Ever wish you could split your 10-hour break to adjust to a customer’s warehouse hours? Well, the good news is that you can! The split sleeper berth rule allows you to split your mandatory 10-hour break to accommodate different delivery times and to allow more flexibility in your day.

Are you looking to diversify your skills as a truck driver? Instead of hauling general freight, do you want to haul hazardous materials? Do you want to move multi-axle trailers down the road? If you’re nodding your head right now, this article is for you.

So you’ve decided you want to be a truck driver: What’s the next step? How do you earn your Class A commercial driver’s license (CDL)? What trucking school should you go to? How much does trucking school cost and how long does it last? How are you going to pass the test? How will you learn the material and learn how to maneuver the large equipment?

What’s your 20? If you’re new to trucking, that means, “Where you at?!” There’s a lot more to trucking than just hopping in the cab and going for a leisurely drive. There are government regulations, certifications, different styles of truck driving, parts of a truck and more that you will need to remember to keep up in the trucking world. You can get lost in all the industry jargon used by carriers and drivers.

Picture this: you’ve been driving for a new trucking carrier for just under one month. Your driver manager sends you a load that requires you to take a route on unfamiliar roads and to drop off at a location you’ve never been to before. You’re a few hours from your destination when you come across road construction. You have to find an alternate route. It’s frustrating, but it’s okay. You have time. You end up at the customer’s construction site an hour later than you’d hoped. But there’s a problem now: no one is there. No one met you at the gate and you can’t see anyone nearby. If you’re any later dropping this load off, you’re going to be really late picking up your next load. Yikes. Has this ever happened to you?

So you’ve decided it’s time to move on to another trucking carrier — now what? Perhaps you were unhappy about pay, you didn’t get to go home as often as you would’ve liked or you didn’t feel valued as a driver. Once you’ve accepted a position with another trucking company, you don’t just drive or fly on down to orientation to get started somewhere else. There are a few things you’ll need to take care of before you go.