Driver Team Solo Positions: The Nitty Gritty On Truck Driving JobsWritten by Anna Henningsgaard
Trucks and truck drivers are a constant presence on US highways and interstates. A person on even shortest drive is likely to pass by a truck or two transporting goods, and even merchandise that travels by ship, train, or airplane travels on a truck for some phase of journey to customer. Because trucks are such a major part of industry, truck driving jobs are important positions and good paying jobs.Truck drivers have many responsibilities. Before leaving terminal or warehouse, truck drivers make routine checks of their vehicles, checking fuel and oil levels. They inspect tires, brakes, and windshield wipers, and make sure that all safety equipment is loaded and functional. They report any problems to dispatcher, who keeps track of all of these small details. Once they start driving, truck drivers must be constantly alert. They can see quite a long distance along highway because they sit higher than most other vehicles. This puts them in a position of power on road, as well as heightened responsibility. Delivery requirements vary according to type of merchandise, driving assignment, and final destination. Local drivers provide daily service along a specific route, while other drivers must make intercity and interstate deliveries based on specific orders. The driver’s responsibilities and salary change based on time spent on road, type of product transported, and vehicle size. New technologies are revolutionizing way that truck drivers work. Long distance truck drivers now have satellites and global positioning systems (GPS) to link them with company headquarters. Information, directions, and weather reports can be delivered to truck instantly no matter where it is. Company headquarters can track truck’s location, fuel consumption, and engine performance. Inventory tracking equipment is now computerized, allowing producer, warehouse, and customer to all check in on products on road. New technology is making truck driving an easier job, as seats become more comfortable, trucks have better ventilation, and cabs are better designed. Some routes are very, very long, and these usually employ heavy truck or tractor-trailer drivers. On longest routes, companies will hire two drivers for sleeper runs. Sleeper runs can last from days to weeks and truck only stops for fuel, food, loading and unloading. The drivers switch off driving and sleeping in truck. Truck driving can be a demanding job. Some self-employed long-distance truck drivers who own and operate their own trucks spend most of year away from home. The government restricts long distance drivers to no more than 60 hours a week as well as requiring 10 hours rest for every 11 hours driving. Many drivers work very close to this max time permitted because they are compensated according to number of miles or hours they’ve put in. The difficulty of truck driving is well compensated, which makes it a popular job. In 2002, there were 3.2 million truck drivers.
| | 'The Secrets of interview Success'Written by Gerard McLoughlin
Many well qualified and extremely able candidates fail at job interviews simply because they are unaware of conventions of job interview and expectations of interviewer. Successful candidates, on other hand, manage to impress prospective employers precisely because they know how to present themselves. Thus, they study job advertisement; they analyse what is required in way of skills qualifications and experience; they assess their own suitability for job; and finally, they present themselves in a thoughtful and carefully prepared manner. Their written applications are comprehensive and business like, containing all relevant information presented neatly and concisely.They prepare themselves carefully for interview anticipating likely questions and rehearsing their responses. They study structure of interview and devise a strategy to satisfy interviewer's requirements. In short, they prepare themselves to succeed. Let us begin by giving some general advice to candidates who are considering daunting prospect of an interview. As a candidate you should be able to express yourself with clarity and precision. To do this, you must make adequate preparation, anticipating likely questions and rehearsing your responses. However, this does not mean that you should learn your responses by heart. To do so would make you sound unnatural. Your answers should appear spontaneous. At same time, you should come across as thoughtful, articulate and coherent. So preparation is essential. During interview you should speak confidently, making sure to support your answers with relevant examples from your work experience. Sometimes questions might not be wide-ranging enough to enable you to present your case as fully and convincingly as you would wish. In such circumstances, it is up to you to take initiative and acquaint interviewer with whatever information you consider to be important in advancing your claims to job on offer. Remember, it is up to you to sell yourself. Always relate your answers to job for which you are applying. This is particularly important in case of candidates who are faced with sort of indirect questions favoured by many interviewers. For example, interviewer may ask you to describe your current job. This is an indirect way of asking you to what extent your present skills and experience relate to job for which you are applying. Always present a positive face. Having studied your application form, interviewers will have identified weaker aspects of your case. They will often use such material to build up a negative impression of you. So it is in your own best interests to examine your application critically with a view to identifying any weaknesses or negative aspects, which interviewer might spot. Having identified such negative aspects, you should be ready to answer tricky questions by preparing positive answers.
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