A Day in the Life

It probably never enters most of our minds about how our food, clothes and other goods end up in the store.  Most people don’t think much about truck drivers unless they are out on the Interstates.  So, I really wanted to talk to a couple of drivers and just give some insight to what it’s like out on the road, especially when you don’t go home for 4-6 weeks at a time.

First question I asked was what’s a typical day like?

“Well I usually get up around 0600, do my pretrip, find the closest coffee, then hit the road. I like to fuel half way threw my day and catch a shower. That way if I cannot find parking at a decent truck stop at least I get to do my daily personal hygiene.”

“I am more of a late day driver, I wait till 1 PM if possible to get out on the road again during my long stretches of driving.   Doesn’t always work if I am delivering at 4 AM, but the late afternoon start allows me to drive late into the night when roads thin out.”

“That’s the great thing about being an OTR driver, I set my hours.  I can get up at 5 AM or 5 PM just as long as I get to my appointment.  This isn’t an 8-5 job and I only have so many hours to drive.  So I try to make the most of it.”

Second question I asked was, what do you eat each day?

“Depends a lot on the location I take my 10-hour break weather there is fast food or a sit-down kind of place to eat. However, I do eat out of my truck a lot.”

“Really try to stock truck once a week with snacks, microwave stuff, sandwich meat, soup and some fruit.  Eating at a truck stop daily takes away from my paycheck and adds to my waistline.”

Third question I asked was, What is it like being on the road for days and weeks at a time?

“With my diagnosis of PTSD it actually helps me a lot to be able to keep to myself a lot. Although I do miss being home and my wife and the family, the solitude helps me a lot.” 

“I sometimes have social issues and being able to be in the truck solves some of that social awkwardness, it’s my comfort place.  It allows me to do a job and not feel that type of stress all day.”

“I miss my family and friends but this is how I make a living.  I have mobile hotspot so I can Skype home or face time with the kids.  I use Facebook to stay right in the middle of what is going on at home. In the summer, my kids are able to spend 2 weeks each out on the truck with me.”

Fourth question I asked, What made you decide trucking was what you wanted to do?

“The small town I live in, Camp Verde AZ, does not have very much employment opportunities that would actually make the kind of money I need for my situation. And turns out that I can make just as good money leasing a truck and at the end of the day I'm working towards owning my truck.”

“I had been laid off from a manufacturing place for the 100^th time and said enough.  While on unemployment I went to truck driving school and never looked back.  No matter what I want to do there is always a trucking driving job.”

“This is what my Dad did and we had a pretty good life, so it’s what I did as soon as I could.”

This just gives you a glimpse of what it is like for a truck driver each day.  These are the guys and gals that bring what we need and don’t need to local stores every day. It also sure wouldn’t hurt to say Thank you every once and while too.