Danny Herman Vs. Crete. Suggestions? Honest feedback needed.

WELL...time for an update. Strap in gentlemen because this is gonna be a wild ride.

I finished my orientation on a Friday. Second day was similar to the first, plus a road test and pre-trip inspection. Got my truck that afternoon, moved in, took off to Chillicothe, OH the next morning. Thirty miles down the road, the transmission basically goes out. Had to go back to Phillipsburg. Was told that the part that the truck needed would be in by Monday and I’d be off again then. No big deal...so I thought.

Monday rolls around, and the part doesn’t show up. Another night in the hotel. Tuesday afternoon at two 2pm, the part was installed and I’m off to San Antonio. I go to pull onto the interstate three miles away, and guess what? The transmission starts doing the same thing it had been doing Saturday when I first tried to leave. So, I turn right back around and head for the yard...again. Truck almost farted and died pulling in. Another night at the Super 8 in Lebanon, MO.

Wednesday evening, I’m given another truck. A 2020 Kenworth T680 with waaaaay less miles. So I start heading toward San Antonio again. Stopped for fuel in Strafford, MO, scaled the load, parked over at the McDonalds and was planning on getting a fresh start in the morning.

Well...the APU goes out. Right back to Phillipsburg I go. Mechanics were there until 10pm and pulled me right in. APU was fixed that night. No big deal, I thought. I’ll just try and leave Phillipsburg AGAIN in the morning.

Thursday morning, I take off for the final time. All is well, I’m thinking. At the end of the day, I make to Temple, TX for the night. APU goes out again. Now, I’m starting to get fairly frustrated. Luckily, it wasn’t unbearably hot out, and I got through the night with no issues. However, when Friday comes along, I head to the Thermo King in San Antonio after my delivery at the Toyota plant.

The repair didn’t take very long, but long enough to botch my reload to Paris Kentucky. Had to drop at the Hutchins, TX yard in the Dallas area. Not really a big deal, as I was immediately given a pre-plan for a pickup back down in San Antonio headed for Gilbert, AZ. The load was a day late being picked up, through no fault of my own as I had originally been planned for Paris Kentucky. That, combined with the APU issues and the trouble coming with finding an empty in Dallas for the Gilbert load, made for a bit of a rushed trip.

Oh, and I should probably mention that I was paid 500 miles each day that I was dealing with the transmission issues. Which was about 5 days worth. So I thought that was a pretty good deal. Everyone was good to me and helped me with everything. However, I still don’t want to go through that much crap in such a short amount of time ever again. Lol.

I’m sitting outside of my delivery in Gilbert now waiting for them to open. Don’t know where I’m headed next yet, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon. Hopefully my streak of bad luck is over, because I’m mentally exhausted after all of that.

Was a pretty good trip to Gilbert, though...

 

Been a little while so I thought I’d update the thread.

So far, I like it here at DHT. I’ve been running since the 10th of March and won’t be heading home until mid June. By my choice, of course. But with the miles I’ve been running and the money I’ve been making, I don’t really want to go home. Lol.

I plan on posting my weekly mileages when I get home. Just to give someone who might be interested in what they could possibly expect when coming out here.

Also, a new pay structure will be going into effect on the 1st of June. No longer are we required to run at least 12,000 miles a month to be eligible for the 2 cent mileage bonus. They’ve scrapped that completely, and raising solo driver pay from .44 CPM to .48 CPM. If you’ve got a haz mat endorsement, I believe your pay is bumped up to .49 CPM. But don’t hold me to that, I can’t remember.

Teams get a 4 cent increase (2 cents each driver) on their base weekly pay. Don’t know how much of an increase this would be for a team, as I am a solo. But there it is.

Quarterly and yearly safety bonuses stay the same at 1 cent per quarter and year if met.