On the fence - New trucks, thinking about leaving job

Well on a positive point, he can't seem to find decent drivers that can keep their trucks out of the ditches and stay on the good side of the law.

We asked him one time. Were did you find these guys. he just kinda laughed and said. You should have seen the ones I turned away.

Another positive point is that it is hard for him to find drivers willing to cross into Canada. Something that is almost a must for one of the plants we go to.

Going to beat my own drum a bit here but I have never parked in a ditch, never wrecked the equipment, never had a fender bender other then sliding on the ice in my private pickup and bumping a bridge rail. I can and do cross into Canada. I can and do camp in the truck. Especially when he asks or if I run to Jamestown in the late afternoon and can pickup a return load to Grand Forks in the morning. This equals less empty miles and more paid miles.

In the summer when both plants are down, most of the drivers collect easy money doing the unemployment thing while the trucks sit not making money. Not me. I hook to a belly dump and run all summer. The other guys refuse to hook to a dump and work. I am willing to bet that this 3.5 to 4 mpg 379 has made way more then enough money to make up for its lower fuel economy. I am willing to bet that I have put more profit in the bosses pockets that some of the aero trucks that don't go more then 150 miles from base and sit all summer long.

 

JUst got home from a trip. Loaded two ways over 100,000 lbs gross, camped over night in a small town so had the truck running all night. Fueled up when I got back and did the math. I did pretty good as I averaged a tick under 4 mpg for the trip.

I had to sit in Grand Forks for a bit as the boss called me and said that a sales rep from Peterbilt was on his way over to look at the truck. I asked the rep if he had an idea what trucks they were thinking about and he did not know yet. Just there to get a value on the truck.

 

We have a whole bunch of 386s in the fleet. For one they have 54 inch sleepers and a plastic junk hood on them. Plastic bumpers and plastic skirting on the sides. They rattle worse then an old farm truck and they are 2010s and 2011s. Also the front axles are set back further then the 389s which makes them ride like c hit.

If they don't put a big square hood on the new truck and don't put atleast a 63 inch bunk on it and if they put either white or light blue paint on it. I am gone. Pure and simple.