Question?

Good morning all,
I just got back home after a very long & daunting series of training with SNI. And what I can tell you from "My" experiance is just that. "MY EXPERIANCE"

While although I had driven dry bulk many years ago, and since then, been off the road, SNI had me starting back over just as if I had never driven before. When I cantacted their recruiting dept, from the beginning, I was hearded like cattle being pushed in the direction that "THEY" wanted me to go, regardless as to what I wanted OR felt comfortable in doing. Miss. Hill (the recruiter) consistantly refused to listen or allow me to go into the Dry van division as I had requested, and continued to push me into the Bulk division, even though:

1. I was 100% insistant that I didn't want to be in bulk nor wanted anything to do with it.

2. On several occasions, I pointed out on their job board, that there were serveral job openings for new student drivers for dedicated drivers for Target & JC Pennys.

3. On site Dispatchers & reps for both Target & Penny's stated that they would be more than thrilled to have me and stated that all it would take would be for Mrs. Hill to allow me to transfer over to them. But, what ever authority she holds, regardless of what I said or spoke to, there was No way in Hell they were going to allow me to transfer.

My training began out at their Dallas, TX OC in which I was there for 7 days. During the stay, they provided 2 us with 2 meal tickets per day (Lunch & dinner) and while the food was adaquate, If you eat like a bird, these meals will tie you over. But if you require more, plan on spending the bucks as their OC's are right in line with some of the more expensive truck stops.

During their training for bulk, you will be required to go through Map & trip planning and you better be within the 10% range, using Their approved truck stops for fuel & tire replacement centers. Anything out side those areas, You will be required to pay for out of your pocket.

You will be required to climb up on the bulk trailers and walk those cat walks, bend, stoop down, open up the lids or other caps, and then resuqure them in a timely manner. If you are affraid of heighths, have any kind of fears or what ever from walking on a very narrow catwalk (less than 12" wide) at any height, this is not for you, & yes, they will notice this & you will not pass.

You had better know how to shift (smoothly, no grinds, no jerky or shaky shifts of any kind on their 10 speeds.) Most of their newer trucks are dd13's and are extreamly sensitive to being percise to the shifting window. Again, if you can't do it, forget it, you've wasted your time.

If you have had ANY kind of traffic, drug or other ciminal charges in the past 10 years, don't bother going. They do take urin as well as Hair and soon, blood samples for their drug testing, leaving no room for sneaking by. While going through training, forget all notions of having a beer etc, as YOU WILL BE TESTED at a time they choose. If caught, you're sent home.

When it comes to hanling their hoses / other equipment, you better be in top shape. Using their hoses, filled with product, the weight of just one home can get up to as much as 80 + lbs, & Yes, You will be required to lift it up (in some cases) as high as your head, depending upon where you are off loading at. You must begin the walk off of the product at it's highest point and walk it back, (while putting on connections). If you lack upper body strength, you can easily exaust yourself too early and will fail.

The various PPE they require you to where, Be prepared to be totally uncomfortable & misserable. Especially the Gumby suit. Certain chemicals require you to have it on from beginning to end, and let me tell you, YOU WILL END UP having at least 1" of sweat inside your boots by the time you are finnished. Durring this unload, you WILL put on a heavy 2 pc rubber suit, knee high rubber boots, Rubber chem gloves, a hard hat with face shield as well as goggles. If you dehydrate easily, DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS FIELD. RUN!!!! As you will need to be forcing as much Liquids into your body as you can possibly hold beginning at least 2 days ahead of time, before the unload. To give you an example of how much, let me put it to you this way:

I stand 5'6'', 150lbs. beginning 2 days out from the unload, I put away, 4 gallons of milk, 9 gallons of gatorade, 4 gallons of water, 23 bannas, 8 oranges, 6 large salads. During the unlad process, It was totally Unbareably hot. So hot, I could feel myself wanting to pass out. Swet was litterlly pouring down my body inside this suit like someone turning on a water faucet, non-stop. This lasted for about 3.5 hours. (from the beginning of hooking things up until all the hoses were nested in the side tray and everything buttoned up after the unload process) When I was finally able to take the suit off, there was not a stitch of dry area on my body. Including underclothing, socks, etc. When I turned my boots upside down, one would swear that I had filled them up with water, that is how much came out of them. I continued to drink water & gatorade durring & well after the unload. It wasn't until a day & a half later did I over come the thirst factor. Forget hard foods, all I wanted was something to quench the thirst, and regarless of what or how much, that thirst was not going away.

So, before going into this, keep all of this in mind.

Since I have finnished my training with my trainer, (another full 14 days) I am back home for a few days waiting for my SQT testing class, which I hear it is another 7 days long of testing.

Oh yeah, before I forget, When it comes to shifting, forget everything you've been taught with dry van shifting. With liquid bulk, YOU HAVE TO shift with the flow of the load. NO QUICK, NO SUDDEN shifting, DEFINATELY NO FLOATING OF THE GEARS PERIOD. If you try doing any of the mentioned, you will only do it once, & from that point on, you will want to have a messuse ready for your back, as the load will come up & hit your back so hard, you will swear you've been hit by a line backer running at full speed. DO NOT EVER attempt to shift while turning of any kind. WAIT for both the truck & trailer to be in perfect alignment with each other. If not, you can easily find yourself on your side. Keep a minimum of 10 seconds behind those in front of you, at all times and a minimum of 10mph under the posted limits in ALL Curves. NO Sudden lane changes, EVER. Think of Grandma on the interstate, you know the one, she takes 5 minutes to go from one lane to the other, and you swear she's not moving over at all. This is how SNI wants you to handle these loads, and after going through the process, I fully understand why & stongly suggest you do the same. Get ####y, get dead. Bottom line.

I'll try & answer more questions as I can.

Thanks for reading

 

And here is where you are absolutely wrong, in regards to Schneider & DOT Regs, ANY Vehical, regardless if Privately owned, Leased, or rented by a commercial Motor Carrier, while you are inside that vehical, you are "ON DUTY" line 4, UNLESS in a motor Vehical greater than rated 26,000 lbs gross weight.

Also, Taken Directly from the FMCSR:

Here

HERE

On duty time means all time from the time a driver begins to work or is required to be in readiness to work until the time the driver is relieved from work and all responsibility for performing work. On-duty time shall include:

(1) All time at a plant, terminal, facility, or other property of a motor carrier or shipper, or on any public property, waiting to be dispatched, unless the driver has been relieved from duty by the motor carrier;
(2) All time inspecting, servicing, or conditioning any commercial motor vehicle at any time;
(3) All driving time as defined in the term driving time;
(4) All time, other than driving time, in or upon any commercial motor vehicle except time spent resting in a sleeper berth;
(5) All time loading or unloading a commercial motor vehicle, supervising, or assisting in the loading or unloading, attending a commercial motor vehicle being loaded or unloaded, remaining in readiness to operate the commercial motor vehicle, or in giving or receiving receipts for shipments loaded or unloaded;
(6) All time repairing, obtaining assistance, or remaining in attendance upon a disabled commercial motor vehicle;
(7) All time spent providing a breath sample or urine specimen, including travel time to and from the collection site, in order to comply with the random, reasonable suspicion, post-accident, or follow-up testing required by part 382 of this subchapter when directed by a motor carrier;
(8) Performing any other work in the capacity, employ, or service of, a motor carrier; and
(9) Performing any compensated work for a person who is not a motor carrier.
Seven consecutive days means the period of 7 consecutive days beginning on any day at the time designated by the motor carrier for a 24-hour period.


§395.8 Driver’s record of duty status.
(a) Except for a private motor carrier of passengers (nonbusiness), every motor carrier shall require every driver used by the motor carrier to record his/her duty status for each 24 hour period using the methods prescribed in either paragraphs (a)(1) or (2) of this section.


(e) Failure to complete the record of duty activities of either this section, §395.15 or §395.16 failure to preserve a record of such duty activities, or making of false reports in connection with such duty activities shall make the driver and/or the carrier liable to prosecution.

(h) (4) On duty not driving. A continuous line shall be drawn between the appropriate time markers to record the period(s) of time on duty not driving specified in §395.2.


NOTE: If a change of duty status occurs at a location other than a city, town, or village, show one of the following: (1) the highway number and nearest milepost followed by the name of the nearest city, town, or village and State abbreviation, (2) the highway number and the name of the service plaza followed by the name of the nearest city, town, or village and State abbreviation, or (3) the highway numbers of the nearest two intersecting roadways followed by the name of the nearest city, town, or village and State abbreviation.


NOTE: The driver in this instance reported for duty at the motor carrier’s terminal. The driver reported for work at 6 a.m., helped load, checked with dispatch, made a pretrip inspection, and performed other duties until 7:30 a.m. when the driver began driving. At 9 a.m. the driver had a minor accident in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and spent one half hour handling details with the local police. The driver arrived at the company’s Baltimore, Maryland, terminal at noon and went to lunch while minor repairs were made to the tractor. At 1 p.m. the driver resumed the trip and made a delivery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between 3 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. at which time the driver started driving again. Upon arrival at Cherry Hill, New Jersey, at 4 p.m., the driver entered the sleeper berth for a rest break until 5:45 p.m. at which time the driver resumed driving again. At 7 p.m. the driver arrived at the company’s terminal in Newark, New Jersey. Between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m. the driver prepared the required paperwork including completing the driver’s record of duty status, driver vehicle inspection report, insurance report for the Fredericksburg, Virginia accident, checked for the next day’s dispatch, etc. At 8 p.m., the driver went off duty.

D. 14-HOUR DUTY PERIOD

D-1. May a driver be on duty for more than 14 consecutive hours?

Yes. A driver may remain on duty for more than 14 hours; however, the driver of a property-carrying CMV cannot drive after the 14th hour after coming on duty. Also, the additional on-duty time will be counted toward the 60/70-hour on-duty limit.


So, when the company, (Company XYZ) provides an individual with any motor vehical, regardless of Owned, leased, or a rental, the employee MUST log such time as On Duty, NOT Driving (any Motor Vehical under 10,000 gwt.) This includes any time spent at an OC acting as a shuttle driver for the company. So, you need to be aware of this when ever at the OC & they ask you to take another driver or students some where for them. If you are out of Hours for the week or day, You can legally Tell them NO!! and is stated so in the FSCSR. But also be aware that at any time, they can require you to also show this time on your logs on line 4. The new HOS rules & regs are making it much harder for both parties to skip by with breaking the 11, 14 & 70 hr rules. And if you get caught, You risk a huge fine & marks against your CDL. -- Just not worth the risk.

 

If a company that you are working for pays you or reimburses you for ANYTHING pertaining to your work, (travel to & from work locations, on standby & ready to climb into a cmv, or performing any kind of labor for that company, then regardless of what it is, you must log that on line 4, on duty not driving. However, a company can not & must not require you to exceed the 14hr rule, after which, you ust take a consecutive 10 hrs off duty, before you may return to duty.

This includes the scenario of you using your personal vehical to travel from one OC to another, from a customer or business etc to the place where your truck is located. If it is for company business, then yes, this is also logged on line 4 as you are doing other duties for the company.

Now, the one thing that gets a lot of folks into trouble with the IRS is thinking that they can take the mileage or fuel deduction on their taxes. Not neccessarily so, IF the company reimbursed them for those expences. Doing so is seen as double dipping, and of course, the IRS will see this and slap you with a penalty.

 

In this instance, No. You are absolutely correct. As with any job, (most folks) live within 100 miles from their job, and therefore, do not get paid in either case to & from work, when comming from home or to home. However, if you live 50 miles+ from your place of work, according to the IRS, you can take the miles deduction and / or, if you are having to use public transportation, ( Bus, train, taxi etc) you can deduct those expences at the end of the year on your taxes (depending upon the state in which you live in).