If you ever pulled a Papa John's trailer

I've been off TTR for quite some time, and actually got back on here to ask a technical question about the truck I'm currently running. Ran across this thread and saw a couple of interesting replies. I pretty much figured out who the guys were responding to this and wanted to add a couple of thoughts. I reversed the order of the replies intentionally.

Good job for a young guy with a new 'Vette. ( Well, it's probably not so new now, or been traded in on a new one. ) I'd have to say that sweet schedule you are now quoting is the benefit of being there 10 years+. I also didn't keep track of who ran things since, heck - maybe it's gotten better. My first year with PJ's in NY was a start up operation with Worldwide Dedicated, and we were taking 2500 piece loads on 750 mile rounds solo. I was also 37 years old - a couple of years older than you are now.

When I had enough and sought out the new job and subsequently got fired for passing out applications - I was being approached by many drivers there at the time that were genuinely concerned they were going to fall asleep at the wheel. 98% of them rolled over when the cross-hairs trained on me

Yeap, I failed a piss test. That story is well documented here on TTR. Florida to me was a post divorce blur of floozy's and fun in the sun. And like any other irresponsible behavior, it catches up to you eventually.

I came back to NY and diligently rebuilt my life after it all went upside down, and did 6 drug free and running legal years with Foodliner, pulling thruway tandems. I was approaching the 90K mark but then decided to back off and made a lateral move to another company last November, running calcium and magnesium chloride to salt piles. In the summer, I'll do hot asphalt and dump trailer work. Once again, I pace myself since I'm now almost 57 years old and my 90K+ days are behind me. I rebuilt my credit, got a beautiful 3.5 acre farm in the country and am getting married in June. I've got a pretty good zero to hero story to tell someday.

And I don't get pouty anymore. Maybe it was the pot.

I miss being in good shape, but I have a nagging right shoulder. 11 years of hooking stacks of dough off the lift came with a price - it's something you may never understand. I'll always wonder if my body would have stayed in better shape if I never stopped doing food-service.

Sounds exactly like the scenario where my former co-driver in Orlando had the wreck with the two other guys in the truck. My former trans supervisor went on to the job I messed up, but we stay in touch and he did send me pictures of the carnage. Those drivers were all former friends whom I have lost touch with for one reason or another. The guy driving and I ran hard together and I trusted him with my life as I laid down to get my cat naps. He was a non-stop bundle of energy and exactly my age. I was surprised it happened with him at the wheel.

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I could probably make 6 figures at my newest gig if I wanted to run my nuts off. It's a little more laid back and my boss is pretty good at reading people and figuring out what they want to do. He's kicking and screaming at the eLog mandate because the flexibility of being able to do what you want whenever you want is going away - and he has to adapt to it.

I just sailed through a level 2 NYSDOT inspection clean and things are a little tougher roadside in the Vampire State then they were in Florida. I have an assigned truck that is impeccably maintained. The trooper and I were talking, and I told him that eLogs weren't the problem, the off kilter HOS rules were.

I never had that chat with DOT over PJ's. You get put under the "ex-disgruntled employee" umbrella anyway and they would just look at it as fabrication. However, when the day comes that a Papa John's truck is involved in a lawsuit because of the hands of a fatigued driver, I suppose a Google search that flips up the rock that is this thread will be a good starting point for a lawyer.

Hopefully, it has changed. I delivered flour to the Domino's facilities in a couple of Northeast locations, and it's the same there.

 

In the land of food-service and pushing heavy hand carts up multiple ramps and wrestling stuff around, you do your best to maintain good form and the body certainly adapts. Keeping the forces below waist level wasn't always possible. We would use a modified 5th wheel puller to hook the bottom tray of a 430lb. dough stack and snap it into a set of dollies off the side lift, 50-60 times per run if you were hustling the store. In the trailer, you pulled a lot of dough from one aisle to another to work it when you couldn't get a hand cart under it.

I was lean and mean at 50 years old, but Advil was my best friend. I was seeing a chiropractor and hitting the gym as well.

Losing footing ( especially up here where deliveries in the snow were a factor ) did a lot of damage. Anyone who has done food-service has had a hiccup or two that has either laid them up or gotten them darn close to it. Add some fatigue and work in a downpour and go up slippery ramps and the chances increase.

My aches and pains now I'll attest mostly to the 11 years of doing it. I remember coming down the stairs at 37 years old barely able to walk after my first few trips. I adapted, but still.....