I went to orientation on the 18th and 19th of May. Got my truck while still in orientation on the 19th. Shipped out to Texas with another driver to pick up my truck from a driver on extended medical leave. PAM got me right home to Indiana at the end of that week to get the rest of my stuff. Went back out, put in my home time request for June 12 on May 27. Delivered in Brooklyn NY at 5 AM June 10, and I am still sitting here in Jersey at a toll plaza on the Jersey Pike on June 12. It is Friday morning, and I haven't had a shower since Tuesday morning when I left Virginia, because toll plazas don't have showers. So it seems to me we are not starting out on a good note with the home time. They keep telling me that there is no freight here. In NYC, Jersey, or Baltimore? Not that I want to go back to NYC. The directions to the receiver were bad, and ended me up in crack ##### heaven with drug dealers jumping on the truck trying to sell me stuff. But surely there is something heading out of this area into the general direction of Indiana. I've watched six other PAM trucks pull in here, sit for a few hours empty, and get a load.

I will say that at least I didn't have to go with a trainer after orientation. I've got enough driving exp to qualify for my own truck right off.

And yes, the pay cut of 5% is real. Message came over the QC about a week after I started that every person in the company, office, driver, mechanic, will all be taking the pay cut. Supposedly even the top management. I can live with it as long as the big guns are taking it too. Otherwise it wouldn't be fair. I just hope it isn't forever.

So, we'll see how things go.

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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketsup.


Somewhere there is an energy leak.

It's a dog eat dog food world.

Go to exit seven and there are truck stops there.

there are truck stops in elizabeth but they suck

I am with Decker, a subsidary of PAM. Last week was my first week solo, and I logged 2500 miles. It is amazing how if you deliver on time and you work the qualcom to your advantage and use tact in communications, loads keep showing up! I spent part of the week in Mass & NJ, known as the black hole, and I escaped. there is no reason for any driver to sit for 2-3 days anywhere.

If pam works for you great,but I wouldnt just go with them becouse they have auto trans.I had a freind that did this and turn out he left the company and when to a company with manaul trans and had very hard time with shifting.Auto trans are great but I think it takes the fun out of trucking.

I haven't trained since Jan, but I gave all my students the same type of message as this. "You can be on time, talk nice to dispatch, send flowers to the owner, or whatever you want to do." However, the bottom line is they are in the business to move frieght.

FRIEGHT IN REDTOWN + YOUR TRUCK IN REDTOWN= YOU GET A LOAD.
Yes there are many things that can affect this equation, but you can be a screwup and if yours is the only truck in Redtown, it's your load.

I also work for Decker and I don't sit long either. However you say it's your first solo week. You may have a better understanding the first time you go to Florida.

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RIP Steve McNair you will be missed

Are you sure you are not a dispatcher or load planner? Shortly after signing off, I went out to the truck and got a load assignment. I am sitting in the pickle park in yulee right now with a load going to Jupiter tomorrow. I am sure I will escape here as well. it is early in the week.
No complaints though, I will get over 2400 this week no matter what. This trip is 1240 one way alone.

greenacres, i AM SURE he is NOT. we both got into this at the same time 2 yrs ago, i vouch for 7 myself!

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tip for new truckers: to err is human, to forgive is not D.O.T. policy.

Don't know anything about Roehl, so I can't say anything about their business.
P.A.M. had a big contract to run parts for General Motors, and I also ran some parts for Ford. Since the auto industry has been struggling, so has their ability to maintain enough business to keep all drivers.
I don't regret a bit, working for P.A.M. for two years, sometimes wish I had stayed longer.
Other than your shifting disability, how is your truck driving ability? Just getting into truck driving, it can be overwhelming for some people, and the easier it is for you, the better.
But, when I went to work for P.A.M., they tested you at their home terminal on a standard shift truck. They had an on-site obstacle course, and a road course that went through some very busy local streets. All in that same standard shift truck.
Now, when you go solo, you will probably end up in an auto, so you may want to learn the stick.

WAIT A MINUTE! wants2bsafe started this thread on January 20, 2009. Wonder which one he/she went with. Why some people keep dredging up old threads, I'll never know.

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LANCELOT LINK

SECRET CHIMP

They bob tailed me from East St. Louis, Ill to Janesville, Wisconsin one time to get a load. I was shocked.

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LANCELOT LINK

SECRET CHIMP