Shaffer Driver Chat Room

Okay, sorry it took so long to post this but I am finally at a truck stop with internet.

The cost of the unit is $900. They take fifty bucks out every week until it is paid off. I think they said that if you leave you get the nine hundred bucks back but you'd have to check on that.

There were two older guys with me when I went for the test. One of them did not need the cpap. The other did and had to retake the physical to get a one year card and his blood pressure was high and could only get a 3 month card. Well Crete doesn't accept 3 month med cards so he had to go home and see his doctor. Kinda felt sorry for the old guy...73 yrs old and been drivin forever and now he's screwed.

The model is: Phillips respironics remstar pro c-flex+(With humidifier and modem) The one below doesn't seem to have the humidifier or modem on it.

http://www.directhomemedical.com/ma...s-ds450.html?gclid=COS1oduB2K4CFcMQNAodXl3yeg

 

So I started with Shaffer on the 20th of February 2012. I finally got my truck on the following Friday. The truck was filthy and even though the company that details the trucks there at New Kingstown said that they had detailed it they in fact did not. I got one of the mechanics there to look at the inside of the truck and he confirmed that the truck had not been cleaned. So I spent a large part of Friday afternoon cleaning the truck myself because I already had my stuff in it and I figured I would get going faster if I did it myself. I got a load that evening from Elizabethtown, Pa to Atlanta that picked up at 4am Sat and delivered on Tuesday. (Even though I had set my pta for 0700 that morning..no big deal, but a prelude of things to come.) On the way down to Atlanta, the truck died while I was going down the interstate. I pulled over and tried to figure out what was wrong. I checked the oil and all the fluids(even though I had just done this when I got the truck the day before). I called breakdown and they said to wait and try to restart it so I did. I turned the key off and let it sit for a few minutes and tried to start it and it started right up with good oil pressure and all so breakdown says to keep driving and if I have any more problems to call them back and to have it checked at the Marietta term. So I pulled out and went on my merry way. Well the truck died twice more on the way down but each time I did the same thing I had done the first time and finally made it to the Marietta terminal. If it hadn't been Saturday and really light traffic I would have made them call a tow truck. So I tcall the load at Marietta and put my truck on the list to get into the Marietta shop. While I was there they gave me a day cab to run shuttle runs from Cleveland, Tn back to Atlanta. I was supposed to run 2 runs but dispatch didn't get me the load info in time and I could only run one run. The truck was in the shop until Tuesday afternoon and turns out it was the exhaust filter that was clogged. While I was there at the terminal they made me take a defensive driving course and attend a safety meeting, which kept me from getting a restart. So I was down for 4 days with all that bs. So now on Wed I get a load out of Atlanta delivering to Camp Hill, Pa with a stop in Baltimore, MD. I go to the shipper and get there an hour early, at like 4pm. It takes them 14 hours to load me. I spend most of that time in the sleeper so I had my break there and took off in the morning for Baltimore. While there they tell me that my first stop is Camp Hill and not Baltimore as I have been told. I bring this up to dispatch. They say no it was changed to the other way around. Ok...I go to Baltimore. I get to Baltimore and take a 10 and get to my first stop at 3:15am for a 4am delivery. I back in and can feel the guy unloading stuff from trailer. About 20 minutes go by and the guy comes out. I'm like..cool already unloaded ahead of schedule. The guy comes up to me and says that I'm not going to like what he has to say. His stuff is in the front of the trailer and he is not unloading the other stuff to get to it. At this point I am kicking myself for not going Crete instead of Shaffer. So I call dispatch and tell them and I want to head to my second(Which should have been first stop). They say no that they see how I asked about this the day before and for me to stay there until the day shift gets there. Whatever. I park illegally and wait. At 8am central time(9 where I am-over 5 hours later) I get a qualcomm message. All it says is, "Go to second stop." Whatever dumb ###. So off to Camp Hill I go and luckily I am able to tcall the second stop at the New Kingstown terminal as it has been rescheduled for 8am Monday. Now it is already Friday and I know there is a good chance I could be left sitting all weekend in New Kingstown so I ask about loads. I get a message back asking if I would like to play yard jockey at a local candy company. I say no I'd rather have a load. They say there are none and they will get me a 1000 mile run to Iowa if I do this. Okay fine. I play yard jockey. It's not too bad and I probably lost 10lbs getting into and out of the truck 30+ times. I did that from 2pm to 2am Sat. and Sun. night. Monday comes around and I get the Iowa load. I take off with it and they send me a message on the way for me to tcall it in Ottawa, Il. This cuts my load short by almost 300 miles. I get to Illinois and drop the trl and immediately get a load for 300+ miles from Il to back to West Jefferson, Oh. I pick it up and head to Oh. I get there and it is a live unload and I have 2 hours left on my 70. I ask them how long to unload. She says more than 2 hours. I tell her my story and she says I can drop the trl and head out and come back in the morning. I tell dispatch what is going on and head to truck stop. I am offered a 100 mile load to Twinsburg, Oh that delivers at 5am. I tell my dispatcher that I am picking up 14 hours at midnight and I would like a longer load. He says over the qualcomm, "Are you going to take the load". I think about it. I take the load thinking I will get a good load after. So I have to get up at 11:30 pm to go get my trailer after midnight at the Target Dist. Center where I dropped it, get over to the Columbus terminal where my load was is waiting for me. I get fuel, drop, hook and get going and get to the place at 4:30 am. The place doesn't open until 5:30. I get in the door at 5:45, get comcheck, unloaded in about 25 minutes, do empty call, set my pta for 16:00 and head to truck stop to sleep because I have had about an hour of sleep since yesterday morning. On the way to truck stop qualcomm beeps. I get to truck stopa and find load offering to Virginia that picks up at 10am. I ask can I pick up up that afternoon. No must pick up at 10 am. I tell them I can't pick up until afternoon. They say let us know when you are ready for a load. I say my PTA is 16:00. Soo....here it is 24 hours later and just got offered a load to New York and deadhead about 2 hours to pick up at 16:00. The load doesn't deliver until Tuesday next week, so I asked for another but they said I can tcall in New Kingstown. I wouldn't be suprised if they tell me to turn in the truck but I am about ready to jump ship anyway. Next company I go to will be a small one and with trucks that will go the speed limit on most US interstates.

 

I've come to the conlusion that it's impossible to be nice to these dispatchers and such. They push even the nicest people to the point of being ugly with them...I've tried my darndest to be nice but I just can't...lol.

 

You mean for the 14 hrs? It was Atlanta Market. They do Kraft stuff.

There are at least two Patricks there. I also have one of them. I'll get back with u later. Only phone again. I'm stuck at New Kingstown supposed to go home this week.

 

I looked for the model number on the bottom of the machine but didnt see anything. The box was just plain brown. It comes with a bag to put it in.

Honestly I'm exhausted all the time now. I'm constantly waking up with air blowing into my eyes because the mask is leaking at the top of my nose. I talked to some other drivers this weekend who said that they were having the same problem. If it were working u should feel less tired and have more stamina.