Truck Permits – Tips from a career truckdriver
One aspect of commercial over the road long haul truck driving that is often overlooked is the amount of paperwork involved, you not only have to keep a log book but you have to have all the proper truck permits and authorizations for every state and country you drive in.
It seems like everyday the government adds more paperwork for commercial trucking for things like licensing, insurance, truck permits, along with fuel tax permits so the average commercial truck driver can spend a large amount of time doing paperwork instead of driving truck. When I started driving trucks I used to spend almost two hours a day doing paperwork but over the years I have developed some methods of make the process easier and faster.
The simplest time saving tip is to remember the old grade school advice: KISS – keep it simple stupid. You should start with a storage box and divide all the paperwork up into categories for things like fuel, insurance, state papers, truck permits, bingo stamps, etc. Other things to keep in the storage box are pens, erasers, pencils, staples, stapler, along with some petty cash for emergency needs.
The next step is use the internet as you can now get most commercial truck permits online so if you have internet access (many truck stops have internet stations) you can often complete all the paperwork online and this will save you a ton of time.
You should already be doing much of your paperwork online for things like truck permits and have all your paperwork in order so the next tip is thinking ahead and start to develop a habit of pre-planing and complete as much paperwork as possible before you even need it.
The final tip I have is more of a suggestion than an actual tip but if you are tired of the increasing costs and regulations involved in commercial trucking then I would like to ask that you get involved in your local politics and start to lobby against more regulations and increasing fees, you are not going to change the world yourself but if enough of us start to lobby against it we may just start to turn the tide.