I work for a company that hauls its own treated lumber. We pick up everything else steel,aluminum, coils to get us close to a lumber yard. I wish I had the training Maverick drivers do at the beginning. You should have seen it right at 4 hours to throw six chians and tarp. If it hadnt been for a TMC driver trainer it probably would have been longer. I have found that this part of trucking still has some good guys in it. red coats wife tell him, let everyone at any shippers office know he is new to flatbed and that will help out alot. Ive even asked guys loading me how other drivers do things. Just dont be in a big hurry get it done.

When in doubt. Throw another chain or strap on it.

Another day in Maverickland for Redcoat. Today they practiced tarping coils and pipe. Redcoat says the small tarps are easy to handle but he can see how managing the big tarps could definitely be a problem in the wind. In the evenings they are given homework problems to work out and bring the solution to the class the next day. RC has been doing well on that. He takes comfort in the fact that even though he is the oldest one in the class, he is not the worst one as far as being in good shape goes. He knows he can hold his own with most of the younger men in the class.

This afternoon they were given a 50-question test. If you missed more than four you have to retake the test tomorrow. If you fail it again, you wash out. Redcoat missed exactly four so he just barely passed. Four out of ten failed the test and have to retake it tomorrow. Every single person in the class missed one of the questions so that tells me either it's a bad test question or they didn't teach it in the class.

Maverick tends not to share what's on the agenda for the upcoming days but if I had to guess I'd venture to say that tomorrow they should finish up and Wednesday should be a travel day to go get their truck.

I can tell Redcoat is liking the company so far because he is considering buying a Maverick shirt in their store. Normally he doesn't go for that kind of thing so for him to break down and buy company apparel says a lot. Always the skeptic, he is waiting to see how it actually works out once he starts driving. He says they'll tell you anything in orientation and make everything sound all rosy so he's going to wait and see how it goes in the system to see if Maverick walks the talk.

Me being the positive thinker, I bet they do.

__________________
It's not how bad you screw up; it's how well you recover.
Do or do not. There is no try. --- Yoda
All men are not homeless, but some men are home less than others. --- Henny Youngman
When you come to a fork in the road, take it. --- Yogi Berra
Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. --- Charles Kuralt

Ok, So he missed the correct answer.
Did they then review with him about what is the correct answer and why?

Some tests have the wording mixed up just enough, if you do'nt read it correctly you think it's the right answer even though it's wrong. Understand?

I think they did go over the test answers because two of the test questions, once he was told what the answer was, he was like "DOH!" because he knew the right answer but he misread the questions. Another one he thought it was either A or B and it turned out to be C so he was totally out to lunch on that one and the last one he missed was the one that EVERYbody missed. Anyway, he didn't have to retake it so that's all that mattered to him. The other four retook the test and passed the second time.

Last night Redcoat had a friend of his who drives for TMC passing through Little Rock so they got together for dinner. I asked Redcoat if he thought Maverick would let the man park his truck on their yard and Redcoat said it probably wouldn't be a good idea as it would probably end up with Maverick stickers all over it. (just joking) RC managed to get down to the gift shop and blew $130 on shirts, trailer locks and padlocks. He actually bought a company golf shirt and a couple T-shirts so that speaks volumes about what he thinks of Maverick so far.

The instructors warned everybody to wear nice clothes today as the company was giving a prospective client a tour. So Redcoat wore his brand new bright blue Maverick golf shirt. I asked him how he looked and he said he looked like a "Belisha beacon." So I had to ask, "What is a Belisha beacon?" He said they are flashing lights at either end of pedestrian crosswalks in the UK and whenever somebody wears bright clothes, others will remark that they look like a Belisha beacon.

All week the instructors have been telling them that they would be flying to whichever yard will have their truck and doncha know that today at the last minute they were told that they would be riding in a van to Gary, IN to get their truck. There are seven of them going to Gary and the van leaves as soon as they all get packed. So RC called me while he was packing and said, "Now it starts," meaning all the BS he's been waiting so see. Geez, such a cynic. I told him that if he thought about it, with seven guys all going to the same place, it was more economical for Maverick to send them in a 15-passenger van than to shell out for seven airfares to the same place. The only person flying out was RC's roommate who is going to Charlotte, NC for home time. The way I look at it, it could be worse. They could be going in a bus and that ALWAYS sucks.

Stay tuned.

__________________
It's not how bad you screw up; it's how well you recover.
Do or do not. There is no try. --- Yoda
All men are not homeless, but some men are home less than others. --- Henny Youngman
When you come to a fork in the road, take it. --- Yogi Berra
Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything. --- Charles Kuralt

RCW,

You are spot on and it is about 675 miles to drive from little rock to gary. I am sure it was cheaper to fly to Charlotte for home times as a major airline has a hub there.

KH

Well Recoats wife, if I was in Gary, I would tell redcoat to jump over the fence and say hi to the wife and I.
Our yard is right next door to Mavericks.

I wish him the best. Tell him not to venture out at night in the area in Gary. Not a good neighbor hood.

So you saying he gets his own truck like, right now? No trainer necessary? Loading out of Gary means coils.....

Yep...Maverick is not putting any drivers with trainers at this time. (haven't been for quite some time)

It's good to know RC is happy and enthusiastic about Maverick. He is a nice fellow and very good worker. I wish him all the best.