Question:
I have searched the topic page and still would appreciate straight forward answers prior to going to School and pursuing a job as Truck Driver.
1. Lady Truck Drivers-- Who as experienced unloading the entire trailer alone, and how often?
2. No Idiling. How do you manage? ( It's at least 20 or less degrees in most parts of the NE and SE this time of year)
3. Is USXpress the only company with automatic transmission?
4. Does anyone have their own (truck experience) website?
5. Important info on top companies for new truck drivers.
I appreciate your responses. Have a great day.

Answer:
Lovely, Trans Am is upgrading to auto-shift transmissions.
A good newbie site, which is also run by a young lady, is Newbie Driver.Com There's an online journal of day-to-day activities and experiences, tips for getting started, questions and answers, etc. Well written.
Good luck!
de KJ5KX

Answer:
You may want to pose this topic on the Professional Women Drivers forum also and
search the archives.
Mike
Answer:
As a female driver I can only say this..
Yes there will be times that you may have to unload. The bigger part of the time the company will hire a lumper, But I have been in places where there is no lumper.
Now to step on a few toes: As a female driver you are and should be considered Just A Driver
You should not get any extra points because you are a female. Yet though I have seen alot of women try to use that to their advantage, which in the long run is only a disadvantage to the women truckers..This not only applies to trucking but alot of "Manly" Jobs
Now on a personal level I truely believe that all shippers and recievers should unload their own stuff..They ordered it they want it they should do it:
As far as automatics go I have never driven one and I think if you really want to go into trucking you should learn to drive a stick:
It gives you a better range of companies to drive for.

Answer:
Once you get used to them you will not want to go back to a stick .
tom

Answer:
I think you should train on a stick. (Preferably a 10 speed) If you tell an employer you ONLY drive auto's you limit yourself way too much.
I have on my truck a system known as the Cummins ICON system. It regulates the cab/engine temp to a comfort setting so you can sleep comfortably. The drawback to this is the truck starting/stopping all night, but you get used too it. Besides that the automatics are slow as Jan. molasses getting started.
Try Roehl Transport. They have an excellent school.web page BOL to ya. Razz Just remember:If the world did'nt suck, you'd fall off!
The more I see and read about Republicans and Democrats, the more I wish we had an Independent Party.
IMPEACH BUSH!!!!!!!!!!

Answer:
Originally posted by tbrian:
Once you get used to them you will not want to go back to a stick .
tom
Been drivin a lot of years. My personal opinion
automatics take all the fun outta drivin a truck.
Just my 2cents worth.
Brian

Answer:
Welcome to trucknet. Please feel free to ask any and all questions you may have and please take with a grain of salt some of the wise guy answers you may find. There are a lot of good people here who will be happy to try to help you in any wa they can.
1. Driver unloading. This varies from company to company as to how often and the types of freight you may have to unload. Generally though most cases af freight weigh under 25 lbs but you may have over 2,000 cases to unload by hand. If having to unload freight by hand is of conern for you I would suggest you make sure you ask specific questions when talking to a recruiter.
2. Idling: Those drivers who never idle their trucks except in extremely cold conditions (under 10 deg) do so through many different means. These can include the use of 12v heaters (which will only take the exteme chill out) to 12v electric blankets or matress pads and the use of a 12v fan or two in the summer, and also they seem to have a different tolerance level for heat and cold than others do. Also some drivers have devices on their trucks that automatically start nd stop the engine to maintain a temp range in the sleeper and battery condition. Then there are some companies that are installing aux generaters that provide elec, heat, and AC without idling themain engine. My personal philosphy is this though. If you need to run the engine to keep the truck warm or coll enough to allow you to get a good quality of rest then run that truck. 8 or 10 gallons of fuel a night is a small price to pay to ensure a driver is well rested and safe on the road.
3. Currently USX is the only major training company using all auto's in their trucks. A few smaller companies are using them also and more and more companies are spec'ing trucks with the auto as they generally get better fuel milage than the manuals due to drivers not shifting properly. I do agree however that a new driver would be better to gain exp with a manual trans first (for at least a year) and then driving an auto than the other way around.
4. I really dont have ana nswer to this one. Millis has a portion of thier Web site for thier drivers to post on and some have posted thier training experiences. Also some of the newbies (both past and current) have posted in detail their experices here on truck net.
5. Top companies: This is a very relative term in the trucking industry. What can be a gold mine for one driver wont even qualify as the shaft for another. All of your major companies have web sites you can access basic info from and from there the best thing for you to do is ask specific questions about specific companies.
I hope this all helps you out some. Best of luck and feel free to ask anything you have a question on.
Only two things I know of are infinite. The universe and human stupidity, and I am not real sure about the universe.