Trucking Blogs

Whether it’s fishing, quilting, reading, or surfing, everyone has a hobby. Throughout history, many have adopted writing as a hobby, keeping journals about their daily lives. This hobby must have been common for long haul truckers even before the use of portable computers, as so many stories and songs about truck driving have romanticized the profession. Today, truckers who keep a journal don’t have to do so merely for their own enjoyment. Blogs, or online journals, are interesting, apparently to many. There are over 22,000,000 results for trucking blogs on Google alone. Truckers and non-truckers alike are beginning to read these blogs to learn more about life on the road. Whether you’re into writing or reading, here are a few of the most interesting trucking blogs on the net.

1.      HWY Blogs

This website geared specifically toward truckers offers free blogs for drivers. Not only can drivers write about their own lives on this blogging site, but they can also peruse the other tuckers’ blogs by category. The site also provides a discussion bored for bloggers to communicate. Though this site is a great idea, and perfect for the blogger looking to get started, it does not produce high traffic, and often searches for certain types of blogs come back empty.

2.      Life on the Road: Trucking News Blog

If relevant information is what you’re looking for, this blog is where to go. On the very first page of this blog, career information and fun combine to make it one of the most informative blogs with visiting on the Internet. From gas prices soaring to the legal and political situations that result in the surge to NASCAR updates, if you’re living on the road, Life on the Road is a blog for you to visit. The site allows users to search by topic in addition to viewing past postings in an archive.

3.      The Trucking Blog Network

Blogger.com is one of the most popular blogging sites for anyone, but a special network for truckers allows drivers to find exactly what they’re looking for in this world of cyber journalists. The network features big rig blogs from around the world, lists the blogs by category, and occasionally features a new site for truckers to peruse. Truckers can also subscribe to the blog via e-mail to be updated about the network and important trucking blog posts.

4.      Trucking Blog (truckingblog.blogspot.com)

Another Blogger.com site, this blog just looks cool as soon as it loads on the screen. The blog features relevant information like safety warnings and national weather. Links to other interesting trucking sites are also helpful to the reader. But one of the best things about this blog is the latest trucking news ticker to the right of the blog articles. For those who want to find it all in one place, and who want to stay informed, Trucking Blog is the place to be.

5.      The Truck Accident Attorney Blog

While this blog might not be as fun to visit as some of the other sites, it’s hard to argue that the Trucking Accident Attorney Blog is not useful. Written by St. Louis, Missouri Injury Lawyer Jeffrey Lowe, the site is key for those who want to learn more about what to do in the event of an accident. Truckers can read about other accidents in order to stay informed and alert in their own professional lives, and an archive allows truckers to search for specific types of accidents should they need specific information.

Keeping personal journals might not be as popular as it once was, but blogging seems to be taking the place of those journals—and then some. For those who are interested in writing their own blogs about the life of a trucker, or for those who just want to see how their colleagues fair, trucking blogs are a great place to start.

Trucker Professional Services and Social Networking For Truckers

Layover.com has always been a place for truckers to find out what’s new in the business, catch up on industry gossip, and connect with other truckers, but now mylayover.com is making that connection even easier.
 
In the tradition of social networking giants Myspace and Facebook, mylayover.com gives truckers the ability to create their own profile pages, showcase photos, upload blogs, and become friends with other users. Like Myspace, users can post comments about other users on their public pages, but if conversations get a little more personal, the page includes a private messaging system.
 
From those who like to have a little fun, to truckers who want to get down to business, mylayover.com is one of a kind, combining social and professional life. For fun, the site includes polls, asking users for general information, like a favorite holiday or season, to more trade-specific questions, like best locations for driving. Users can create their own polls or see how others have answered. In the same vein, users can also create quizzes, upload humorous videos and music, or join hobby related groups. Users can also share their thoughts with the world by writing blogs. Though none have signed up yet, my layover.com also includes a page for aspiring musicians to upload profiles and music.
 
On the trade side of things, classified ads offer a place for truckers to buy and sell items, look for housing, and more. For those who have a knack for discussing trucking news, the site’s forum includes discussions about new topics in the industry, and a resource for women truckers. Non-industry boards, like NASCAR and politics, are also available for truckers who want to get their minds off of work. Like Myspace and Facebook, a mylayover.com user can join several groups, many of which are directly related to the industry.  Though the site’s event page is also used to track personal events, trade-related events, such as truck shows, are also posted on the vent board.
 
Though the site was launched just recently, it is already doing well, filled with regular users, blogs, and truckers connecting. One of Layover.com’s slogans, “where truck drivers, trucking companies, and truck driving jobs come together” certainly seems to be true about the new site. But while users might get into the habit of logging onto mylayover.com as often as they log onto their Myspace pages, creators of layover.com and mylayover.com remind users that both sites are meant to be used as a resource. Mylayover.com might contain all the fun, but layover.com is still full of great information, especially for truckers who don’t want to have to wade through users’ favorite seasons, angry blogs, and silly videos to find what they need. But with layover.com’s pertinent trucking information and mylayover.com’s social networking abilities, truckers who visit these sites will hardly need to use the rest of the internet—unless they want to sneak a peek at their Myspace profiles!