Behind the Dash: The Hirschbach Blog

A few weeks ago, we reached out to our social media audience and asked them what the best piece of professional advice they ever received was. We were blown away by the response. Everyone had such good insight, we thought we’d put it together and share it with our blog followers!

From thought-provoking to straight-to-the-point answers, here are 20 tidbits of professional advice: (Note, these answers have been edited for brevity and clarity)

When you are a truck driver, you spend a lot of time on the road. While a lot of that is drive time, there is also time in between routes. Whether you drive by yourself or in tandem, you have time to spend out on the road.

Here are 15 suggestions for you to enjoy your down time, with and without technology.

Sometimes when you are out on the road, you just want to eat something homemade and nutritious. Whether you use a grill or a crockpot or raw, something fresh always hits the spot.

Below is a mix of fellow drivers’ favorites and classic on-the-go meals that are easy to prepare in the cab:

Let’s just cut to the chase: Being a commercial truck driver has some substantial pros and cons. You get to travel and see places you may have never seen otherwise, but it can take you away from your loved ones for long stretches of time. You don’t have to sit at an office desk staring at a computer all day, but you are still seated all day. You can bring a pet on the road with you, but you work alone or with one other human.

It’s a lot to consider and anyone who is thinking about becoming a truck driver should give it thought, speak to their families and learn everything they can before jumping in.

We wanted to make learning best practices a little easier, so we asked Hirschbach Facebook followers for what advice they’d give drivers just coming in.

Here are the top 5 tips from fellow drivers:

Human trafficking is a huge issue that is not discussed as much as it should be. Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery. This crime occurs when a trafficker transports someone into a situation of exploitation. They use force, fraud or coercion to control another person for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his/her will.

According to Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT) traffickers look for large groups of men to purchase their commercial sex. During the exploitation stage, members of the trucking industry might intersect with victims at places, including truck stops, rest areas, hotels and restaurants when they’re traveling, sporting events or conventions they attend or street corners they pass.

Due to the locations where human trafficking take place, members of the trucking industry are in a position to help. And the good news: they are helping.

If you ask six different truck drivers what they like to pack while out on the road, you may get a few random answers. Maybe one likes to travel with a portable grill and another with a crockpot. However, there are a few essential items that all truck drivers should pack before heading out on the road.

Here is Hirschbach’s Recommended Packing List:

In honor of Veteran’s Day, we wanted to do a special Q&A with one of our veterans: John Vesey.

John has worked for Hirschbach for about 5 ½ years in a variety of positions from lease operator to fuel and routing specialist to running the recruiting trailer to managing cargo trailers.

We recently virtually sat down with John to hear about his winding path through Hirschbach and his experience in the Navy.