Stevens Transport aviary

Well I finished Grad class 1/11. Due to truck failure and driver leaving his stuff in the truck, plus my 90 dr. check up I didn't get to leave the yard until 1/17. I have had a total of three loads that I've run. 1st was a load starting with 4 pickups. 830 total paid miles., Then a run for 984 miles. Truck broke down so after load off to K/W. Then load for 1,020. That load Q-Com kindly added an extra 53,000 hours to my pre-trip inspection to which Donna almost had a stroke. Finally after empty on the one trip that was over 1k miles we have me logging in and out of qcom and they did some reset stuff. So this is on a Friday evening. I was empty at 15:00 but load assignment apparently came to me when I was in bed for the evening it had a 6am DLD. I was up in time but could not get the load to come to my Q-Com. I assume it was given to another driver. Finally at 9am people in Dallas are freaking. I can't help the stupid computer won't give the load to me. I can't go until I know where I am going and what the load number is. So I get the load but they will Repower that to a trainer and give me his load since it has more time to deliver. Then I get a message that my new load isn't ready. Meet at truck stop give up the load I have for an empty. I sent my Mac-21at 16:00 yesterday and the DLD was at 16:01. It took until 17:40 to get my load assignment. Off to the meat patch. Arrive and ld is still not ready. Now I haven't eaten and truck stop is 12 miles away. I give the shipper my trlr but decided to stay and wait. Wish I hadn't. They said I can leave and they will call but I don't want any more time on my clock. Well it's now 22 hours after my DLD. I don't want to start my 14 and hell by 4am I have a 34 reset. I am too new to know whether to chance going to truck stop. So far none of my decisions have been the best. Either way 15 days into my career and only 3,041 paid miles. That isn't going to cover rent. What have I done???!!!!

 

You're 15 days in, calm down and take a breath. It all gets a bit overwhelming in the beginning and then it begins to click, welcome to the meat patch! In future go the the truckstop and call the shipper to stay in touch with your loads status. You gotta eat and use the bathroom sometime. If you are close to completing a 34, stay put and get all your hours back for the coming week.

 

Also, you can call the shipper as you're driving to the meat patch and see if your loads ready. FYI, if you pick up in Lexington, there's a Walmart close by that has truck parking. You can actually get there and back without starting your clock. It's less than 2 miles away.

 

Hang in there Elif... 3000 miles is a good week... it's also a terrible month... you got it in two weeks and if you consider, right out of the gate, 24-2500 a week is a good start you really are only a good 4 days behind
Where you should be... it will all come together soon.

 

Compliance told me that if DOT sees that you moved on a real street without starting your clock they can and are fining thousands of dollars. This was during my compliance review. The question I asked was why have a 2 mile trigger then?

 

I was told the same thing, asked the same question and told it was for cases of moving the truck around the yard, or a truck stop etc...

But anytime on a public street... needs to be on drive time.

For the record there is also a Walmart at Ottawa less than a mile away. Although he sounds more like he is in either Joslyn or Holcomb.

 

They gotta catch me first

 

I did calm down some. And thank you all for your input. Hindsight I would have gone back to the truckstop or Walmart and waited. Turns out they lost my number so I was there two hours longer than I should have been but got loaded and moving. Then after I finally got moving I was almost to Cheyene when my engine light came on again. Then the other engine light and loss of power. Got RR on the horn, they answered just as I was taking exit to TA. She said find a parking spot and call with diagnostic info. As I was parking the DPF light finally came on. Dash looks like a Christmas tree. I started the DPF regin and called RR back. RR decided it was ice crystals in the fuel line. I thought it had to be below freezing for ice to form. 36 degrees outside.
I know I am not gonna get 2500 per week first out of the gate. If I could just get this truck to quit breaking down on me it would be awesome. This is the third breakdown since I left the yard 11 days ago. Obviously it gets better heck Fozzy had a rough start too. Now he has a decent ride he can drive with pride. thanks again you all for the uplifting comments!

 

Oh yeah, and I was in Grand Island, NE

 

Wind chill could have something to do with it.

Alternatively it could be a pressure thing. When pressurized mediums experience a reduction in pressure, their temperature drops. It's why CO2 tanks, propane tanks, and canned air get frosty as you drain them. Not sure how that might apply to a fuel line though.