Confessions of a Schneider Newbie

Hello,
My name is Sadwar, nice to meet you. I will be sharing my thoughts and experiences on being a green newbie working at Schneider as my first job ever driving an 18 wheeler. I hope to tell you all the highs and lows, good and bad, and the indifferent. I expect no expectations and I offer no magical beans. I just want a place to put down what I see and do out here and if it helps someone along the way, so be it. I certainly will not update this thread everyday, but will try to at least a couple times a week. If you have any questions, concerns or otherwise, feel free to post them up.


So here goes....

My background - 43 years old, married, no kids at home, two kids that live with my ex in Florida. I reside in Redondo Beach, just outside of Los Angeles. Fontana CA is my home OC and is where my dbl is based out of. I have never driven an 18 wheeler before this. I was in the Navy for 6 yrs fixing electronics. Then spent the next 16 yrs doing everything from sales to office manager to home construction to whatever I wanted. I tend to get bored easily and I like to be alone.

I came to the pumpkin patch on 9-12-12, so been here almost two months now. Been out on the road for six weeks, running the Western 11 regional OTR. I typically stay out 3 weeks at a time, and come in for 3 days of home time. I attended truck driving school at Dootson in Arcadia CA. You can read all about that in another thread I posted on here. And you can read all about orientation at Fontana OC in great detail on another thread I posted on here. This thread is about current life, not the past.

I was given a 2007 Century class Freightliner with 810,000 miles. I named it Shakey because it shakes, rattles and rolls. Loud as sitting front row at your favorite rock concert. Gears are a nightmare to shift and the tach shift points are different for every gear. Quite the learning experience. Low coolant sensor went out the first week and I paperclipped the tabs on the sensor together just like SEM told me to and kept on running. When I went back to the shop after my first 3 weeks out I had a list of over 10 things that needed to be fixed. They fixed exactly two, the low coolant sensor and the front bumper that was falling off. Even with all this I was averaging 2400 miles a week. I went up and down the I-5, over to Nevada and Utah. Saw lots of things, some of them good, some of them bad. I was ready for my first 3 days at home, was good to get a break.

I came back out on the road with 2 of my 10 truck problems resolved and started running again. They sent me up to Utah, over to Nevada, back to Utah, up through Idaho and into Oregon and up to Seattle. For two weeks I ran hard and then coming down a 4200 ft tall hill in Southern Oregon, my truck said no more. The jakes went out and my dash lit up like a Christmas tree. I limped her into French Camp OC, the mechanic checked her out and said "It's fine, keep going". Intermittent problem I guess. I got a load back down to Fontana area and again the jakes went out coming down the grapevine and the dash lit up. I took it to the mechanic there and when he put the truck number into his magical computer, the sweetest words ever came out of his mouth - "Your truck is on the disposal list, go see your DBL." Which I did with a hop, skip, and a jump. And pretty darn fast too, in case they changed their mind. My dbl, who is super by the way, said she had just the truck for me. She gave me the number and said go check it out. And this is when the fairy dust came and landed on my shoulders. They gave me the keys to a one yr old Freightliner Cascadia with only 100,000 miles on her. And it has the Park Air cooling/heating system in it! And it doesn't have the dreaded On-Guard system. Driving this truck is like sitting in a church, forget that rock concert stuff. The cruise control works, and the jakes are nice and strong. I been driving her for 5 days now and have ran 2000 miles. We'll see how long she gets me here at the pumpkin patch.

Overall I have averaged about 2200 miles a week, this is figuring in my time at home and at the yards. I always run my 70 out in 5-7 days and then take a 34. I like the break. I always have a pre-assignment before I finish my current load. I don't sit still very much. I have seen ALOT of I-5, which runs from So Cal all the way up to Seatlle. I typically get a local relay the day I come back from TAH or a 34, and then they start giving me 400-800 mile runs until I run out of hours. My best mileage day so far has been 604, I think. Maybe it was in the 575 range.

Schneider has paid me every dime owed me. They reimburse me quickly. They pay me my wait time, detention times, driver hand unload and whatever else they owe me. I have not had to ask once for anything like that. And trust me I write everything down that I run and everything that I am owed. I doubecheck it against the pay detail on crossroads. And so far it has always been right.

It has not been all roses. I have sat at customers for more than 6 hours waiting to be loaded and unloaded, but these are few and far between. I run alot of drop and hook. Target, Wal-Mart, and Home Depot DC's. Lots of logistic places that support these. I have pulled into a truck stop with 4 minutes left on my 14. It happens. My trailers have broken down, I have used SEM. Pretty quick and responsive, in my limited experience.

The overall feeling from other truckers at the truck stops is indifference. Don't mess with them, they don't mess with me. Basic courtesy is present 95% of the time. As I stated above, I like to be alone. I don't need to interact with people to be happy. My wife satisifies that part of my life, I don't need that from anyone else. But I am polite and courteous to everyone I meet, as I was raised that way by my momma. And I have always believed you sow what you reap. Just don't come up to me at the truck stop and start telling me some long winded story. I really do not want to hear it....Most of time.

Guess that's it for now. Enough rambling for tonight. I am on a 34 in Dunnigan CA at the Pilot until 4 am on Wed the 7th. Maybe we will know who the next president will be by then.

Maybe....

Stay safe.

 

Hello again......

Still on my 34 in lovely Dunnigan CA at the Pilot exit 554 I-5. Abslutely nothing else here.

I have thought of more ramblings to annotate, so here goes.....

I like using the Qualcomm system (MCP200) that we have in our trucks. It has everything I need to do my job, well electronics wise that is. It has my logs, my navigation (GPS built in), and workflow - which tells me where to go and when to be there. Workflow also has these handy tasks that you just check off as you do them at the customer sites, no need to send macros in or anything. I can receive and send messages to my dbl at anytime. All in all a nifty little unit.

I do not have a TV in my truck, though there is certainly enough room for one. This thing has storage for days!!! I have my laptop (obviously), my Kindle, and my Nintendo DS XL for entertainment. And of course there is always the nightly enjoyment of watching other drivers back into partking spaces at the truck stop! I find that I do not miss TV at all. My wife records all of my favorite shows and I watch them when I get TAH. I used to watch the news all day everyday, but now I know nothing other than what I hear from my wife or catch at a truck stop as I am passing through. I bought the wifi package for $19.99 for 30 days from the Pilot/Flying J and it allows me to access the web, of course right? I can also hook my phone to the laptop, but the wifi is so much easier.

I have spent a few nights at rest areas, but tend to trip plan where I end up at a truck stop. The rest areas are much quieter though. And of course if I am close to one of the OC's, I will stay there. Hard to beat free showers, wifi, and laundry.

Speaking of showers, I have never paid for one while out on the road. You get a free shower with every 50 gallons of fuel you purchase, so I always have plenty of shower credits. They are good for five days from the date you receive them. I usually take a shower every other day, unless I sweat my butt off unloading or whatever else might come along. A certain troublesome set of landing gear come to mind.......

I keep my truck inside dusted and clean. Windex the inside of the windows, always cleaning the floor, etc.... It is amazing how dirty the inside can get in such a short amount of time. Now, the outside is another story. Schneider does not pay for truck washes, so the outside is disgusting. Supposedly you get a free truck wash credit when you get a PM. I will find out eventually I suppose.

I already have a pre-assignment for tomorrow when I come off of my 34. I run up to Oroville CA and then down to Rancho Cucamonga. A nice 530 mile day! Mikey likes! Will spend tomorrow night at the Fontana OC, 70 miles from my house. So close and yet so far. I do not have a vehicle at the OC, we are a one car family. I rent a car when I take a 3 day TAH. I can get a car for four days for $100 including fuel. I am scheduled for TAH this Friday going until Tuesday the 13th at 8 am, and my dbl already told me I will get it. We'll wee what runs they give me on Thursday and Friday. Should be interesting. Can always run 300 miles up to Tracey CA and then back to Fontana on Friday. Quick easy roundtrip.

Out of ambition for now.....Until later.....Stay safe.