Watkins Shepard After Orientation

After jerking around Gallo in Modesto, I finally made it to SFS terminal. Wasn't too bad this time, only 3 trucks parked on the street. Made my delivery this morning, then I got handed my current load (17 stops up the California coast).

Lucky for me, my first stop was Vanderberg AFB, that wad such a joy, had just enough time to make one more stop in Santa Maria,Ca. I have another Santa Maria stop tomorrow, bit they don't open till 10 am, so my day is starting late.
The trip finishes in Salinas, Ca, then I figure Neo and all my other alcoholic buddies in LA will be ready for a truck load of California's finest wine "screw top Gallo", being the nice guy I am, I'll try to keep them fully stocked up.

Today is officially my 90 day mark, so I'll be getting a paycheck Friday or a pink slip. Haha. If I find the time, I'll do a 90 day recap for those interested in WS, it's only right since some group is going to be doing the same for me.

 

Well, it's been a week since I posted and all kinds of fun has occurred. I had my first collision last week!
It was the day after my last post, I was in San Luis Obispo, Ca making a delivery as part of the LTL load I was on. My RM GPS was giving me one route (the better route), but I followed the instructions given over the phone by the receiver, big mistake! She routed me how she would drive to work, after talking about it with her later, she said it was to help me avoid traffic?! I told her I was in a tractor with a 53' van, but she must have disregarded that little bit of information. Streets are small in San Luis Obispo, so when I made my first turn, I was wasn't as concerned, but 1/2 down the street, I knew I was in trouble when I was in a residential neighborhood. Let me be clear, the storage facility I was going to was located in a residential neighborhood, but my GPS was going to take me on a direct path (2 turns), her directions had me zigzag through side streets (that I didn't know were side streets till it was too late). I negotiated the path she gave me without fail, till I arrived at my stop. One turn to go, small residential street (24' wide), cars parked on both sides of the street I was on, and both sides of the street I was turning on. I was barely moving at a low gear idle, set my brakes twice to get out and check that I was clear, but ended up taking part of a mini van bumper off with my tail swing. Had I been moving faster than a crawl, Im certain I would have taken the entire front end with me. The woman was pretty cool, she was more concerned I disturbed her afternoon nap than she was about her car. Called safety, took my photos and report, made my delivery and was on my way.

Looking back, I ended up clearing the vehicle parked at the stop sign of the street I was turning left on to by about 3 feet (if you can get a visual), when I realized it was going to be close with the tail swing, I should have stopped the turn, backed up, moved over to my left an extra foot or two and then attempted the turn, I'm sure I would have cleared all had I done that, but hindsight is 20/20, right?

Got the run completed, got that wine load I was sure I'd have for NEO and all my alcoholic friends in LA, it actually delivered Monday, so I was able to stay at home for the weekend and make delivery yesterday AM. Wasn't able to get a load out of SFS yesterday, so I stayed at home last night (still here as a matter of fact), got a load of beer for my friends in Modesto that won't be ready till 1900 tonight, so I'm going to head to SFS terminal shortly.

It sucked, 1 day after my 90 days with the company, BAM! I hit a car... It turns out that the pay increase is based on time, not probation, so I received my increase from $0.25 to $0.28 (just a bit of info for those thinking of WS, some companies base your increase on "Successful" completion of your probation period, WS bases it on time not probation). Now lets be clear, my 90 day probation may now get extended by 1, 2 or 3 months, but that has nothing to do with pay, it just means they are watching you and auditing your logs a little closer, but the pay is not effected.

 

Yeah, had a few chats with safety. It's a lot easier to knock on the door and ask to have a vehicle moved than to knock on the door to tell them they need a new bumper.

 

Most companies probably show you the door for insurance reasons, same reason companies want 1 or 2 years exp. WS is self insured for these minor incidents, with a rider policy to cover major catastrophes.

They have a safety committee, all departments are on it, so one or two individuals don't make those type of decisions, but a large group. They evaluate and decide preventable vs non and reckless vs accident. I believe the company philosophy is, did he/she learn from the mistake. I'm certain if a similar incident were to occur in the near future, I might find the exit door, but for now its a learning experience.

 

Sitting on the side Of the 101 waiting for first stop to open! I wish I knew who plans these trips, it's like, "yeah, let's make the first stop the one that opens latest". Got my paperwork, only 3 stops on this run, so it should be a fast day. Second stop is 1 1/2 hours From first and third is 30 minutes from that. If I don't get routed up to Modesto for a load, I should be entering LA just in time for traffic. Yippy!!