Need advice for tomorrow..

Hey everyone,
Got back from a good meal at a casino. Yes, I'm in the same Prostar, I bobtailed it to Vandalia, OH after a tire dealer proclaimed the truck legal (barely). A couple of days in a hotel and the truck now has 8 new drive tires with matching rims, new bumper and hood. Took it in for an alignment as well. I have continued to clean the truck interior and making it more comfortable.

Once up and running, I have never sat for a load. I was stuck on a lot of state highways at first but was fortunate to see long lost relatives near McAlester, OK one weekend and seeing my kids (adults) in Houston for a 34 hr reset.

My DM keeps me moving, but I have to say, they don't want to give me days off that I have coming, I have an abscessed tooth that took an act of Congress to get me home for. The DM is an older grouchier woman who isn't a people person or even appears to like truck drivers. My orientation buddy got a different DM and couldn't be happier, I have been asking to be switched, but so far, to no avail.

Over all, I'm going to see how it goes with the $$ and hometime, if it continues to improve, I'll build up more experience here and see what happens if the economy turns around.

 

Well not perfect... I had a heck of a time getting the hometime for this dental emergency and I still have a wait and see on the pay. It does beat being unemployed! Am I a whiner for wanting to get by the house every 3 weeks (3 days off) on average?

 

I have been running pretty decent and getting in the groove. Still climbing out of the advance pit and catching up on child support. I have been able to catch up with relatives and my kids in Houston and I think things have settled down with the DM. I'll have two years of otr this Nov, so I'm going to check my options then. In the meantime, I'm going to hang here.
They won't pay for truck washes and I have no place to wash it at home. I would be willing to take the bobtail through a coin wash if anyone has any suggestions. I don't think the trucks and trailers are that well maintained. The landing gear is as hard to crank down with no weight as some trailers I have had to crank up, loaded. Not getting lubed is the problem.

 

Hometime is an issue here! I have to fight for it and luckily have had dental reasons for getting home, otherwise I would be like the other drivers who don't get home.
This is just a job, not worth throwing away friends/family for.
You pretty much have to stand up to dispatch for realistic delivery times (trucks are too sloooow to make up time on the road). They have no problem putting you in a compromised position with hours, it's not their CDL or livelihood at stake.

I'm on hometime now, going to be much more militant about running legal when I get back on and I'm definitely looking elsewhere..