question from a rookie about philly

Honestly I think the load planners and FMs are just trying to get the loads covered and delivered with minimal deadheading. If you happened to be the closest truck to the load and had the available hours to do it they put it on you rather than try and search for a more experienced driver that may have been further away or been tight on hours.

My very first week and actually only my second day soloing I ran all over inner city Chicago. Shortly after that I was running JIT Fedex runs and a week or two after that NYC loads. A little baptism by fire.

Not ideal situation to be thrust into challenging enviornments so soon but trucking rarely ever is "ideal."

 

Depends on the drivers to load ratio. Most companies will try to do easy runs for the first couple weeks so you get adjusted to everything.

But they are a company and they want to make money, so they'll send ya wherever they need too.

 

Yeap the good ol days..HELP ME BABY JESUS! WHY IS THIS TRUCK SOOO LOOONG?!? YOU WANT ME TO BACK IN THERE? OH NO IM IN THE WRONG LANE AND THE CARS WONT LET ME MERGE...oh yea I said all that in my first solo run.

 

My second load ever was to Hunt's Point with a backhaul in Philly down on 5th street about a block off 676.

I'd been to Hunt's Point a couple times with the guy I run team with now before I had a license so that one didn't bother me since I knew where I was going. Going into Philly was a bit scary as a new driver since I had no clue where I was going. Have to block an entire one way street to back in and all that fun stuff. I'm glad I did it right away though. I go to that same place about once a week now.

 

This is just the beginning of the many things that will make you cringe for the next couple of years. This is the reason you always hear that trucking isn't for the faint of heart. This is one of the reasons that so many fail. You're now living your dream.

 

I was sent to downtown Cincinnati at 0730 am my first week to pick up a live load. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but dang was the backing tight LOL.

 

My second week 96 55gal drums of class 3 paint from jersey to western iowa- thru 3 snow storms, pulling a flatbed. The worst hit climbing the big hill on i80 in pa from stroudsburg to the 380 split. All i remember saying was "why did i get a hazmat endorsment?" Just dont say your a cowboys fan when in philly.