw Trucking, part of the Mullen Group out of Edmonton, Alberta. I run north of Edmonton to various points mostly to the Northwest Territories to Yellowknife, the capital city of the NWT. I am what is termed as a line-haul driver, I haul from our main terminal in Edmonton to various terminals in northern Alberta & the NWT. I have been trucking for almost 28 years and have paid my dues many times, so this is retirement for me...pin to pin no touch YAHOO!

My typical day starts at around 10 pm (steady night work here) :-) Usually it is hurry up & wait for trailers to be loaded, then hook up & on my way. I haul extended length, mostly Rocky mountain doubles on some of the most unique roads (?) on the planet.

Here is a typical load for me, my truck & company trailers:




Winters are long, hard, cold and very dark. In the NWT there is virtually no light in winter & summer is hot, dry & light as Yellowknife is in the polar desert there is almost no rain, but alot of snow. There is 22 hours of sunshine in summer & only twighlight for night, that is the most unique thing, even for me being from Edmonton where we get nearly 20 hours of light in summer. It is an awsome sight to watch the sun rise & set in the space of an hour.

The roads in the NWT are narrow & windy as they were built originally by the army in the 40's & have seen very little upgrades & have only been paved (if that's what you call it!) for the last 5 years. The biggest plus is the total lack of traffic, you can literally drive down the road for hours and not see a single vehicle. The only drawback is that the country is extremely isolated, there is no phone, no internet, no nothing. So we maintain our units extremely well, heaven help you if you break down in the middle of the night when it's -48F outside. I recall one time blowing a tire last winter I sat on the side of the road for 6 hours before the first vehicle came along & he stopped at our terminal to let them know I had trouble, some 2 hours later & he passed me on the way back & told me help was on the way. The tire guy showed up 4 hours after that. Normal happenings up there. There are no rest areas, no truck stops, just roadside turnouts, not even an outhouse! :-)

Once in Yellowknife, I break up my train on the outskirts of town & haul trailer #1 to the terminal, back into the dock & collect my running order, have a quick shower, hook up & head back to the outskirts for my pu trailer & head south again.

I carry 300 gallons of fuel on board & the last fuel stop is in High Level, AB which is half-way to Yellowknife, so fuel is there & that will get me back to High Level with about a 1/4 to 1/3 to spare...some 1000 miles round trip. Once back in High Level it's top one tank & head for home...that is unless dispatch calls & says "I need you to do a switch". Switches are done in our terminal in Peace River, where one truck will bring a set from Edmonton for us then we turn around & head back up north again. That's what I did all this week...left home on Monday night & never got south of Peace River until late last night.

A typical week for me adds up to 7000+kms, alot of hard miles to be sure! But I love it just the same[img][/img]