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my Kenworth T600 in the black hills national forest

Greetings once again. In this chapter of my rookie dealings I’m going to cover my first day in my truck after graduating Truck Driver Training School and getting my new job.

I was so excited about my new job that I didn’t sleep at all the night before. At 6 am I got there and moved all my stuff into my truck. It took me nearly an hour and a half to put everything where I wanted it and freshen the air as necessary (very important in used equipment to get air fresheners). At around 7:30am I went in and filled out all of the paperwork that new hires fill out and got issued my fuel card and got the paperwork for my first load. I left the yard in my new truck following my bosses directions. I had a 9 am pick up appointment at a cold storage only a few miles away. I made my first mistake less than a mile from where I started: I missed the turn to get out of their place and I didn’t know where the road took me, luckily, I found an empty parking lot that was big enough to turn around in and got back to where I needed to be. I made my second mistake only a couple of miles from there when I took the west on ramp instead of the south one ( I still get confused on that one because you need to go west but the south side turns west a few miles after you get on it). As a result of this, my destination (which is right off of the first exit ramp had I gone the right way) I had to go through downtown St. Paul to get back where I was. The clock was ticking against me and my nerves were at a new all time high. Less than an hour into my new job I was virtually lost, scared out of my mind, and risked being late to my first appointment.

To start this trip I did the most thorough of pre-trip inspections and left as a “super-trucker” going to change the world single handed 1 mile at a time and now 20 miles later I was faced with going back to square one. Finally it all came together. I ended up where I should have been several minutes before and made my appointment within a couple of minutes. They took forever to load me or even get me into my door and I still had 2 appointments to make in the afternoon. Finally I got into a door and hooked up my Satellite radio in the truck while I waited. I started talking to a couple other drivers that were next to me ( this has become something that I enjoy doing on a regular basis). I called my boss and she made a call and my truck started to get loaded miraculously and than I was off to my next stop approx 30 miles away for a 1:30 appointment). Ok, I was facing 2pm if all went as expected but since the first shipper took so long I was covered with a phone call.

My next mistake was allowing someone to draw a map on a post it note without indicating which way was up ( not that I knew which way was up in the first place). At the end of the off-ramp I had to decide whether to go left or right (if I’ve learned anything in my life always go the opposite way my head tells me to go) I went left, oops wrong way. I went about 2 miles down the road and knew I went the wrong way because I saw nothing that was on my post-it note. 1st day in new truck and now I have to figure out how to turn this thing around once again. Well I finally found a street that appeared to be big enough to turn down, but it was laden with no trucks signs. No Truck signs are not something to take lightly. I was committed and had no option of turning back, I eyed the power lines for height and there were no bridges so that was ok;  the last thing to worry about was not taking out that poor guy on the corners nicely manicured lawn. 3 left turns and a right later I was back on course. No damage done what so ever, at least something went right. 10 minutes later I was at the shipper and checked in. This particular shipper usually has plenty of  room to back a truck in the dock  but on my first day it of course was not. there is about 60 feet between the front of your truck and the curb once your in the dock and the trucks are spaced out every other door. On this day a truck was parked along the curb and every door was full. now I have a lot of faith in my backing skills but this seemed a bit challenging. But I guess if I want to be a truck driver Now might be a good time to do what I’m supposed to. 1 shot and done. No issues. I was so proud. Being faced with the situations up to this point on my first day made me realize why companies use driver-trainers for several weeks before releasing a student on his own with a half million dollar rig and load. I had the fullest of confidence in myself all day because I knew I could do it. However, some of the students in Truck Driver Training School didn’t realize there was a difference between a little Toyota Prius and a full 75 foot tractor trailer.

Now we’re loaded for 2 deliveries: The first an hour away in Rochester, MN. and the other in Rock Island, IL. I made it to both without incident. I even had a chance to stop at home and show off my new rig to the family .

Thank you for allowing me to relive my stories on the road as a new driver. Next time I’m going to relive my first delivery and how I made a choice to make some money and how I came up short and the valuable lesson I learned.

Thank you,

Chad Nappin