1. Bring towels from the center to put around the floor of the the back door. The dust these things suck in will make the back of your truck dirty enough that packages wont scan and towels help seal better.
2. Be cautious of new gravel on driveways. Some homeowners are very sensitive if you are kicking up their freshly laid gravel and some driveways are very soft around the edge causing your tires to sink in.
3. Dirt driveways in the rain can suck your truck down so far your gonna need a tug to get out. Walk them out if they are not too far.
4. Your gonna have driveways where the trees or bushes are so close you cannot get your truck through. Talk with the customer and see if they can put bin at the end of the driveway for your packages or if you can at least bag and tie to mailbox.
5. Whistle when you get to a house and observe for the pooch. This has saved my ass a couple times, but don't assume that if one doesn't show up there is not one around.
6. MOST people do not care if you leave their package at their pole shed. You can ask the homeowner in advance or do like me and assume its fine until they say its not.
7. BRING DOG TREATS. This is also a life saver, I've been surprised on a few occasions where I would drop the package at the front door, turn around and be greeted by an angry dog. It's amazing how a couple dog biscuits can calm down most dogs.
8. EC is your friend on those terrible weather days. The boss may get a bit snippy but he's more happy everybody got back rather then having a bill from the tow company.
9. As somebody else mentioned, get to know the guys with tractors. I've been saved more times by generous people then with the tow man.
10. On very dry days your going to produce a lot of dust when driving. If you have a house that you deliver to quite frequently on a dirt road and it does not have a long driveway, be sure your going slow a quarter mile to it, as people get PISSED when people speed by dusting their house. I was just filmed yesterday by some lady saying she's reporting everyone throwing dust at her house to the county(like I cared about that).
11. Depending on how rural you will be and your own body's mechanics, avoid greasy foods. A couple slim jims for breakfast can put you in a pickle sooner then you think(Trust me, avoid slim jims).
12. Bring plenty of water. If its a hot day and particularly dry, you will get sick of the dust coming in the truck and close the front doors. I usually go through 10-15 bottles of water on those days because of the heat and lack of air flow.
You'll get the hang of it soon, and you'll have your own portable speaker listening to podcasts and pandora like the rest of us country drivers in no time.
