USA TRUCK

alright guys i am outta here.. bedtime for me here in west virignia anymore questions and i will answer them tomorrow l8tr guys and b safe out their

 

the way i was taught is (and it works!) put the rear tandem axle under the end of the load. if it is front to back top to bottom put the mud flap five feet from the end of the trailer.

 

dangittt driver!! where is it?

 

Before I started training, I'd go home every 3 weeks, for 3 days. Sometimes 4 weeks on for 4 days off. Just make sure your hubby puts in the correct date for his next date home at the end of his Macro 15 on the Qualcomm when he leaves the house. For example, I'm leaving tomorrow, and want to be home on December 23. I'll put 12/23/07 down in my Macro 15, in the blank labeled "Next Requested Home Date". Normally, I'm required to be out for 4 weeks and some change, being a trainer. This time, I got home for Thanksgiving and will be home for Christmas, so it's just under 4 weeks, so I'll probably get a 2-week student. (I'll also be using some of my vacation time while I'm home, since I'm not leaving the house till January 2, but that's another matter).

Mostly, whether your hubby gets home on the date requested is dependent on a few variables:

1. How freight is moving (i.e. is there a load near where he is a day or two before home time, going in the direction of home, that he can deliver on his way home or right after he leaves home)
2. Where home is
3. Who your hubby's fleet manager is

We also have a "guaranteed home date" thing your hubby can use. It's a single day each month, that he can put in to absolutely positively be at home on that day. He might pull in the driveway early in the morning and have to leave just after lunchtime, or pull into the driveway at lunchtime and have to leave after dinner, but he'll be through the house on that day if he specifies that he wants to use a guaranteed home date. It's mostly for things like kids' birthdays, anniversaries, doctor visits, weddings, etc. That single day is not subject to the "you must be out a minimum of 2 weeks before going home" rule, IIRC.

As a note, I've been home within 24 hours of noon on the day I requested to be home every time I've been out, with 2 exceptions, which were both me getting home around noon on the 2nd day after my requested home date. Both times were due to a combination of poor freight conditions and shippers taking forever to put the loads on my truck that would take me home.

Here's how it happened the last time I was out. I had requested the 20th (the Tuesday before Thanksgiving) as my home date. It took a while to arrange for a student while I was out, and I ended up with a student who would be eligible for testing on the morning of the 20th. No problem, I don't mind being home a day late so I can see my student test (and he passed). The load taking us to Van Buren delivered at 7pm on Tuesday in Fort Smith (just across the river from Van Buren). We got to the Van Buren terminal about 2am (I was driving when we arrived, so my student could get some sleep before testing). I called the receiver about 9am. They said they did live unloads by appointment only, and mine was a live unload. Fleet Manager said go ahead and deliver the load, because they didn't have anything better for me around Van Buren. So, I watched my student pass his tests, got some sleep, and left the terminal at 6pm. I got to the receiver at 6:30, and they had me drop that trailer and grab an empty. I could have delivered just after the shift change at 3pm. Grrr, but okay. Next load assignment was a liveload in Fort Smith at noon on the 21st, with delivery in North Carolina a week later. I can go home for 5 days and deliver the load when I leave the house. I was planning to show up to get loaded at 8am, but my body said "Hey! You need some extra sleep!" so I got there about 11:30am, about half an hour early. No problem; I'm still on time for the pickup, and as long as they're quick about loading me I can get home that day - it's about 630 miles to home. I can do that legally, get to the house, sleep, shower, and go to Thanksgiving dinner at my stepdaughter's place. They took over 4 hours to load me. I had no choice but to stop for the night about 180 miles from the house, and pulled in the driveway just in time to shower and sit down at the Thanksgiving dinner table.

USA Truck did what they could to get my student to Van Buren for testing and to get me home for Thanksgiving. My fleet manager probably spent at least an hour that day just trying to line things up for me - and he has over 40 drivers to manage. But I still didn't get home until 2 days after my requested home time. Stuff happens. At least I got to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family.

C'est la vie du camionneur.

 

Your FM lied to you. As it says in the glossy ads we have in all the free truckstop rags, we do not have any forced dispatch loads going into the 5 buroughs of NYC. That doesn't mean you won't have to pick up or deliver in Newark, Jersey City, Long Island, etc - just that you won't have to pick up or deliver in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, or Staten Island.

My FM already knows that if a load into or out of NYC shows up on my Qualcomm, it's being rejected out of hand. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt (the one that says "I H8 NY")!

I've also picked up here before, with my student driving. Thank God it was at 4am on a Saturday!

 

well i was young and dumb at the time and thought it didnt matter what i would have to take it. but i learned that i dont have too!!! it doesnt matter any more.. i am a tanker yanker that is seasonal out of richmond,va for a construction company which is fine with me.... that way i can hunt in the fall and sleep in all winter long while its snowing i am at home in the warmth and a good bed.... i trained (finished) for ol' j.b. hunt their for about a year that wasnt too bad made pretty good money doing that!!! just got tired of being away from home for long periods of time.. when i work now i am home everyweekend and make around $1300.00 to $1400.00 a week. which i can live by pretty well. but with the construction company i haul tanker, oversized and wide loads plus pull line which i was just starting to learn over the summer when i go back around march....and while i am laid off i still bring in around like $400.00 a week unemployment....

 

I hope they do everything to get my husband into Van Buren to me tested out his 28 days of training will be completed tomorrow and his trainer is doing everything he can to get them a load that will keep them in the area so he can drop him off Wednesday morning to get tested out. How long would it be before he is able to come home if he does get dropped of Wednesday?

 

That depends. If he already went through orientation, then he'll spend a day testing and be on his way either home or to his truck, most likely his (and your) choice. If he drives through the night and shows up at 6am, they'll tell him (wisely) to get some sleep and test out the next day. They don't want new hires to test when dog-tired. It's not conducive to passing.

If he hasn't had orientation, then after the testing will come a 3-day orientation, then he'll be on his way home or to his truck.

Hopefully he'll find a driver headed in the direction of your home when he's ready to head that way, so he can catch a ride with that driver instead of having to ride the gray dog.

 

I've looked through alot of these posts but you all havent told me if this is a good company or not.Yes i've heard a few little un-pefect world tales but nothing that would keep me from second guess'n a job there. Can someone who HAS WORKED FOR THEM tell me a lil' more or even rate USA Truck on a scale of 1-10 ten being best. otherwise:smt068hahaha

Thanks y'all
(New trucker)