And I'm unemployed again.

Six weeks of school, 2+ weeks with Werner, and last night I finally admitted to myself that I really can't see very well after the sun goes down. I was driving, couldn't maintain the speed limit, and kept braking for curves that I did not need to. I finally asked my trainer for a break. I told my trainer I just could not do it.

He was very understanding, and took over for the rest of the night driving. He even let me drive back today, and I had no problems at all in the daylight.

Werner is actually working with me on possible solutions, but they don't need drivers who can't drive at night.

My job search resumes in a couple of days.

 

Lasik?

Edit: nevermind, don't think it fixes that. Followed your recent threads and I really feel for you man.

 

Yellow sunglasses?

 

pretty sure this is where the hookers and blow come in.

best of luck, sir.

 

Feel for man. Hopefully they can find a gig running daytime only. Look for a morning route as a beer guy or something stocking stores.

 

Jeebus man, I'm going to drive down and kick you in the nuts until you can see in the dark.

 

"I wear my sun glasses at night..."

 

for a man that always comes across as a good bugger, you are having a very hard time man, best wishes.

 

That's a bummer, will you try an eye doctor to se what can be done? Good luck man.

 

Go get a job at a local freight carrier doing pickup/delivery work. Your home everyday and work during the day.

FedEx fright, ups freight, Dayton, etc

 

That sucks Darrin.

However - I had around a two year period in my late twenties where I couldn't see for shit at night. Lane lines were blurry, all kinds of bad shit. Then I realized it was mostly happening after driving back from the all day long supermoto races. I was just worn the eff out, and probably not properly hydrated. Haven't had a re-occurrence since.

Maybe take a look at your overall health. The fact that you're noticing this now, after being in the truck all day, and not when in your daily river running errands has me thinking its not your vision, per say.

Best of luck bro.

 

How is your vision during the day? Talk to an eye Dr. Your eyes might not be great as is, and night just compounds it.

 

Its not your eyes, How well did you know the road you were running. Are you comfident with your skills in said vehicle. Ive been doing it almost 20 years, My vision sucks but I have no problem chasing the edge line with my lights out Ive had to do it a few times over the years.

Follow a few noobs thru the gorge in I40 nc/tn line at night, There running 10 under the speed limit, Get behind a few old timers and we never hit the brakes and cruise at 60mph if our truck can pull the weight.

you aint seen a hairy tight road at nite till you cut thru the back roads of KY.

Give yourself time to build up your comfidence of what the truck will handle and what different loads feel like..

Id say your just being cautious, Understandable for a new driver, Gotta start somewhere.

 

Judging from your location, if you're still in South Boston and don't mind 4 hour or so move, a good co-worker of mine has a brother that does a daily drive from Johnson City, TN up 81 through Wytheville, Christiansburg and maybe up to Roanoke each day and back for Coca-Cola distributing out of east Tennessee. I could ask him if they are looking for new drivers. As far as I can tell, it's all day-time driving; and it's the same route each day. I have no idea what it pays though. I'm sure there are other routes available too, but the hub is out of Johnson City.

 

Darrin,

See if there is an R&L Transport anywhere near you. My brother has been driving for them for several years. He drives to stops for pickup/delivery within about a 200 mile radius or thereabouts. And he's home every night. No weekends, no overnights. He seems really happy with them. Maybe you could get a day-shift route. My brother goes in at 11 a.m. and works until about 9 or so. Per his statement he's making pretty good coin too. Just a thought. Good luck with your situation! I'm putting you on my prayer-list. (Yes, I have one)

 

Go to an eye doctor. My mom how had the same problem for years and they gave her some rx glasses that seem to really help.

 

Or you could do like all the other OTR guys, snort a pound of meth and drive straight through, 24/7. Do enough of it and you can see in the dark!

 

A diet change can improve night vision as well based on recent experiments.

 

I could be wrong but nowadays aren't most trucks equipped with gps trackers and aren't they now legally limited to only spending a certain number of hours on the road (I wanna say 8) before a minimum "rest" period?

 

Yes. They use some sort of electronic logbook that keeps track of their time, speed, etc. Pretty much everyone but the old school owner/operators has big brother standing over their shoulder at all times.

I was just goofing around with the meth stuff. My dad used to be a diesel mechanic and I'd work with him in the summer. We had one driver who would make two or three straight through trips from Missouri to Florida, back to back to back hauling flowers, then he'd crash for a day, then do it again.