I give it to TMC for giving noobs new peterbilt trucks. I wouldn't trust noobs in those expensive trucks.
Are they training the new guys to drive a truck with a real transmission, or have they switched to automatics like so many of the other big companies?
I am in heavy agreement with this exact point. I could barely ####ing carry a tarp when I came over here like 2 and 1/2 years ago or so, cuz I did it so very rarely back when I was with Swift. I have had one tarp load this year and maybe a handful last year. And if the forklift don't get it up there or whatever machine don't get it up there it don't get tarped. The only thing I have to deal with every now and then is them big one by one blocks I'll try to use my railroad ties more for everything just because they're lighter. I ain't even going to lie there was sometime last year I just threw the things on the lower deck and threw a strap over it till I got a machine that had a bucket and then I threw the tarps up on the neck. And also my secret weapon is sending the wife over to do the damsel in distress could you please help us sir routine. She don't scare them near as much as I do
i dont have an automatic restriction, but 99 percent of the fleet is automated. the specialized trucks are the 18 speed autos, and the linehaul trucks are detuned to 435hp and 65mph.
Wow...Swift must have changed their customers or something. I was tarping every load other than vehicle chassis we hauled out of Greer, SC. Coils, lumber...everything got tarped. I actually enjoyed it, and went from a size 42 waist (at that time. ) to a size 38 within months, and I was 51/52 at that time.
I would say maybe one in three of my loads at best maybe one in four of my loads was tarped towards the end. But almost without exception I'd have the forklifts put them up there and even often I'd have them put them back on the trailer after I roll them up. Maybe I got lucky with customers but whatever it wasn't like I didn't occasionally at least put them back on the trailer but towards the end I never put them on a load. I mean I unrolled them I put them on the load you know stretch them out and everything but save for a very few occasions I never put the actual tarp up on top of the load myself. And actually I probably gained about 50 lbs going from Van to flatbed. Cuz before I just didn't eat a lot but I couldn't get away with that doing flat but I overdid it. And when I switch to pulling lowbed I gained more. Although I am losing weight finally. Have been for a bunch of months. Because I run maybe 6,000 miles a month best only do a handful of loads a month if I'm lucky so I've been working on getting myself active and making sure to make my own food that's a lot healthier.
well i finished orientation today. definitely have mixxed reviews on the company. i must say im glad i took the initiative to seek out my trainer on my own. most people in our class have a week off or more while they wait. we started with about 30 ppl and ended with 20 or so. i honestly dont know exact figures because i was there for me and no one else. it definitely was an experience. and i met some cool truck buddies that ill stay in contact with. im heading down to new Orleans to meet my trainer currently. they pay for my hotel on weekends, i live in Minnesota so going home weekends isnt an option haha
That’s funny as I just read your post I am sitting in Alexandria MN getting loaded to head to Modest CA
You would definitely pass that test dude. I did. They have the instructor ( who weights like 140 soaking wet, show everyone the proper way ) leaning it on your shoulder and bending your knees properly as you lift up... Very easy. The only 2 guys in my class that failed were big boys and couldn't jump ( lift them selves ) up on the center off the trailer without a running start...
yea that tarp test they do is probably the most physical thing you gotta do. the one guy that couldn't get it up was as tall as the bottom of the trailer at the peak of its arch, his rounded cowboy boots didnt help, but then again he could hardly pick up a steel tarp, let alone the lumber tarp.
