Thinking about USA

My first 400+ mile day today since i started driving local... Its annoying when a 62-63 mph truck gets infront of me (hammer lane) when he could have waited a few seconds and got behind me (was clear). Sorry... just annoyed the hell out of me when I did a 200 mile deadhead home lol.

 

Actually, I've come close. Started out with a Harrisburg (PA) to Portland (OR) run; that's about 2700 miles in 4.5 days right there. After that was a run from Boardman, OR to Denver, CO. I was already at 3400 miles before that second run was over (and ###### near out of hours for the week); too bad it didn't all go on one check. Wore me out pretty good, though; I needed a little R&R after that.

And, yes, I run a 63 mph truck. Just have to keep the left door closed.

On the other hand he did claim to be averaging that many miles per week; now that I think about it, you're right - that really is doubtful.

 

I have had a couple of 3400-3500 weeks too Tech. It's possible, now and again. Average? Heck NO!

These new drivers are always talking, ok I will say it, telling lies. "My truck is faster than yours", "My Dad is tougher than your Dad", whatever!

When I encounter this I go thru the math with them and they shut up pretty quickly. No sense in allowing the seed of foolishness to sprout, it's already over running the garden !

 

I stay to the right, it makes me mad too. Some folks don't have any sense!

 

I don't care if another slow truck wants to pass another slower truck, but do it when the road is open lol.. not when you see a truck in the hammer lane coming up to you. Like when i see a dump bucket speeding down or an o/o coming up.. i stay to the right.

And in Pittsburgh I still don't feel 100% comfortable going 65-70mph but I do sometimes haha... stupid 55 mph speed limit.

 

You doubt me? Why exactly? I know the guy might have exaggerated his miles but I know the logbook part was true because he showed me. That's part of the irony I felt in the story was seeing inside of his truck. By his admission, he had only been in his truck 1 month. Yet he had an expensive cb setup complete with extra speakers, dual large coil antennas, and a power amp. He also had a big flat screen tv mounted, XM and satellite tv receivers, a coffee maker, and lots of other gadgets. Now had he been an OO or someone who'd been driving many years with all this crap, I could see that. But as I said, he was 22 and one month out of a trainer truck with everything but chicken lights and a blowup doll. Then trying to convince me of the wisdom of how to cheat the system and make more money without getting caught.
Now I'm not a veteran driver, and Ive only been with this company for 6 months, but I know better than to try to outsmart the management. And I certainly know better than to try to deck out my truck when I'm not even dry behind the ears and obviously haven't become a Jedi master in docking.

 

3600 miles requires a driver to get at least 600 miles a day for 6 days or 500 miles a day for 7 days. With USA Truck's spiderweb system this is almost impossible to do over a 6 or 7 day period. I average around 2800 to 3000 miles a week and that's running hard between all the grocery warehouses I am in. When I drove for USA Truck (when I was not in a shop somewhere) I was on a dock most times 4 or 5 times a week. If your doing a lot of east west runs getting 3600 is not hard, but USA Truck does very little of this in general freight. I can buy the multiple logs, but 3600 miles a week week in and week out is a big stretch.

 

maybe he has some good investments and is able to draw from an unlimited stack of loot? Or mommy and daddy spoil him? maybe he has a great girlfriend who pays for his services? either way, the content of his truck has no bearing on his ability to drive, Who care how much stuff he has in his truck? If he showed you the log books......and gets caught down the road, don't you think that shines an unfavorable light on USA, and all the drivers? Putting a target on folks that otherwise would not have an issue with DOT? Are we are brothers keeper? Sometimes I would suppose. Should you have told on him, I'm not sure.

I'm a skeptical person and this story still reeks of BS. I can't doubt you seen the logs, but if you did and stood by as this wreckless person put your company and you at risk.........

 

its not impossible to do, I run GF and it is not impossible to do. Load assignments are given with the thought of "can this person get it there AND have they a proven track record". 3600 mpw? Not in a USA truck, 2900-3000 is reasonable yet this seems unlikely only being out a month.

If your running, you had better be at the dock 4-5 times a week, those 500 mile runs add up.

 

As for the junk on his truck, it certainly has bearing on his ability. In my experience, the worst drivers I've encountered (not just USA) have 10 tons of ridiculous BS in/on their trucks. Him being young tells me that it's an attempt to compensate for a feeling of inadeqacy. Basically, "I'm greener than a stalk of celery but I don't want the other drivers to know I'm a rookie." It's pure silliness.

The story is 100% factual as I've told it. You have to understand I'm just off a 9 year stint in the Army. The ridiculous people and ridiculous situations I encounter every day on this job never cease to amaze me. I can't make this stuff up nor do I have any reason to. Im here to make a living, not impress others.

As far as not reporting him....I gave up on that sort of thing. I used to do this with drivers that acted stupid at customers, at drivers that committed dangerous acts on the road, and hell I even reported that license plates were being stolen in broad daylight from trailers in Laredo by Mexican drivers. Don't believe me huh? Guess what....I saw it happen. Nobody cared. My FM told me it never went above his ops manager. I've referred businesses that were interested in getting freight quotes. Nobody ever followed back up. I like this company, don't get me wrong. But when nobody else seems to care, I'm not going to crusade. I mind my business, intervene only when I can't resist and keep the truck between the lines.