Category: school

New Trucker Mistakes

Posted on November 23, 2016 by - burn out, expresstrucktax, freight rates, mistakes, new truck, new truckers, Owner Operators, school, trucking, veteran truckers

New Trucker Mistakes
New Trucker Mistakes

It’s no doubt that an influx of truckers enter the industry every year – it’s undeniable, the turnover rate in this industry can be overwhelming. Unfortunately, sometimes the system that feeds negativity into itself – new drivers hear disheartening information and carry this on their shoulders. After a while, the attitude can sour a driver.

Learning The Wrong Stuff From the Veterans

If you’re new, you need to learn the ropes from those that know them. Sure, school teaches you the rules, but putting these techniques into practice teaches you how they work in the practical sense. Someone who has backed their trailer in a thousand times can offer advice you may have missed.

As far as rookie drivers go, you should apply your learnings to the logic of seasoned drivers, picking up the safe and time-saving tricks and tips they offer. However, be sure to shrug off any unsafe shortcuts.

According to what one trucker told Business Insider, you’re getting ripped off if you’re less than 33 cents a mile.

If new drivers need to learn anything, it’s the livable rates they should earn for driving. Nobody wants to be ripped off, but the risk is high for truckers.

Just remember, if something is too good to sound true, it is!

Rushing Into It Without a Plan

It’s tempting to push through your training, ready for the actual job. But think about it – you don’t want to land a gig and find out that you are clueless! Sure, you will feel a little lost when you start a new job regardless, but you don’t want to leave your training without a clue!

Sure, you’re ready to drive – but make sure you’re not desperate. Desperation can lead new truckers to do reckless things, and that’s the last thing we need.

According to some seasoned drivers, new drivers are so green that they don’t understand that leasing trucks come with a significant cost of maintenance and overhead. When young drivers end up in this situation, they can have very little to show for it.

If you’re spending $900 a week on your truck, and find yourself barely able to afford ramen noodles, you need to rethink what you’re doing here!

Perpetuating the attitude, when you get started at your new company, you were introduced to a grizzled, older trucker who seems unphased by your presence. He probably doesn’t care about you – that you knew from the moment he grumbled something under his breath and walked off.

Don’t be that guy. I mean, everybody has bad days – that’s unavoidable. But you don’t want to be the one who perpetuates the poor attitude trope. You don’t have to be pure sunshine, but communicating in a likable fashion allows you to build relationships as you progress in your field.

Ask questions, be honest with your coworkers, and win them over with competence and openness. What you bring with your positivity will help you as an earner, and provide an example for other truckers.

With the right attitude, you’ll even avoid driver burnout.

Getting Burned Out

Some people get into trucking as a temporary way to earn some cash until they figure out their next venture. That’s fine! But If you want to last in this industry, you need to take care of yourself and keep a nice environment.

Taking care of yourself means a few different things. First, whether you’re an owner-operator or a company driver, if you drive local or OTR, you should go out of your way to work (and possibly live) in a nice, clean truck.

Other burnout prevention methods just happen to cross paths with health and hygiene tips, surprisingly. If you want to keep a sound mental state, find ways you can relax in your downtime.

Don’t get too relaxed, though! You should also find ways to improve your food and fitness routines!

One of the worst mistakes you can make is not e-filing your Form 2290 when the deadline rolls around – or when you purchase a new truck.

With ExpressTruckTax, e-filing HVUT is not only easy, it’s fast, safe, and supported by a great U.S.-based customer satisfaction team. E-file with us and we’ll answer any and all questions you may have.

So for all of our new truckers, let this be your year to be the best trucker ever!

Related Blog: 3 Reasons You’re Not Cut out to Be a Trucker


5 Ways to Survive Truck Driving School

Posted on November 14, 2016 by - CDL, CDL training, healthy living, school, sleep deprivation, tips and tricks, truck drivers, trucker fitness

Every year, tons of hopeful truckers enroll in schools and programs to get their CDL’s. As with any training program, the work is tough, and you get out of it what you put in. But how can you make sure you survive the whole process? Let’s run through this!

Start Early

So once you’ve been accepted and enrolled into a program, you need to hit the ground running. Find out what books and training materials you need as soon as possible, and start reviewing.

Review everything. It’ll be tough, but you will understand more of what you’re learning later. Learn the definitions of words, or at least familiarize yourself with them.

Also, look into some online communities and learn what you can from there. Whether that’s lingo, or survival tips, you can find plenty in forums, social media, and blogs!

Study Hard

Oh, nobody wants to hear it. You need to study hard. Yeah, you’re going to spend a lot of time learning all this in your classes, but you’re gonna have to put in a ton of time and study hard.

Think about it, not everybody passes their CDL right away. You want to become a trucker, so you’re going to need to get through your training and learn as much as possible.

You don’t want to be a rookie trucker forever, do you? Or worse, a CDL dropout?

Start Sleeping Well

This is a tough one. You might not know this, but sleep is crucial for success, health, and happiness. While you might imagine a gruff, short-tempered trucker as the standard cut of the cloth, that isn’t actually the case.

But plenty of truckers out there have sleep problems from the lifestyle. Of course, this leads to risks. Without sleep, you can find yourself with a grumpy disposition, impaired immunity system, and unable to concentrate.

That’s why you need at least eight hours of sleep, which is even more important once you’re a truck driver. So start doing everything you can to improve your sleep schedule!

Start Being Healthy

When you’re learning the ins and outs of your CDL, you should also spend some of your time off implementing healthy habits that will stick with you in the cab.

Start with your fitness by creating a good workout routine that will stick with you. Learn how to use your environment and your own body, or find mobile fitness tools and routines you can take with you.

We’ve given you fitness advice before, but we’re also big proponents of healthy eating. Ask any trucker about food on the road, and you’ll find out that truck stops are full of convenience foods — not health food.

Now, we’re not saying you need to eat kale chips every day (they’re good, I swear!), but you should do what you can to eat plenty of fresh veggies, whole grains, and lean proteins. Your diet will affect your disposition as much as sleep and fitness, so start eating right!

Of course, there are other problem areas for truckers — like perpetual back injuries from sitting all day, for example. You will need to watch your health as a trucker, bottom line.

Plan Ahead

Our first bit of advice is to start setting personal goals beyond getting your CDL. All things considered, you will put in the hard work and it’ll pay off with a CDL, and hopefully a trucking job!

But then you will have to decide what kind of job you want to have, where you want to be based out of, and all sorts of other considerations.

While you’re still in school, figure out what you like about driving a truck, learn about company drivers as compared to owner operators, and connect with other students.

No matter what you do, getting your CDL is hard work. With all the hard work you put in, you’ll be a truck driver before you know it. Once you’re a trucker, we’ll be ready to help you e-file Form 2290 right here at ExpressTruckTax!