Glad I moved over to Poly Trucking

I was in GP twice this week. Freight was much better both times. Plenty of good load choices. I decided to do a West Palm Beach,FL. Nice to be staying out of the white stuff this week. Take care out there!

 

Got to GP Friday and got a load Immediately they said things are back to normal runs should be better. and chemster I was starving at Crete/schaffer so Happy I got this opportunity and thank ful for all of you great Poly drivers on this thread made me comfortable to make the move to poly and I have never been Happier. I made it home to Atlanta for my 34 and off for a monday am delivery Hope everyone has a great week

 

Sorry I didn't respond back sooner. The wife and I took a 3 day weekend to Vegas.

I don't think I am condescending at all. I just wish that OTR drivers were paid for all of their time. In fact, I personally think that the OTR driver should be paid a lot more than a local driver. After all, OTR drivers sacrifice much more than a local driver does.

 

I made my final stop, of the outbound GP load, this past Thursday at 1100 in Marysville,WA. Was given a backhaul out of Eugene,OR to pick up a four stop load by 1600 the same day. I needed to stop for at least an hour for food and restroom, as I had not stopped to do so since starting my day in Tacoma and fighting Seattle traffic. So I called broker to inform them I could not make it to pick up until 1700. They called customer and rescheduled for 0800 Friday. The only problem was the first stop was due in Jerome,ID by 1600 Friday.

Since I've done this exact run before I called the customer in Jerome to see if they would be open Saturday. No. But alas, the guy I spoke with gave me his cell number and told me to call back after I get loaded and we could set up a Friday night or Saturday morning delivery. So I made that stop yesterday and am now sitting in Evans,CO waiting for the morning so I can kick off the next stop. Then it's on to Grand Island,NE and Lubbock,TX. Hope to have the Lubbock off by Tuesday afternoon or first thing Wednesday morning.

Also, out of curiosity I checked the miles I drove for the first two months. Even with the short month of Feburary and an unwanted full week off, I still had over 23k miles. Must admit I was pleasantly surprised.

 

You won't get an arguement from me on this.

I think that my opinion on OTR has been well stateded before. Not going to beat a dead horse. However I will say that most of those who do complain of the OTR job probably never considered the lifestyle it becomes. All they saw before going to truck driving school was another truck driver rolling down the road holding a steering wheel and said to themselves, "I can do that". Never realizing what a grind it can become. On them and their family. Who's fault is that? The unfortunate thing is, this attitude is what feeds the truck mills. Remember a sucker is born every minute.

Here at Poly we are paid for what we do. This is not your run of the mill OTR job. We get paid for the miles we drive at a very good rate. Paid for the extra stops we make at a nice rate. Paid if we have to help unload (with the exception one customer that I rarely go to), and this is usually very easy and quick. The downside is breakdown. While they will pay for a hotel of our choice, there is no breakdown pay. Other than that the only thing left is to pay us for sleeping in our truck. THAT AIN'T GOING TO HAPPEN.

 

I'd better at least take time to say hello everyone so ... Hello everyone , as some of you know from the Friday we all went to neeza's , I'm a Blackhawk fan and they're 19-0-3 on the season. They haven't lost a game in regulation into the 22nd game which was today against the Red Wings. So I have had a part time job moonlighting as a Blackhawk faithful , trying to see the best hockey I've seen in my 51 yrs. Many Buffalo Wild Wings teriyaki style. I also have been transitioning to 3367 and have retired 3333 , it wasn't a bad runner but the inside was rough. Chemster you seen the inside of 3367 , it's a nice ride but I have to improvise , by either remodeling to add a shelf or 2 which I'm not sure how they are about that. Or travel with a gypsy stick and a sack tied to the end. Not too sure if that'l work either.
Any how last week was kind shot from Tues night on to Friday. I'm on a load Seymour In for 0600 in the morn , 1530 Indy and 2 stops west Jefferson Oh and Grove city OH for Tues to head home when mty about 1800. I think I'm gonna take Wed thru Sat off , I dunno if they'll be able to find me a backhaul for Sun or not . Need to see if I can situate myself in this truck so I don't have to unload the bed to sleep . The top bunk is a headbanger bunk , and is in locked position upward where My brain will last longer.
Last two weeks been decent , the miles were 2250 to 2500 each week. 1 a 4 stopper and 1 a 5 stopper. So far even with the down time I'm a new man , I told the wife if there's a thing called stress free trucking this is as close as you'll get. Poly can't change the way people drive so there will always be a certain level of stress in this job , but backing off and leaving more space eliminates 80% , Poly doesn't add any , ya do what ya know , if there's no reason for calling there no calls , the qual com is the deadest qual com I've ever had it only beeps when i send it a message . Or they tell me to call for my load info. Sometimes I actually have to ask for a reply , this gentlemen is a breath of fresh air after 2 yrs of New Century spending 10 hrs a day trying to make sure no matter how much you make you're still underpaid as you live and work at Dysfunction Junction. Hey everyone be safe I'll check in from the house if not before then. I wonder if any of you have made alterations or added shelves ? I do know the Columbia I got out of had holes drilled all over I mean "ALL OVER" , makes me wonder if they grieve on that or not. TTYAL

 

Lifestyles tend to get old sometimes , we opt to choose which is best for us , but it doesn't always mean it's gonna stay this way. I drove 1st 10yrs local Chicago area and the same roads twice a day , the same A.M. and P.M. traffic headaches , and as I took on intermediate work traveling into WI , IN , and Central IL began to realize that it's a welcome change from the everyday big city metropolitan nightmare it becomes after 10 yrs. Sure home every night is a must for some that have youngums growing up and insist on being there , as I would choose exactly the same.
My 1st real over the road gig was with Jevic and I got a dose of how it should be for time spent away from home on the road. Anyone getting into this business should start out local somehow or another even if it's the way I started in the stockyard spotting trlrs. then at least you have a clue to what it is you should make as an OTR driver. Had a friend not convinced me to leave my union job at Grane transportation in Cicero IL for more money I would likely still be avoiding the same potholes at the same time on the same road every day. The thing about Jevic was I would have gone to a local driver position had I not met the lady I married and moved from Chicago to Northern KY which eliminated my ever getting local with them but heck at 60K a yr and home at least every other Weekend it was good , real good.

 

1600 monday afternoon waiting on Target - Indy to git'r'done ! It's a ghost town here right now not even a guest visiting this forum. Oh well I'll take ghost towns over grand central any day. That's how the country life changes a person.

 

Do they run all 48?

 

We run 47 of them here at Poly. We do not go into California! We run mostly Poly freight out to customers and then back haul back around one of the Poly facilities.