And I thought I was lucky with only one wife....I guess if you are local guy you get more than one.

You two should take your personal argument to its own thread....

Or Stop.

My point exactly JackMac "heart attack"

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Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Please! This is Everrrtrucker's thread about his experience. Please let it continue without adversity from others! What has been written lately, has nothing to do with HIS experience. I like his perspective on his job and his attitude.

Now that you mention it, YES there were a bunch of wally-haulers on I-85 running north and south.

Wow, take a few days (or more) off and the thread goes haywire. Geez!

In regards to the Schneider praise and what not. I'm all for the company. It's well run and they have a great freight base. I would never tell anyone not to work for them. I realize they are a better fit for some than others, just like Crete is. The occasional reference to them is fine, but I would like to respectfully request that any in depth discussion of them be taken up on another thread. I would like to keep this as close to a clean Crete thread as possible, I would also like to recognize the fact that it's seems to have died down. There has been a lot posted over the last few days for me to digest.

craig7740 wrote:
They give you a spanking, Bad boy!

Tallman wrote:
From what I understand it could very well result in termination, but that is probably a question you should ask your FM.

gar-rose wrote:
First, I take no offense to your comments or opions, I welcome your thoughts.

Do you have to stay out 7 weeks to make 60k? NO! 7 weeks on the road is my choice. We are given 1 day off for 6 out. So by staying out longer I can stay home longer when I'm there. I take no more or less time off than other drivers and I still get my one day off a week, I just prefer to stack them up before using them. OTR driving is by no means the perfect life and I have said more than once in this thread and other postings. Don't do it. But there are many drivers like myself that love this lifestyle. I know I can get a local job, as a matter of fact I did it for 5 years before going over the road. I'm out here because I want to be, plain and simple.

If I wanted to make more money I wouldn't be driving a truck and I am in a position to make more money if I wished too. I've done just that in the past but I hated waking up in the morning and knowing I had to go to a job that I despised. I am now infinitely happier, and in the long run, that is all that really matters.

The Rental cars, steak dinners, hotels, and Cubs games are rare occasions and don't represent a large cash expenditure. I was far more active during my down time last year, but the need for a down payment for another home has required a substantial reduction in discretionary spending this year. They may seem more prominent in my postings only because they are my little high lights and make for a slightly more interesting read than "I drove all day" if you know what I mean. I am very thrifty and spend wisely. These things can be found online at greatly reduced prices and my steak dinners and such tend to cost less at a chain restaurant than at any truck stop and the quality is uncompilable. I eat very little and most meals are prepared in the truck. I spent a number of years in the restaurant business and use what I have learned to eat quite well with what little I have to work with. I also don't drink alcohol while on the road which save me a small fortune compared to when I'm at home (I tend to have an expensive pallet when it comes to wine and scotch).

And calling my stories fishy. All I can say is that every word that you read about my daily life out here is 100% fact. I simply wanted to provide an inside look to the world of truck driving to those individuals that wish to know what it is like. I went into it blindly and hoped that this thread would point out just how mundane and frustrating this lifestyle can be. I make no attempt at glamorizing it, but I also wanted to show that there are ways to make it more bearable by interjecting a few of life's little pleasures along the way. There is no reason to camp out in a truck when alternatives are available, even if it is something as simple as a walk. I have no reason to lie and will take no offense to anyone that accuses me of it.

One fishy tip I can give you, I have learned not to saute fish in the truck. I actually knew better at the time, but that walleye fillet looked too good to pass up. It tasted great and I was reminded of it every time I got in the truck for the next week.

gar-rose also wrote:

80% of $52 is the standard daily meal allowance this year (i believe), that's on top of the standard deductions everyone else gets. That comes up to a $13000.00 (no where close to actual expenditures) deduction for meals alone ($65K - $13K - $3K for miscellaneous expenditures = $49K taxed, close enough to a local drivers pay for you?) for bonehead drivers like me that live on the road. A local driver gets no deduction for daily meals. On top of that I can deduct any expense occurred other than food and entertainment, i.e. rental cars, gas, hotels, taxi fares, aircard, cell phone, satellite radio and subscriptions, computer, coolers, tools of the trade, and a large number of other things. It makes for a substantial tax refund at the end of the year. It's no reason to be an OTR driver, but it is one of the few perks.

gar-rose wrote:

No sir, not even close! Working a local job doesn't mean I won't spend money, as a matter of fact, I tend to spend much more money when I'm at home. And I'm hoping to be closer to the $65k range this year, although with the apparent drop off in freight of late, that may not happen.


There is a balance between never doing anything and spending like a mad man. Spending every minute in the truck would drive me crazy, knowing how to entertain yourself in a thrifty manor makes this job much more bearable. One of the best things I've found at Crete is that I can make enough while on the road to be able to afford some of those pleasures without breaking the bank in the process.

upsizer wrote:

I feel for you, I'm hung up in PA again myself. All I can suggest is that you talk to other drivers from other companies while you are sitting around. A number of them would love to be getting those kind of miles. I don't like it either, but it could be worse, and very well may.

I was talking to a Knight driver at my last delivery in SC last week and he said his miles have gone from 3000 miles a week to about 1700. And he's been getting those miles for almost 6 months. It's getting ugly out here.

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"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters

Well, I'm back out on the road after a 5day stint at the house. They had a load for me first thing in the morning out of the Campbell soup factory in Maxton, NC going to of all places, York, PA. I had until today to get it here but ran it in last night so I would be further up on the list for a load out today.

With that, it's now almost 4pm and I have not yet been offered a load and I've been empty for 17hrs or so. Can't say that I'm too surprised. Looks like I will have some time to catch up on some long overdue updates.

UPDATE: Well I'm 18hrs into my wait for another load since putting in my empty call. 10hrs for my required break because I was basically out of hours after my delivery, so it's not all that bad. I finally got the beep and will be picking up a preloaded trailer anytime after 3pm tomorrow (ugh!) and its going to TX (1400+mi) with a 6am Tuesday delivery. Do the math, NOT GOOD. Looks like its time to start wheeling and dealing and see what I can do about condensing the time frames. Always a challenge!

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"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters

My reset has come to a close and I’m well rested. Last week was great and I have a fresh 70hr clock and I’m looking forward to another productive one.

Last week I had put in some very long days so that I would be able to put in a reset. I managed to make it to Sturbridge, MA which was about 160 miles from my final destination. I would be able to make my 7am appointment, but only by the skin of my teeth. I took off as soon as my log book would allow and managed to pull into the customer’s parking lot in Portland, ME with a short 15mins to spare. Wow, that’s cutting it close. What I found when I arrived didn’t surprise me in the least, however. I had pushed very hard to get here on time and just as I had suspected all along, this wasn’t exactly a JIT (just in time) load. It took me a good 20mins to find someone in the warehouse and when I did he was on the phone. I then stood there for over 30mins waiting for him to finish his conversation.

Unlike most people in this part of the country, he was an incredibly rude and nasty person. Most of my experiences with the folks from Maine have been quite pleasant, this wasn’t one of them. I didn’t take it personal and just dismissed his behavior. I was getting some great miles and was in a pretty good mood, I wasn’t going to let this miserable human being bother me. He had ordered me to back into one of the open bay doors (there were none available, although he was very adamant that there was) and after an oddly confrontational exchange (strange man) I was able to convince him of the reality of our situation and he told me to wait in the truck until someone pulled out. This also was a point of contention since all the doors had trailers in them, but none where attached to a truck. I felt that further debate with the fine gentleman wasn’t going to get me anywhere so off to the truck I went. One hour later one of their yard jockeys finally showed up and pulled out a trailer. I did a challenging blind side back to squeeze into the spot and waited. Another 30mins and the unloading began. Thank god I wasn’t late, eh!

Fortunately the guy that did the unloading was a very pleasant man (although he never stopped badmouthing my new found friend, the Forman) and had me unloaded in short order. My MT call goes in and I await my next destination.

I’m pleased to get a two load offer and go with the slightly shorter one because it has an attractive delivery time. The load I went with was going to Shelby, IA (1509mi). It picks up in Sanford, ME anytime today (looks like a possible drop/hook) and delivers to IA anytime on Thursday, or before. It’s the perfect trip with great miles and no wasted time. It also gets me within 40 miles of my grandmother’s house and I might just be able to swing by and put in a short visit.

I arrived at the shipper to find that this was a live load and not a drop/hook as I had hoped. I was also very disappointed to learn that they had an equipment malfunction earlier in the day and their production line was behind schedule. As a result I was told to make myself comfortable and check back in 3-4hrs. I don’t know what it is about Mondays, but it’s living up to its reputation today. I was dead in the water with nowhere to go so I pulled out the skillet and made myself a fine meal of hamburger helper. Only the best for this driver.

Once the 3hrs were up I headed back inside to check on their progress and was told to back into a door that was occupied by a Swift truck once he pulled out, “should be done with him in 45mins or so”, I’m told. Well, at least there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. True to their word, 45mins later he pulled out and I backed in for my turn.

While sitting there I had a nice conversation with a Millis driver sitting next to me (they had just started loading him) who had been there longer than me. We of course started comparing notes and he was none to happy with Millis. He had been with the company for 5 years and his miles have been really bad for the last six months. I seem to be having a lot of these conversations lately.

The day continued to crawl by and I was finally loaded and headed down the road a mere 5hrs after arriving. At least I would pickup $30 for detention pay. Not much, but it’s better than nothing I guess. The day was almost shot and I simply ran out the rest of my 14hrs, managing to make it back to the same Pilot I had taken my 34hr reset at in Sturbridge, MA. It will by my third night in a row and this place is starting to feel like home. That makes a whopping 350 miles for a 14hr day, but I was able to put in enough miles to be able to make my destination with two full days of driving. I would be able to make it there by Wednesday evening but would have no drive time left once empty. I wouldn’t be able to pickup another load that day, but I would be one of the first on the list for a Thursday morning load.

Tuesday and Wednesday went by without incident and I was able to put in some solid miles and arrived at my final destination early in the afternoon of Wednesday. I dropped my trailer and only had 15mins left of my driving hours, so I just headed across the street to a small truckstop and put in for the night. My hopes of visiting my grandmother were also shot. I didn’t have enough hours left to go the extra 40 miles and there were no rental cars available in the area, maybe next time.

My next load offer came early in the morning and was headed to the feared freight waist lands of Pennsylvania (1109mi). Good miles, but it was scheduled to pickup between the hours of 1pm and Midnight with an open delivery for Saturday. If I run the load as scheduled I would be looking at less than desirable miles, but the pickup was a General Mills and I assumed it was a drop/hook (most open pickup windows at GM plants are) and the delivery was going to another GM plant. I’m confident that my trailer will be ready to go when I get there and I anticipate no problems with an early delivery and set out to do just that.

After a 100mi deadhead I arrived at the shipper about 4hrs early. The preloaded trailer I had anticipated was nowhere to be seen and I quickly realized that this would be a live load. My hopes of getting an early start were now a distant memory and my 14hr clock was ticking. I then proceeded to wait my turn and was able to back to a door a little early, but only by 30mins. Once loaded I headed on down the road to put as many miles behind me as possible before running out my 14hr clock. Along the way I stopped off at our Ottawa, IL shop to pick up some oil and antifreeze and top off the tanks with fuel. I realized I wasn’t in any real hurry and had plenty of time to make my delivery so I also opted to take two lane roads across Indiana and most of Ohio. It would cost me a little time, but that would also allow me to bypass the turnpike. It’s not my favorite route, but it saves the company a little bit of money on tolls. Plus my pocket was getting a little light on cash and I didn’t feel like stopping along the way to take a cash advance to pay the Ohio tolls (our EZ pass now works in IN). Since I had stopped to fuel up at a company terminal instead of the planed truckstop, I would have to pay a few bucks for the cash advance (a free service when getting fuel). My night ended in a dirt parking lot of a defunct truckstop just across the boarder in Ohio after a respectable 600 miles.

Friday morning started out at the reasonable hour of 7:30. I was only about 500 miles from my destination and would be able to have it there by late afternoon. I had until tomorrow to get it there, but with the way PA freight has been lately I wanted no part of delivering a load on a Saturday with the hopes of getting out of there on a weekend. Other than a hang up with traffic going through Chicago (left lane was still closed due to water on the road from last weeks rain storm) and some slow progress over the PA hills I had no real problems to deal with. I had planned on stopping at our New Kingstown terminal for fuel on my way by, but it was about 20 miles out of route and the 5 o’clock rush hour was getting to close for comfort. I was almost on empty because I had passed up my fuel stop (a horribly overcrowded Pilot) upstate earlier in the day. I figured I had enough fuel to get to the customer and back to the terminal if I had a load going in that direction. If not there was a Pilot close to my delivery that they could fuel me at when I got my next load.

I pulled into the General Mills a day early and was greeted by two lines of trucks stacked 5 deep trying to get in. Thirty minutes later it was finally my turn. I was given the location of the empty trailer that I was to pull out of a door and told to drop my loaded trailer where ever I could find a spot. They were packed to the gills and it took a couple of trips around the place before I was able to spot a hole off in the corner that appeared to be big enough to squeeze into. And squeeze I did. It took a number of pull ups but I finally got it in and then realized there wasn’t enough room to get in between the trailers to lower the landing gear. Not a big problem, I just had to pull it out far enough to drop the gear and then put it back into its spot.

The place was a mad house with at least 9 or 10 drivers wondering around looking for any little crevice they could find to drop a trailer. I spent an amazing amount of time just waiting for other drivers who were blocking the drive trying to make their own spots. The line getting out was just as prolonged and what can usually be a 20min drop and hook was stretched out to 1¾ hrs. Talk about a little tension buildup by the time I got out of that place. The only saving grace is that during that delay I was actually given a load offer and it was in a preloaded trailer and ready to go. Very good news indeed, I had fully well expected the infamous “no freight available” message.

Instead of that, I got a load going to Elk Rapids, MI (846mi). This was Friday and it didn’t deliver until 7am Monday morning. Like so many of our weekend loads, but when I’m getting squeaky tight on hours it makes for the perfect load. Well almost perfect. Due to my extended stay at General Mills I was looking at another extremely tight schedule. Like last week, the delivery time wasn’t a concern. I could have it there no problem. But if I could sneak in a 34hr reset I would be ready to burn up the miles again next week. If I can’t make the reset work I would be looking at having virtually no hours available after making my Monday morning delivery and be forced to sit around all day waiting to regain some hours. That wasn’t a particularly pleasing thought, so I set out to make the reset happen.

As I drove to my pickup I began to realize just how tight my schedule was. VERY! I had also made a huge mistake in choosing a route to the pickup point. The shortest route was across Hwy 422 which would result in a 42 miles trip. My other option was to run up to the Interstate, but this would have made it a 60+ mile trip. Ever conscious of my out-of-route miles I went with Hwy 422. I was late enough that I didn’t think traffic would be a big problem and I would probably arrive at about the same time regardless of the chosen route. What a miscalculation that turned out to be. I finally pulled into the customer’s lot 1½ hrs later. Anyone interested in saving time might want to stay off of that very scenic route. Not that I wouldn’t want to try it again some day with a car while doing some sight seeing.

The one good thing I had going for me on this trip was that I had been to this customer before. I knew exactly were they wanted the empty dropped and I knew where the loaded trailers were and was already aware that the BOL was on the floor of the trailer. I was in and out in 9 minutes and on my way to the terminal. I had just enough time to make it there by the skin of my teeth before my 14 was up. But even that goal ended up being just out of reach. I did make it to within 8 miles and had to stop in a Kmart that I knew would let me park in the back. It was one of those situations where it was 6 minutes past 9:30. That meant that if I stopped at that moment I could log it as 9:30. If I continued to our terminal just down the road I would have been forced to log until 9:45. This would have been within my 14hrs but would have added 15mins to my log. This run was going to be so tight that I couldn’t even give up that much time. The following Saturday morning I started right at 7:30 and headed over to the terminal. That way I was close enough to include the drive time in my PTI and Fuel while on line four. This 100% compliant thing can be a real pain in the butt at times.

Now all I had to do was drive to somewhere in upper Michigan and find a place to park to do my reset. There were a few obstacles to contend with first, however. My routing has me running across PA on Hwy 322. This route is actually a little longer than taking the turnpike, but I guess it saves enough money to justify it, on paper at least. My problem is that I am certain, without a doubt, that if I go that way I will never make my delivery on time with a reset intact. I had mulled over it for some time the night before and even pulled up the PA DOT website to lookup the cost of the turnpike. It was more than I thought, somewhere in the area of $40+, but I really had no choice from my point of view and I went with the turnpike. If they back charged for taking that route I would go ahead and eat the cost of the toll. In the long run it would put more money in my pocket. I was hoping that my effort to avoid tolls last week would help my case if it came down to it. I would worry about that when the time came. For now, today is what concerns me. Fueling wasn’t a concern because I had just topped the tanks here in our PA yard and I had enough to make the trip and get back out if need be. The other pressing matter is that I would have to drive for the remainder of the day without a single stop, maybe 2 minutes if I was lucky.

10`1/2 hrs later I found myself in the fine community of Grayling, MI. OK, not the actual community, more like a barren truck stop next to a Super 8. I considered holding up in the motel for a couple of nights, but the stupid place was asking $65 a night. In the middle of nowhere on top of it and the parking lot was almost empty all weekend. There’s some smart business man for ya. Now that my truck has an APU it’s not quite as frustrating to spend time in the truck and I’ve been trying to cut back on unnecessary cash expenditures lately anyway so I settled in for the weekend.

For the second week in a row I had to push hard to squeeze in my reset, but once again I was able to make it work. I had a 7am delivery Monday morning and as it worked out I only had about 60 miles to go and would have 75mins to do it once my reset was complete.

This reset was a bit boring but as usual I was able to amuse myself. The annual changing of colors in the leaves was in full effect up here. This was in a heavily wooded area, as most of northern Michigan is and I wondered off on a little nature hike and set up an impromptu campsite complete with a campfire. I really shouldn’t say complete, after all, I only had a collapsible chair and a campfire, but I was content.



WEEK THIRTY NINE
Monday, September 22nd through Sunday, September 28th
Miles include deadhead

Sturbridge, MA to Portland, ME (final leg)..................................156mi
Sanford, ME to Shelby, IA................................................ .....1509mi
Carlisle, IA to Palmyra, PA................................................ .....1104mi
Blandon, PA to Grayling, MI (first leg)…………………………..................790mi

Total Paid Miles……………………………..3559 Miles

Actual Miles…………….3591 Miles

3559 x .43 = $1530.37 plus $30 detention pay

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"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters

One more tidbit of Info. I was just informed today that I have been named September's Driver of the Month for my terminal.

Yeah ME!



I bet you are all jealous aren't you. I'm sure it will come with a nice bonus.

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"I REJECT YOUR REALITY AND SUBSTITUTE MY OWN" Mythbusters

Congrats Evertrucker, you certainly have earned it. Keep up the good work and keep those wheels turning.

Hunter

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Kinghunter: Truck Photographer, Airline Guru and Boat Guru