My Job

Discussion in 'Trucking Jobs' started by Scarecrow03, Jun 3, 2008.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Scarecrow03

    Scarecrow03 Road Train Member

    3,411
    7,443
    Sep 27, 2006
    In Your Head
    0
    For those of you who don't know, I came off the road back in April and took a job driving a dump truck with a local construction company. So far this job has been great. The people I work with are great. That's everyone from the family that owns the company right down to the laborers. I even got a dollar/hr raise after being there for a month, and the promise of more in August. Paid holidays, health insurance, one week vacation after a year and two weeks after three are just some of the benefits. The other benefit, by me being a driver, is no lay off in the winter.

    The company is billed as a paving company. We don't do state roads or highways. Mostly we do parking lots, driveways plus we backfill and pave the holes made by the gas and water companies when they have to repair or replace gas and water lines. Any work done for the water company is paid to us at union scale, since they're the only utility company in town actually owned and operated wholly by the city.

    I had some down time the last couple of days (as any of you who read/participate in Last Post Wins already know) and decided to snap a few pics. The first few are of the tri-axle I usually drive being loaded with dirt and debris from a contract company hired by the gas company. The hole being dug is about 30' x 30' and nearly 25' deep. The hole was dug out to fix a transfer main gas line that needed a new valve.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    Aside from asphalt paving, my company also has a concrete mixing plant. In addition to your everyday run of the mill concrete, we also make a product called flowable fill which is used to backfill holes and trenches. This material is made with sand, fly ash, and just a little bit of cement. Once it sets up (in about five minutes) you can pour concrete or dump asphalt on it and not have to worry about any sinkholes or settling. Here's some pictures of a 400' trench we are filling this week and will be paving over it next week once the contractors are done with replacing a gas main and all it's service lines.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    For those of you who are looking into trucking, but don't want to be OTR; or if you are OTR and are wanting to be home every night again, this is just another of the many avenues you can look into. I highly recommend finding a family owned small business. My company was started in the early 1970s by George David and is now run by his two sons, Jerry and John; and his daughter Diane. They're great people and have made me feel as I'm a very welcomed addition to their team.
     
  2. Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  3. honor roll

    honor roll Road Train Member

    1,038
    222
    Mar 7, 2008
    NW OHIO
    0
    Great pics crow my dad works for a road construction company that is big in the tri state area fixing the equipment
     
  4. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

    12,602
    23,163
    Jan 17, 2008
    Wherever and Whenever...
    0
    Ah, I remember the days of backfilling trenches with slurry (usually 2 sack).

    It's hard to tell from the picts but is that a super-ten or is that drop-axle more like a tri-dem when it's down.
     
  5. Scarecrow03

    Scarecrow03 Road Train Member

    3,411
    7,443
    Sep 27, 2006
    In Your Head
    0
    It's a drop axle like a tri-dem. The axle doesn't steer, so I have to raise and lower it in the cab whenever I'm making turns.

    The pics are kinda shoddy, aren't they? When will they make a camera phone that takes good pictures? I've got a Blackberry Curve and the pics still look very low grade. That's a bit off topic, though.
     
  6. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

    12,602
    23,163
    Jan 17, 2008
    Wherever and Whenever...
    0
    Ah the picts were great.:biggrin_25520:

    What's under the hood of that puppy?
     
  7. Scarecrow03

    Scarecrow03 Road Train Member

    3,411
    7,443
    Sep 27, 2006
    In Your Head
    0
    It's got a 350HP N-14 Cummins pushed with an Eaton Fuller 9 speed with the low range splitter. The truck is a 95 and has a hard time pulling the small hills we have around here when loaded, but it gets the job done.
     
    The Challenger Thanks this.
  8. GasHauler

    GasHauler Master FMCSA Interpreter

    6,257
    4,358
    Oct 23, 2005
    Vegas/Jersey
    0
    I know of several drivers out in Las Vegas NV that make good money with good benefits hauling dirt. It's even better when they pull two 40' belly dumps around the town. One good thing there is construction is strong and it's been that way for over 20 years. We moved there in 1990 and you could look in the sunday paper and see 130 housing developments with over 100 houses in each track. We left in 2000 (thank God) and it was still the same. We sold our house for what we asked in one day. I don't think it's going to slow down any time soon.
     
  9. Working Class Patriot

    Working Class Patriot Road Train Member

    12,602
    23,163
    Jan 17, 2008
    Wherever and Whenever...
    0
    Yeah, that's the big difference between CA and the rest of the world. As "big" as CA claims to be, everywhere else you can run tri-dems, quads ect....
    In CA they have a fit even at 80K going down the road:biggrin_25516:
     
  10. LogsRus

    LogsRus Log it Legal

    2,589
    358
    Nov 23, 2006
    Indianapolis, Indiana
    0
    But I wanted to see a picture of you to:biggrin_25513:
     
  11. Scarecrow03

    Scarecrow03 Road Train Member

    3,411
    7,443
    Sep 27, 2006
    In Your Head
    0
    Today was one heck of a day.

    We were resurfacing the private roads in a well-to-do gated community in 95+ degree heat. One of the owners of the company (Jerry) kept us well supplied with Gatorade and even brought some fried chicken out to us for lunch. Of course, with it being as hot as it was, eating was the last thing on my mind.

    After lunch, I was dumping into the paver in the other tri-axle we have. As I bumped the paver, I hit the PTO switch to raise the bed and let out the clutch; forgetting that the truck was still in reverse. So the truck stalls, and I go to restart it thinking no big deal. Much to my dismay, as I pushed the starter button nothing happened.

    These trucks are equipped with an air powered starter, so I thought some dirt had somehow got in the air lines and wasn't allowing the valve to open. So I tapped the valve with a metal rod and tried the starter button again.

    Nothing.

    So I took the rod and hit the starter itself with it.

    Still Nothing.

    By this time the rest of the paving crew has gathered around to assess this situation. The foreman whips out his Nextel and beeps Jerry. Jerry suggests trying everything I already did. He tells Jerry this and we're told the mechanic will be there in 20 minutes. As I'm walking to the paver to fill my empty Gatorade bottle with some ice water, it hits me.

    So I turn around and ask the foreman, "Why don't we just push start this thing with the paver?"

    Everyone starts the agreement chant. Yanno, when everyone's standin' around noddin' their heads sayin', "Yeah, yeah, that'll work. Good idea!"

    While they were giving me at-a-boy's I'm wishin' I'd have thought of it sooner, like before Jerry was notified! As I said earlier, this wasn't my normal truck. The guy that usually drove it had to drive my truck while I was in a tandem moving some equipment. Jerry called the other driver on the company radio and told him to get a ride out to the job site to replace me. Jerry's actual words were "get back in your truck so Scarecrow can get in his". I still felt like a complete idiot.

    Turns out the starter failure was because of a failed oiler. Evidently these air powered starters have oilers on them that uses diesel fuel from the truck to keep the starter lubed up. Combine that fact with the heat today and you've got one truck that won't start.

    Tomorrow is going to be another scorcher and a busy day. I've gotta start at 5:30 instead of the usual 7AM in order to load up the skid steer with the broom attachments and get it to our next job site before the crew starts at 7.

    Here's to a better day tomorrow.
     
  • Truckers Report Jobs

    Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

    Every month 400 people find a job with the help of TruckersReport.

  • Thread Status:
    Not open for further replies.