Question:
Yes____ No____ Are you still searching for a mate?
Yes____ No____ Are you married?
Yes____ No____ Do you have school aged children at home?
Yes____ No____ Do you have any large debts?
Yes____ No____ Do you have any physical health problems?
Yes____ No____ Are you now, or have you ever been diagnosed with depression?
Yes____ No____ Do you think you may have symptoms of depression or other mental illness?
Yes____ No____ Do you currently smoke dope, but plan to quit when you start trucking?
Yes____ No____ Do you drink too much, but plan to quit when you start trucking?
Yes____ No____ Do you have a "temper"?
Yes____ No____ Are you a "control freak"?
Yes____ No____ Do you have problems following instructions?
Yes____ No____ Do you have problems with authority?
Yes____ No____ Are you impatient?
Yes____ No____ Do you have any eating disorders?
Yes____ No____ Do you need more than 6.5 hours sleep every night?
If the answer to any one of these questions is yes, your chance of success in over-the-road trucking (living on the road) is greatly diminished.

Answer:
Just out of curiosity, who says one trait is Death to Driving?
I'd think that like the mythical "Type B" personality, someone who would TRULY pass that quiz would be virtually impossible to find.
Flexibility and a positive attitude in general would seem to address a large majority of Road Life challenges.
Not arguin', just discussin'...
DD

Answer:
Something like 25% of OTR newbies are still trucking after a year. The other 75% have quit the industry for good.
Most common reason seems to be wife and kids issues -- it was harder than they thought, rarely being home.
The other stuff -- mental illness and such -- I just made up of course. This is somewhat tongue in cheek... ...but I bet if there was a real survey, these things would probably top the list.
Doesn't mean one can't overcome obstacles. But the folks best able to overcome the hardships of OTR are probably single, healthy, and easy-going. Just my opinion.....
note: I said chancs of success were "diminished", not impossible.

Answer:
The last question (sleep) bothers me. I can deal with almost anything else, but I don't deal with lack of sleep terribly well. I have no problem with an OCCASIONAL night of little sleep. And I have no problem with having to catch my sleep in two or three naps per day. But if being a trucker means that I have to get six or fewer hours of sleep for every single 24 hour period, then I guess I can't be a trucker.
Say it ain't so?

Answer:
Most drivers I know can probably only answer NO to ONE question!

Oink! Oink! Oink! Grunt! Grunt!
Answer:
Lebowski,
I'm afraid it IS true sometimes. Sometimes events gang-up on you and there's no time for naps, and you go a few days with less than adequate sleep. You may not be driving or actually "working" per se - but waiting for the dock to call you on the cb, or waiting to get your truck fixed, or waiting for something else, when there's no practical way to nap.
If you're able to take naps during the day - can put yourself to sleep easily - you'd probably do ok. That's what I do when I don't get enough sleep, and I'm getting better at it. But many folks can't jump from high-stress driving one moment, then sleep the next. And many use food (and other things) to put them to sleep when their body doesn't feel like sleeping, and that's no way to go either.
So let me put it this way: If you're a good "napper", it probably won't be a problem most of the time. But even if you can control your sleep cycle better than most, there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be pressured to drive/work in that state.

Answer:
"there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be pressured to drive/work in that state." The word NO comes to mind. If your to tired to run safely you sleep. Many of the idiots that have killed people or themselves thought the same way as Shuffler. You don't have to run in that state and no one has the ability to force you to turn on your truck when your in that state. Where some of this nonsense comes from is completely baffling.
That has to be one of the most rediculous test I have ever seen. Of course it is made up by a driver. No scientific fact to it.
"Caution: Door May Open"

Answer:
"Pressured" I didn't say a driver SHOULD drive in this state. I said they'd be "pressured", Stuffs.
Maybe this hasn't happened to you yet, but it probably will as you acquire more experience. You'll be "pressured" to drive at times when you're not properly rested.
Those who can nap, or don't require a full night's sleep every night (Lebowski's problem) don't have to say no as often, and are less tempted to do something stupid.
You centainly presume to know a whole about how I "think". You also try to re-write what I've said alot. How about letting folks read and decide for themselves what I said, instead of telling them what YOU think I said.
I think the folks here are a bit smarter than you give them credit for. They know I never said a driver should drive tired. Aren't you kind'a insulting them in a way, when you take something I've said and change it completely around and then say, look what he said, when it wasn't what I said at all? How crazy is that? How can you possible read what I wrote and conclude I'm suggesting I "think" drivers should drive when they're too tired?
Maybe you should read the posts more throughly before you respond -- kind'a like looking both ways again before entering an intersection. it's drivers who look at something and then decide they've seen something that doesn't exist that are dangerous out here. Do you have a problem with this on the road, as you do here at trucknet?
Please Stuffs -- I really don't think I need an editor to re-write my posts......thanks anyway. But you're certainly welcome to respond to what I DO say. Say they're crappy, they stink, you don't agree...I couldn't care less. But you're only embarrassing yourself by documenting your innability or unwillingness to comprehend the simplest sentence.
[This message was edited by Shuffler on August 09, 2003 at 23:06.]

Answer:
"Maybe this hasn't happened to you yet, but it probably will as you acquire more experience" Sometimes your just clueless. Try again. I don't think your 4 years at Werner quite makes you an ultimate authority on trucking.
"You also try to re-write what I've said alot. " You are funny. Actually I quoted you exactly.
Here you go I'll do it again. "there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be pressured to drive/work in that state. " You did say that and I did say. "Many of the idiots that have killed people or themselves thought the same way as Shuffler. You don't have to run in that state and no one has the ability to force you to turn on your truck when your in that state." You said there are times when they "WILL be pressured to drive/work in that state". Am I presuming to know how you think or rewriting what you've said or even rewriting your post?. You said it not me.
Here I'll quote you exactly. "So let me put it this way: If you're a good "napper", it probably won't be a problem most of the time. But even if you can control your sleep cycle better than most, there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be pressured to drive/work in that state. " I'll say it again. That is completely wrong and untrue. No one can force, pressure or what ever you call it to drive in that state. To do so and to tell people they will have to do so is very careless to say the least. I truly hope no newbies ever believe anyone has the ability to pressure them into careless and wreckless driving as this would be.
"They know I never said a driver should drive tired." Nope and I never said you did. I just said it is rediculous to think and tell newbies they will be forced to drive tired. You said they would be I said that is rediculous.
" I really don't think I need an editor to re-write my posts" Nope, but a little thought and intelligence before you post might be of help.
"Caution: Door May Open"

Answer:
Nearly every one of Shuffler's posts are clear evidence he hasn't slept well in years.
What is this, 'Distort Stuffs' Posts Week At Fantasy Island'??? Must be ...
___________________________
Humans are amazing creatures. "With all the things you can train them to do, I've been considering getting one."-Stoney Jay Gould
__________________________
This post coming to you live, from Jesus Land !!!

Answer:
Dominoes I think were supposed to just agree with what every one post. You know, be brain dead and not think for ourselves. Alot of these post appear to be wriiten in that state.
"Caution: Door May Open"

Answer:
I may only have 4 years. But that's enough time to realize that companies pressure drivers to drive in accordance with the pickup/delivery schedules they've extablished with their customers. And that may result in "pressure" to drive when you're not properly rested.
It does not mean you have to do it. Does "pressure" mean you have to do it? I don't think so. Maybe you buckle under pressure and do stupid things, so "pressured" to you means you just do it even if it's extremely stupid. But I think most folks know exactly what I said and meant.
You WILL be pressured to drive when you're not properly rested. Period. End of discussion. This happens in trucking. Anyone with one day of experience knows that. Where have you been?
Now....if you want to write a reply about how one shouldn't drive tired, etc, what to tell dispatch...blah..blah..blah........be my guest! That's would be excellent advice.
But I intentionally left that advice out of MY post, because I did not want to give Lebowski the false impression that her particular sleep condition can be solved by simply refusing to drive. There are consequences for not picking up or delivering on time. It might just be that her need for sleep, as she described it, does not make her suitable for OTR.
[B]I did not in any way suggest she, or any newbie, should drive when they're too tired.
Obviously, since carriers pressure drivers to pickup/deliver on time, this may translate to pressure to drive tired if the driver is not good at sleeping on odd schedules. Daaahhh!
How on earth did you turn that into me "thinking" drivers should drive thwn they're tired? That's got to be the stupidest thing you've posted so far, and you're competing with your previous posts!
Many of the idiots that have killed people or themselves thought the same way as Shuffler. ???

Answer:
Here I'll quote you again. you must be sleepy your shuffling of your own words isn't working very well tonight.
"there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be pressured to drive/work in that state" I read that the same as being forced. That is a stupid thing to say.
I do a mean two step shuffle myself. But I try not to do it in my post. I think before I post, most of the time.
"Caution: Door May Open"

Answer:
"there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be pressured to drive/work in that state"
Is this statement true or false? "True"
Newbies deserve the truth.
I think before I post, most of the time
Not as often as you think you think, I think.
Werner trucks shut themselves off automatically when they go into HOS violation.
Don't drive with the flow of traffic.
It doesn't matter which company you take your first job with.
That's thinking?
"Pressured" is not the same as "forced". Try that dictionary you were looking-up Lar's word in and check-out the difference.
Would you have been happier if I said:
"there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be strongly influenced to drive/work in that state"
jeeeezzz.... give yourself a break and call it a night. If you want to find flaws in my posts there are many, many, many to find I'm sure. But this was poorly conceived and ill-executed. Kind'a like your driving? How many tickets, reportables did you say you have?
[This message was edited by Shuffler on August 10, 2003 at 1:08.]

Answer:
"Is this statement true or false? " False. You can not be pressured into driving tired. They may try but it is the driver that does it.
"Would you have been happier if I said: there WILL be times when you're absolutely exhausted from too little deep (REM) sleep, and you WILL be strongly influenced to drive/work in that state" How do I say this, NO. Maybe if you would have said when you get tired go to sleep even if they try to pressure you into driving. That would have been the truth newbies need to know.
Companies can't force or pressure a driver to do anything illegal and thats the truth.
"Caution: Door May Open"