Originally Posted by double yellow

...Like twice before, this breakdown meant renting a car to ensure I would meet my prior obligation/scheduled hometime." This time it wasn't a dentist, but an appointment with the humourless folks at US Customs & Canadian Border Partol in Detroit for a FAST card. Due to slim pickins, I had to upgrade from my usual economy class to a prius (somehow midsized?) but the difference in fuel mileage (52mpg vs 33 for the Versa) was well worth the extra $10:
1 day unlimited mile car rental: $45
25 gallons of gas: $80
Seeing the look on the sales associate's face when they discovered I put 1300 miles on their brand new car in under 24 hours: priceless
Why didn't I just cancel my appointment? Aside from my paranoid fears of winding up on a no-fly list, I really want to make a run to Canada this year because it'll make a significant difference in taxable income. You see, a domestic truck driver can claim $59/day per diem, but an international truck driver gets to claim $65/day (for me, that'll be equivalent to an additional $2000 deduction)

Really glad you were able to get your FAST card accomplished. Question: Are there only specific facilities to achieve this or do you have to schedule it in peticular locations? We are quite lacking on this subject.
(are you sure you weren't a trucker in your previous life? LOL!) You are just too Trucker smart!

I also got a chance to do the safety blitz (learned a few hazmat things and got a free shirt -- yay) & even ate lunch with Joey Hogan (though I didnt actually know who he was until about halfway through the meal). Felt kinda bad for the guy, everyone seemed to be hounding him with requests on how he could make their individual lives better -- none seemed interested in ways to improve the company.

Would be interested to hear about what you learned at the Safety Blitz. Just read and heard about it.

For the FAST card, you'll start out with an online application here: https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/main/goes. There is a fee, but Joey's most recent voicemail address indicated Covenant will pay for it. That process is a 3-6 week background check leading to a conditional approval contingent on an in-person interview with customs officials. There are 10-15 locations where you can schedule that interview, but since Covenant has a yard in Detroit that'll probably be your best bet. I believe there are some walk-in centers too, but they were on the Canadian side... If you'd like more info, get ahold of Jerry Smith in dispatch

For the safety blitz, I got the new 2012 ERG and learned things like when UN numbers are required on placards (when the load is entirely comprised of just that one hazmat #) and when you can have logos near placards (OK if colors don't cause confusion -- a green nonflammable gas #2 is ok on the Covenant blue&red stripe, but a red flammable gas #2 is not). You also cannot have placards within 3" of those vertical latch poles on the rear trailer doors -- meaning you'll have to use the upper side of the left door most of the time (time to buy a folding step ladder... I'm also on the lookout for white tape to create my own 3" border when otherwise necessary.)

But mostly I went for the free shirt & lunch

Originally Posted by double yellow

For the FAST card, you'll start out with an online application here: https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/main/goes. There is a fee, but Joey's most recent voicemail address indicated Covenant will pay for it. That process is a 3-6 week background check leading to a conditional approval contingent on an in-person interview with customs officials. There are 10-15 locations where you can schedule that interview, but since Covenant has a yard in Detroit that'll probably be your best bet. I believe there are some walk-in centers too, but they were on the Canadian side... If you'd like more info, get ahold of Jerry Smith in dispatch
For the safety blitz, I got the new 2012 ERG and learned things like when UN numbers are required on placards (when the load is entirely comprised of just that one hazmat #) and when you can have logos near placards (OK if colors don't cause confusion -- a green nonflammable gas #2 is ok on the Covenant blue&red stripe, but a red flammable gas #2 is not). You also cannot have placards within 3" of those vertical latch poles on the rear trailer doors -- meaning you'll have to use the upper side of the left door most of the time (time to buy a folding step ladder... I'm also on the lookout for white tape to create my own 3" border when otherwise necessary.)
But mostly I went for the free shirt & lunch

Thank you very much for the info. We are definitely going to look into getting the FAST card. Just love learning new things!
Also good to know about the new ERG book. I wondered about our last Hazmat load. We only had one UN # and we did get a numbered placard that looked different from previous ones in the past. Good to know! Oh and really like the idea of the white tape for creating the 3" border. So far, we haven't had to create one around any placards, but the white tape is going on our next Walmart list.
Ron and I are talking about going to the reefer division. We haven't done reefer before, but I think we would be a good fit for them. I wonder if Covenant runs food product to Canada? Guess I'll have to ask. Keep teasing my husband about how he is now a Super Trucker, because he is so efficient about everything he does now (quite a contrast from when we started training back last August).
Well double yellow... hope all is well with you in your solo ventures. take care!!

Thanks, I don't know much about the reefer division, except that is was one of the more profitable ones (from the investor's conference call).

Solo has been terrible lately - at least for me (400 miles this week - sat 3 days in olive branch last weekend, 1 day in chat, & now 2 days so far in nashville)...

Scheduled to get to Pomona Monday (obviously going to be late), but I'm looking forward to getting rid of my former codriver's increasingly foul smelling laundry, TV, and general crap he collected on the road. Covenant bought him a greyhound ticket when they fired him, but apprently he could only take 1 duffle...

On the upside, Tim finally tied up all his loose ends and is going back to orientation Monday in Pomona. If I get there by Thursday we should be ready to roll and start making money again... While I'm there I'm going to try & get us both covenant certified for doubles -- just so we can be available for any load at any time...

Originally Posted by double yellow

Thanks, I don't know much about the reefer division, except that is was one of the more profitable ones (from the investor's conference call).
Solo has been terrible lately - at least for me (400 miles this week - sat 3 days in olive branch last weekend, 1 day in chat, & now 2 days so far in nashville)...
Scheduled to get to Pomona Monday (obviously going to be late), but I'm looking forward to getting rid of my former codriver's increasingly foul smelling laundry, TV, and general crap he collected on the road. Covenant bought him a greyhound ticket when they fired him, but apprently he could only take 1 duffle...
On the upside, Tim finally tied up all his loose ends and is going back to orientation Monday in Pomona. If I get there by Thursday we should be ready to roll and start making money again... While I'm there I'm going to try & get us both covenant certified for doubles -- just so we can be available for any load at any time...

Boy, I know you will be glad to get Tim back on the truck!! You are certainly a trooper for hanging in there. Many would have thrown in the towel. Hang in there, you will be back in the groove soon.
As for us, well we are at the White House right now. We were passing through Chatt and although we may lose this good load to Florida, safety had to come first!
When we were having that blown out trailer tire changed the other day, the tire technician made note of the tread depth difference on the steers. I also noticed a strong pull to the right this past week. So I have felt uneasy, so made the call since we were passing through and sure enough, we need new front steers. It appears we may get new drive tires too.
Well, if you happen by the White house, I am the nerd in glasses playing on her ipad in the trucker's lounge.

Had another first today:

...first time I've used my TWIC card. I got it maybe 6 months ago and was beginning to think it wouldn't be useful at Covenant, but today it really came in handy. I was delivering to a military base and if you hadn't delivered to this particular base already this year, you had to wait about 90 minutes (after already waiting in line for 60) while they ran a background check on you. The only exception was for those with TWIC cards... Since my preplanned load to Pomona - where I needed to offload that fired codriver's stuff & pick up returning codriver Tim - was picking up 2 hours away in 3 hours' time, I was extremely glad I had it on me.

Ryan, my dispatcher, then worked his magic so I could take a 34 at my parents house instead of at the terminal 400 miles away. My sister was even able to come down from my hometown and brought my mail -- chief amongst the impressive pile was my FAST card which had just arrived this afternoon. I'm always so amazed (& grateful) when life hands you these brief serendipitous moments.

Ryan is a great dsp and a great guy, isn't he? Glad to know you could see your folks and enjoy some quality time with them while on the road.