Burleson Terminal

Baritone · Feb 15, 2014

stevenneill said: ↑

Good afternoon all, For those of you still in school following this thread, stick with it and good luck.
I had to leave the truck for a couple of days to take care of family business, and honestly I was a little concerned, because students are not guaranteed home time and this was so important that I could not afford to miss is even if I had to jump off the truck. I eaxplained the situation to my trainer and he explained it to our Dispatcher and they got me home, albeit a day early, sor from the 28th until the 1st of Feb I sat at home, no miles, no pay and stressing about whether I was going to be able to get back on the truck.
I took care of the stuff I needed to do and kept in contact with my Trainer, Mark, and today I drove up to Texarkana from Ft. Worth to make sure I could reconnect, so now I am back in the truck and not stressing so much. So now I have 6,752 miles left of my 15k before I get my own truck. We are leaving out in the morning for Houston to deliver off of W. Hardy Rd., then from there to LaPorte, on the S.E. side of Houston and from there, up to Mesquite, Tx, just outside of Dallas. From there I hope to get out of Texas. I mean, this is my home state and I like the place even though it is only a stubborn breath from being desert, but the miles are not here. Loads are hard to get and the miles are low on them, I need a load running us up to Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, or somewhere up there, I am hoping for some good, long haul runs that can burn this last 6,752 miles up. Honestly, I'm ready to be in my own truck.
I've learned a lot of lessons. First, take it slow. Don't rush. Double check all your info. Make sure your route is good. Study those maps so you understand them. A GPS is great, I ordered one and I'm waiting on it to get home, but you need to understand the roads. You can't know how frustrating it is to be in a state you have never been in before trying to find an address you have never heard of and you need to make sure you are not turning down a restricted road, all while your trainer knows these roads inside out. He has every street memorized and you haven't got a clue...so take your time. get your route down, make notes on exits, turns and directions to the delivery. It'll save you a huge heartache.

Next, take your time at truck stops. Most of the time you will have to back in. Some of these places are tight and more often than not its gonna be an alley dock to get in. You can't hit the trucks or trailers next to you, so get out, take the time to look at what you are doing...and if you don't get lined up the first time, turn the cb off. Don't get frustrated. You'll just make mistakes.

I got pulled over in Indiana. I was coming oout of a truck stop after a fuel stop, signage directed me to turn to get back on the interstate. I wasn't paying close enough attention so I turned...as soon as I got straightened out I saw two huge signs on either side...NO INTERSTATE ACCESS...Just past those signs was a weigh station I bypassed with the attendant standing outside watching me go by. Few blocks down the road I followed signs back to the interstate and low and behold...a bear was sitting there just waiting on me. Guess how friggen stupid I felt when he asked why I was bypassing the weigh station. And of course...he escorted me right back to it.
The funny thing is that when I got on the interstate I got the bypass by the EZ Pass, but because I was under escort I had to pull on the scales. I was lucky. He didn't do an inspection, he didn't ticket me, he just gave me my license back and told me not to do it again.

Take your time. Look, Read signs, know your route, get out and look.

Its been a good experience. I like life on the road. It isn't easy being away from my wife and kids, but my dad was a trucker and her dad was a trucker, and the lifestyle fits us. You guys take care. You students in school...man, listen. when you get with your trainers, these guys have years of experience, they have made all the mistakes. Learn from them. Don't be hardheaded.

On another note, the upset behind the dash cams seems to still be heating up. Scuttlebut is that once annual safety bonuses are in a bunch of drivers are walking. Its been my experience that a lot of times the talk is more than the walk if you know what I mean, but it seems pretty consistent, so who knows. Many might see this as a good thing, but its not. I doubt it will have much influence on the Millis family changing their decision about dash cams...maybe it will, but I doubt it, they will just fill the schools up with more peaople, but meanwhile they might not be able to make the deliveries they are contracted for. While in the short term, this may mean us new drivers get hit with load after load and so many miles we are in heaven, the long term is that if Millis can't make its loads, they will lose contracts, and if they lose contracts, they lose loads, which means that in the long term your weekly miles might actually get reduced. I'm concerned about how this will play out. On one hand I doubt half the people who are barking will walk, but I've been wrong before and may well be wrong again. On the one hand the new drivers might be able to step it up and push hard enough to scrape by and it might be great, but on the other hand...it could be disasterous. Might want to keep an ear on this issue for the next couple of months.

Okay, you guys take care. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. If I can answer I will, but it might take a day or so depending on how hard we push, and since I just got a 34 hour reset, I intend to push as hard as the loads will allow to get this 6752 miles finished. I WANT my own truck!
Click to expand...

Very well said - one of the things most people do that gets them into trouble - rushing! My trainer always used to say.Dont worry about the people behind you, if they were late they should have left before you did! Still remember that to this day! You will learn that most mistakes could have been avoided if you just stop and think before your act. Trust me, I know from experience!

The statement about people leaving after the year end bonus - you'll hear that every year around this time and you're right.most is just talk.

Congrats on making it through and now the real fun begins!

stevenneill · Feb 15, 2014

Down to 776 miles. I run every day til I only have minutes left. Picking up 8:50 tomorrow and gonna run this load from Eden to Trenton tomorrow

Nikk · Feb 15, 2014

down to 776 miles....what does that mean? Is that all you got for a week?

Nikk · Feb 15, 2014

sorry - I read that wrong - ;(

stevenneill · Feb 15, 2014

Nikk said: ↑

down to 776 miles....what does that mean? Is that all you got for a week?
Click to expand...

On average I've gotten about 3300 a week...but my available hours are very low right now. I'm literally operating on what hours I get the next day. 776 miles is what I have left to finish the OTR training portion of my school when I graduate to my own truck. I'll get between 400 and 450 tomorrow depend ing on how bad these hills kick my tail.

dennisroc · Feb 16, 2014

Do you have any pics or video of your training ?

stevenneill · Feb 16, 2014

No...nothing specific. I've taken several pictures and posted them to my facebook page but they are mostly pictures of the truck snd weather. I will takr more pictures when I have my own truck and will probably do some video then as well. One of our members here, Baritone, has a video series I followvon you tube called OneTruckersView. Look him up.

77smartin · Feb 16, 2014

Baritone said: ↑

Very well said - one of the things most people do that gets them into trouble - rushing! My trainer always used to say.Dont worry about the people behind you, if they were late they should have left before you did! Still remember that to this day! You will learn that most mistakes could have been avoided if you just stop and think before your act. Trust me, I know from experience!

The statement about people leaving after the year end bonus - you'll hear that every year around this time and you're right.most is just talk.

Congrats on making it through and now the real fun begins!
Click to expand...

Most mistakes out here can be prevented by thinking...gotta make yourself do it. I learned the hard way a few time as well.

People in every industry talk about leaving after the year end bonus...most don't leave. Stay away from complainers and think for yourself with Millis and you will succeed.

shane13080 · Feb 16, 2014

Hey steven, whats your profile name on facebook?

stevenneill · Feb 16, 2014

Its my name. Steven Neill. Use my email s.neill@yahoo.com

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