Starting out for rookies

Thanks Banjer. At age 50, taking on a completely different career is a bit scary but exciting. And, being out of work for a year and a half it will be good to get a pay check again.

 

I have to agree with you Piney. Being in corporate America for years, CYA is a way of life...like it or not. I do agree with American Trucker in that calling the cops as well as dispatch is a good idea. Again, I can't speak for myself yet but I am sure I will find out about all this when the you-know-what hit's the fan.

 

i guess i should have been more spacific.....I've BEEN THERE, DONE THAT! made it just fine lol


It just takes common sense and a little skill, slide your tandems forward and go!


I've also been through there with my dad years ago in his truck, long wheelbase KW with a 53'!





American Trucker

 

No!!!! Very daunting!

 

one of my first runs brought me through Dragons tail. you take up the whole road in some turns. I'd rather drive my Harley through it.

 

Where is US 129? What cities or towns is it close to?

 

BFE, wv......Google it! (US129 that is)




American Trucker

 

DeNoz, Aside from driving the truck I had a hard time getting used to all the Quallcom messages you have to send. I kept getting messages sent to me for all the messages I was forgetting to send. I never had a job where so much paperwork and computer messaging was involved.

One thing I think is not needed for us drivers is sending in the previous days hours and our current days "start time". The route planners and dispatchers have all the information sitting there on the computer right in front of them but we have to waste our time sending a message telling them how many Off duty, sleeper berth, driving and on duty hours we logged. Plus we have to send in a message telling them our "start time" for the day. Everytime I forget to send that message I get a message from them asking what time I started. I feel like telling them "Why don't you look at the time I logged into Quallcom for the day" seems like that would be much easier than them typing me a message and me having to type one back. I'm surprized they don't make us measure how much urine we pee'd out during the day and send a message telling them how many ounces it was.

 

Hey everyone, first time posting on here. I am looking into going to the ACT truck driving school at CTC here in Killeen, Texas. I am 24, have one at-fault accident on my driving record and I am on Deferred Adjudicated probation for a felony charge. Before I go to truck driving school I will be paying off my probation and will be released early. Some companies I have talked to are calling that a Felony Conviction, when I was never convicted or did time in prison. I did have some time in jail for it 2 years ago, so no Hazmat. and, call me crazy, but, I WANT to go OTR. I had an Uncle take me for a ride in his Peterbilt when I was 10 and have been crazy about truck driving since then. So far I am looking at Stevens Transportation or possible Werner. Any suggestions or advice that might help me?

 

And speaking of getting hit with a 2X4, that sensation came for me when I saw my first "Real" paycheck after being on my own without the trainer. A whopping $294. I had been scanning in my "trip sheets" all week and figured my check would be somewhere between $800 and $1,000. Boy what a surprise THAT was. We get paid "city to city" mileage not "hub" miles. I heard all this talk of detention pay, driver assist (to unload), hold-over pay....etc....etc. but apparently my company doesn't pay any of that. That check was followed up by a $320 check the following week. WooHoo!!! We're rolling in it NOW, Lol.

The biggest slap in the face came from a trip I did where it took me 3 hours to get a trailer out of an automated trailer yard. "Driver not in system", "wrong access code"....etc. After calling the customer service number about 20 times I finally get the trailer out and drove an hour to the destination site, they would not unload me because I missed my delivery time. So I park there until 8am the next day. It takes them 3 hours to get around to unloading me. I started this trip at about 3pm on one day and finished it at noon the next day, almost 24 hours. I end up getting paid a total of $23 for that particular run.

Truck driving is a 24 hour a day job, 7 days a week. After working 14 hours a day I spend an hour between finishing up my logbook and planning the next days route. When it gets close to shut down time I'm driving in the truck stop with fingers crossed hoping there will actually be a spot open. At least three days a week I find myself driving with hours expired looking for someplace to park the rig. 24/7 for $300 a week isn't really worth it to me. I keep trying to convince myself to hang in there but my patience is really running thin.