1st year Update/Summary

Well I am past my 1st year so I figure I would give some kind of update on my progress. This is mainly my opinion, but hopefully it will be useful to all of you. And to some of you, you will get to see my whole story. Which hasn't been talked about much.

It all began when I first applied to Schneider, I never heard anything back so then I applied to CR England. I went down to spartanburg SC for my training. Learned quite a bit, but there was a paperwork error that prevented me from taking my CDL. Little did I know how much I loved that paperwork error. So I went home after waiting an extra week. I told my wife I would call Schneider and see what their deal was, since I never got a call back. I didn't put in my contact info right, or switched some numbers or something. But all of that was straightened out. I was accepted, this was Monday, I was at the STA in Charlotte that Friday.

I left sometime in early may. I signed up to work in the flatbed/glass division. I whizzed thru training since really it was a refresher course for me. The second week I was informed in this manner, "Are you Lewis? You've been sold." WTH? Maverick had bought the division I was in, I tried to get around it, explaining I had signed up to work for Schneider, not Maverick. There was nothing that could be done. Yet. Accepting my fate I finished up at the STA, and went to Laurinburg, NC for a week of glass/flatbed training. Finishing my week in the hot NC summer sun was ok. Nothing like the hot SC Parris Island sun.

Now it was on to my OTR training. I was told a Canadian(eh?) was going to be doing my training. I didn't care, I was ready to get on the road. I spent a week waiting on him, due to the announcement of the sale with maverick there was alot of shuffling around with people. I was in a nice hotel and everything, free wifi, so I wasnt bored. Just waiting. I meet my trainer, nice guy, he introduced me to the world of Sirius. Howard stern, Bubba, Farrell. With only 3 days otr it was time for him to go home, back to a hotel company paid of course.

What is a guy to do in Canada? Goto the strip club of course! I wont give alot of details, but it was nice, better lit, the women were foreign, no smoking, and people were friendly. Can't wait to go back. After that I spent another 3 nights in the hotel when I got a call from my wife that she had a miscarriage. I was trying to find every way possible to go home. Because it was a holiday it was hard to find anything. I had to wait until monday when the STL's would be in. I hitch a ride over to the Guelph OC, find the nearest specialized driver and tell him the deal. An hour later they find me a driver that is going right by my house.

I hitch a ride with this guy from Toronto, ON to Winston Salem, NC. When I said right by my house, I wasn't kidding. I had him pull over on the side of the highway where I walked up the hill, and jumped the fence to my apartment.

After two days at home, and making sure everything was ok I went back down to Laurinburg to finish my training. Since the sale with Maverick was heating up they wanted me to have some accelerated training, since my instructor recommended it. I met up with a local driver, we would leave about 1 or 2 am, head over to the truck, cross the street to the glass plant finish tying everything down, making sure all the straps were tight. Take it to the delivery, unload, then head back to laurinburg where i slept in the hotel every night. Not a bad gig for a week.

After my week of "training" I had the road test, for the company, I already had my CDL. I am told what was expected of me, lets be safe, dont kill anyone, especially the instructor. I do my road test, and I only include it in the story because, I was driving a VERY old truck for the fleet. One where the shifter is extremely loose, but I didn't even grind a gear. We get out at the end, I was reminded that I should have buttonhooked one turn that i didnt. Then I get told, "You drive that truck like you've driven it for years. Good job."

I go back in and talk to the STL. He says lets see if we can find you a truck, they have one in Charlotte, but I get told to go home on some R&R for a few days, head down to charlotte pick up truck 55775(number is important later on).

I head home, dont remember what I really did. But I catch a ride from another driver to the Charlotte OC(I have a habit of that). I show up to the fuel desk, tell them who I am, I need the keys to the truck. They don't have the keys, the shop doesn't have the keys. So I have to take that massive key ring with all the keys and try to find one. Luckily after about 2 minutes I found it, I go inside get the keys made. Jump in the truck, start it up. Now the nice thing is, the flatbed drivers get bigger engines vs the van drivers. I had a nice cat engine. I drive it over to an empty part of the parking lot, to do a pretrip. I call my STL let him know everything is good and I begin doing inventory.

The last guy to have the truck really took care of it, and left all the supplies, chains, binders, even a cheater bar with the truck. I later find out what happened to the driver. I run up to Winston salem to grab the rest of my tools and then head on over to Laurinburg. I tell my STL everything is in order and I am ready for a load. He says wow, ok. Lets find you one, he calls planning they hand over a load going to Flordia. I run over and grab it and move on down the road.

Continued below.

 

It is fairly exciting to be on your first run. Not really, its just driving a truck. I knew I would get bored listening to radio stations. And I didn't have Sirius yet, but I figured out that by using a tape adapter and my dvd player CLOSED helped pass the time. I kick on down to the delivery, if I had gotten there an hour earlier they would have been able to unload me early. Which unloading early is better than unloading on time. So I hang out at the shipper, undoing tarps, until morning.

After this I ran quite a few loads for Schneider in my 2 months with them, when I realized I hated doing this. Driving is fine, but tarping and untarping gets old. I talk to my STL that I am thinking about quitting, he tries to talk me out of it, says lets bring you back to laurinburg so we can talk. Thats cool with me.


This is kind of a side note, sometime in those two months I was at the indianapolis OC struggling with some tarps when another driver asks if I need help. I am not ready to punish another for my own lack of experience, and decline his offer. He asks me if that is my truck, I said yes. He says he knew the guy who has this truck, but cant figure out why he isnt in it. Then he says, thats right he died a couple months ago from cancer. And asks me to take care of his truck.

So I head back to Laurinburg, via Winston salem. At this point I already had a job lined up with Trans Am. So I empty my truck of everything except barely what I need. I goto Laurinburg, turn in my truck, and head back home. This was on a friday, the next monday I head to Olathe KS.

Continued below.

 

Ever been on a bus ride? It sucks, I never been on one before. Another side note, my wife had started working for the airlines and i missed flying to Olathe by one week. I was bored out of my mind, I went thru two books. I am not even sure how long it took. But I do know this, I got in at 2 am, took a shower went to bed. Roommate didn't even wake me to goto orientation. DIAF. I call the recruiters, explain what happened, someone comes to the hotel to pick me up. No harm no foul, I didn't miss much.

Three days of orientation sounds exciting doesn't it? It's not, everyone kept confusing me with a brand new driver. I think its due to my handsome and young looks. I had already knew a few people working for Trans Am. They told me to go the leasing route, its a gamble, but theres more money if you're smart about things. Unless you have someone you can call 24/7 for advice, I wouldnt recommend this option to anyone. I signed a short term lease for a 2006 Columbia, apu, and 2500 watt inverter. It was almost home.

The difference between Schneider and Trans Am was HUGE. There was no one that was going to hold my hand at Trans Am, my dispatcher was great he let me run, I never did anything bad like getting there late. So at times I didn't hear from him for weeks. I am going to end the story here, because after this point alot of it is mundane, or just an entire story in itself.

But I am going to list somethings I have learned to carry, or need to buy.

-Plug in cooler
-laptop computer(tigerdirect.com, newegg.com, pricewatch.com)
-lunchbox oven
-satellite radio
-CB, I bought a cobra 29LTD which works great
-laundry bag
-hangars
-portable filing cabneit
-two pairs of shoes
-shower shoes
-flashlight
-penetrating oil
-camera
-membership to audio adventures
-5th wheel puller

Feel free to add your own suggestions.

 

A few quick stories.

I was sitting at a Flying J on I40 inbetween Nashville and Memphis, I was doing my paperwork and randomly calling people liars on the CB. I guess I should explain that, every once in awhile when someone makes an obvious statement like, "sure is dark out" and its midnight I will scream "LIAR" on the CB. So I am taking care of some paperwork occasionally looking up, personal safety/bookie reasons, I see this couple walking across the parking lot. No big deal, they were across the way from me so it didn't really concern me. The woman was about 5'2" and lets just say over 300lbs and way past a size 24. Guy was of similar build, only about 5'6". He was being very gentleman like opening the passenger door for her, held her hand while she climbed up. Then at that point where you have to move your second foot onto the second step, this dude whipped around so fast if I blinked I would have missed it, he then rams his shoulder into her ### to finish pushing her into the truck. I just sat in my chair dumbfounded for 10 minutes, it is the most bizarre thing I have ever seen.

This story shows my lack of experience, I am in Ohio. I forgot where exactly, but it was an interstate. Its about midnight, for the past 30 minutes I have kept hitting slush, just enough for me to cruise around 50. Now I am the only one on the highway, I haven't passed any cars, I look in my mirrors and notice my trailer is doglegging now. It seems odd because it wasn't doing it before. I go around a curve, and it straightens back out. I keep on driving I notice its doing it again. I hadn't passed anyone in 20 minutes. I begin to think, then I realize I am seeing the eerie glow on a winter storm night. I am too nervous to pull off on an exit for fear of getting stuck, and I can kinda guess where the shoulder is. So I pull off on the shoulder, get out on the passenger side. And slip and fall. The entire road is just a sheet of ice, no more slush just ice. I only had 20 miles to go so I finished out and got to the shipper. But I am glad I stopped to take a look at the road way. I later find out that the salt trucks were afraid to go out that night.

 

I thought of another story. I was in Oklahoma, and I saw I was coming up on the windmill farms. So I get off on the service road, I find a place off the road to pull over, grab my camera and hop the fence. I start snapping off pics when a security truck pulls up. They ask, "Can I help you?" I said, "I know I jumped the fence I just wanted some closer pics to show the size of these things." I get interupted there and he says, "Well alot of people do, and most of them go thru the public gate over there. Just use it on your way out."