Starting up with PTL Monday

Decided to go with them since I live just on the other side of Paris, TN. Figure if all these horror stories are true at least I'll be close to home.
Gonna drive Monday and Tuesday, Tueday night I'll crash at the Magnolia and hopefully Wednesday be ready to hit the long stretch. Will keep you guys updated as I go. The lady I talked to got me in at .34 cents per mile. So we'll see

 

If they keep me rolling steady I can make up the three cents. I like they have no forced NE. Keep me out of low clearance hell.

 

First day down, we hustled through a mountain of paperwork. So some points to confirm thus far. The .30 cents west of the Mississippi has gone up to .33. So if you start out like I did at .34 its not a huge deal. From what the instructor told us this will mostly be Laredo, Texas. Different runs for Polaris out to distributors. Whether
or not this holds sand we shall see. All trucks are equipped with APU's now. So the idling problems are in the past (unless you have APU trouble!) You can choose either Freightshaker or International
when Kevin Fox assigns trucks, these can be anywhere. But luckily
you will be driven in a PTL bus if your truck is a ways out, instead of hoping another Greyhound. Another good thing to dispell is the quality of the Magnolia Inn, which in the past was pretty scuzzy from
other stories on here. It was rennovated this year, so, not the Hilton
but passable. Average motel room. I didn't stay at it living so close to
PTL but I asked a few other guys and they said it was alright, no problems. During orientation you get continental at Magnolia, a hot meal of PTL's choosing for lunch (I had pot roast, mashed potatoes and veggies, not bad) and for dinner you get a voucher to the Sirloin
Stockade. If you've been to one buffet you've been to all. It's free.
So we ran through all the paperwork and our drug tests today. As for
a DOT physical if your card is current they won't make you take it over. Drug screen is manditory though. Piss in a cup, nurse shakes you off, you know the routine by now. Tomorrow we probably watch
some videos, discuss Qualcomm and a few different people come in to talk. Road tests also tomorrow as well as DOT for those who need a new medical card. Talk is we may be in a truck tomorrow if all goes smoothly. Yet again we'll see. I'm still reserving judgement until I see
my truck and talk to my dispatch. If those line up accordingly it just might be alright. After reading some of these horror stories I've been apprehensive. All I can tell people is look at the timestamp on some of these, make sure its current. Seems so far like PTL is making a big attempt at correcting some of the problems that held them back. Alright guys I have a little "homework" to do. Just wanted to fill in a few of the blanks for those looking at PTL.

 

Sorry for the delay. The phone I was using didn't work outside of Tennessee. So anyways got my truck at the Memphis drop yard. It didn't have brakes, air shot right out of them. The truck itself was actually taken out of service. So after a bit of red tape cutting they got me into a better truck. Good thing too sitting around was bleeding me dry. Everyone there was extremely nice though, they try to help you out if they can. 2010 International Prostar. They even threw in a new mattress. I read some of the horror stories about PTL truck recovery. I think its really just luck of the draw. Never understood why truckers damage the trucks when they get pissed off, you aren't hurting the company you are hurting the next driver that has to come in after you. Anyways a bunch of guys are getting drop and hook from here to Laredo, TX then back up to New Jersey or up to Minnesota, so I'm looking forward to it. Got my PTA set to 6am and ready to hit the road. To the guy above no I came in as an experienced driver. Right to the truck making .34 cents a mile. Did anyone get nailed during this DOT crackdown? They've been pulling over Swift drivers left and right over here.