Headed for Indianapolis for Orientation August 7th...

Update.....

Since my last post I made a delivery to Canada, and coming out of Canada was a PITA. The roads are jacked up and so you drive what seems like 3-4 miles through downtown Detroit to get back on the interstate. Certainly not ideal situation driving at slow speeds and stop lights every 100 yards. Anyways, got back and my next load took 15 hours to load, so I didnt complain and snuck home for a visit with family and a good night of sleep in my own bed (although I am beginning to feel like my own bed is in my truck, and my home bed is some resort destination).

Coming out again I made deliveries to Minneapolis and then St. Cloud , MN. I drove 620 and 540 miles in consecutive days, including hand unloading the entire trailer by hand. I think that is pretty darn respectable by anyone driving a truck that only goes 61 mph and has electronic logs!

Again this week I only had a hair over 2200 miles this week, but made over $200 in extra pay from stops and unloading. This should pan out to be my biggest check so far.

Next week will be very interesting. I have a delivery somewhere close to Trenton New Jersey, which means I will have to leave Sunday morning. However, my next stop is 24 hours later in Hartford, Conn. So my mental struggle is this. I could take a 3-4 hour drive up the turnpike and I95 gioing over the GW and through Harlem and the BRonx etc..OR I could take the 350 mile- 6-7 hour trip back Philly and up through Wilkes-Barre and over on I-80. Obviously my initial thoughts is I have 24 hours to get to my second stop so it would be easier for me to go the longer route and drive on roads I have traveled before and feel comfortable with. However, I feel like eventually I will need to go through and into NY City, so I might as well bite the bullet and go thru NY before I have to go INTO NY. Feel free to give your opinion below, as I have not even truly decided myself yet, lol.

Anyways, I feel like I had my best week last week of driving. No difficult people, delivery places, cities, or roads, plenty of parking each place I ran out of hours, made enough miles and enough extra cash for my troubles. I went to two new places (Detroit and Canada), I got home during the week (even if by accident), and just overall felt like I got done what I was told, on time and correctly, was safe and comfortable driving the truck, and earned a fair income for my effort. I am still thrilled with Schneider, and just hoping I could figure out a way to get home more often or regular.

Anyways, stay safe and good luck to all the new and/or student drivers thinking about driving careers with or without Schneider.

Raid3r

 

Well, as far as normal things like paying bills, I pay 90% of mine online anyways. I am home at least once I week as well. I suspect you could get a blackberry or iphone, or buy a wireless card, or buy an access package from somewhere like flying J or Pilot. However, if I was both a bachelor and an OTR who was out several weeks at a time, I would NOT have a place to call home, so I would not have any utility or home/rent payments, car payments, etc. I would be driving my truck, and when the need arose to be off, I would get routed to wherever I wanted to go. For what you save a month in rent and utilities, you could stay at the finest hotels or resorts for your few days a month you get off.

Raid3r

 

Well...
I went to my drop in NJ this morning. I sucked it up and sliced through NY on 95. Including going over the GW, i made it the 191 miles up to Hartford, CT. So fast in fact I was able to unload 18 hours early, and head home. I will gain an extra day at home tomorrow. Not much other updates other than saying I was happy to suck it up and go over the GW. Short for time, but wanted to let you know what happened.

Raid3r

 

So ....

On way back from Hartford alone I 84 in PA, I took off a couple hours early to stop near Scranton to visit with a friend I met online that I had never met, but have known for three years. Had a wonderful dinner, and was excited to feel like I had gained something or stole an opportunity from SNI, lol. Got back on Tuesday night and had a couple hours to run, but went home and spent the night with family instead f heading out. This morning I knew I had to go to Philly, but my drop was not until Thursday around noon. Funny is I knew better, but went ahead and drove into downtown Philly knowing good and well the HEat were playing the 76ers in their home opener. Anyways, I got into town with my pumpkin about 7:00pm, with all the other 20, 000 people who came to watch. I can see the stadium where the Flyers/76ers , the Eagles, and the Phillies play (glad they didnt have a world series game here tonight!). Since I am from Ohio, by law I have to boo LeBron and cheer for Evan Turner, so I walked over to see if I could pick up a ticket. I found one for $60 in the lower level. Realize, I have spent less than $2 supporting myself on the road. I have not bought anything for myself, not even a meal or any snacks, since I have been on the road. I do pack food, but have only bought one drink when my truck was in the shop in INDY and I had no access to my truck. Anyways, I thought it was nice to splurge a little bit and again fele like I was taking advantage of SNI by them paying me to drive to the basketball game. PLus, since I parked at the customer, I got free parking!

Anways, I have alot better attitude this week, because in the 4 days I have been out..I stayed with a friend one night, stayed at home a second, went to watch the Heat and 76ers the third, and tomorrow I will run out of hours at the yard 15 minutes from home. I am sure I will have to run on friday, which means I wont get back until Saturday , which means I will have worked 7 days in a row, but with the home time and experiences I had, the week went by fast, and I will have over 3,000 miles.

Raid3r