Clothing, boots and misc.

And I may start wearing them for THAT very reason. I see peops weari..Nevermind. I was gonna say I see people wearing em ALL over..But I must have read it 500-1000 times.

 

A few years ago, I went inside the Petro in Amarillo to get some groceries. Sat down at the counter like I always do. The guy walks up to my left and sits down. He's wearing a pressed long sleeve buttoned up shirt, denims that were dry cleaned and folded, and pointed toed dress boots, Stetson hat and handlebar mustache. Common uniform for the old school cattle baron bull hauler. I said to him that I bet he drove a 379 with waxed hardwood flooring, chromed out. He laughed and showed me a picture. I was right.


this kid walks up to my right right and asked me if the spot was taken. I said "no, have a seat, friend." The kid actually looked shocked that I called him friend. Young kid, wearing a tee and denim shorts and boots. A skateboarder. I asked him who he pulled for and he tells me Swift flatbed. The bull hauler and I compared notes and traded war stories. Swift sat in amazement, because he mostly stays on the big road and we were talking about running the two lanes.


I have loads of respect for bull haulers. Sure, they run down the road with poop leaking down their trailers, but they wear their uniforms and you can always identify them out of the truck. Best thing about them is they always use the radio, "Can I ease around you, oversize?" Bull haulers it seems are as professional a group that there is.


I like Keen Transport. Why? Keen drivers are always in uniform. It makes the company look good. Why is that important? Freight. Everyone is scrambling for freight. The better, the more professional the company, the better the freight base. Now, if we were working for one of those 90% drop and hook doorslammers companies where you never speak to shippers and receivers, then I guess it doesn't really matter what you look like. But if you are one of these drivers going into a secured spot, checking in with security, got a safety man with a white hardhat and slacks standing and watching you, dealing with riggers wearing harnesses and coveralls, and a crane that would need 18 trucks to move, you have to be in uniform.


The majority of the guys that work on my end are ex military. Boots and denims and the company tee and ballcaps, hair neat and trimmed. The most common uniform for a skater, lowboy, heavy haul.


Right now, I would say that the vast majority of companies are experiencing a shortage of quality drivers, not just a steering wheel holder, but good, professional flatbed drivers. You see all of these outfits putting beacon lights on their trucks and grabbing freight. They show up at the same sites we do, wearing sandals and shorts and wifebeaters. As soon as they get out the truck, someone pisses them off by telling them to put their gear on. Then they become angry when the crane shuts down because of the wind. They start blowing their air horns and cursing at everyone. We hate to see them coming.

 

Just a thot... for the very dirty greasy jeans and the rest of your stuff..
Mix sort of equal parts...
1. Tide (powered, not liquid)
2. Cascade powdered dishwasher detergent (Cascade seems to work better than the generic brands)
3. baking soda (WalMart/Costco) sells 7 lb bags. Used in swimming pools.

Mix the Tide, baking soda and Cascade together and you can bring enuf of it in the truck to last for a couple of months.
Use a LOCKING plastic container and a half cup scoop. Still cheaper than those little boxes/bags you get at a laundromat.
It got the food/grass/red dirt/clay stains out of my kids white baseball pants, it works great on blue jeans or whatever else you're washing.

Tide cleans, the baking soda helps, but also removes smells, and the dishwasher detergent removes grease.
Regular dish detergent doesn't do quite as well.
If your stuff is clean, it's not going to smell! Not as much, anyway....

And if stuff is really bad, Resolve, but that's a liquid. I wouldn't bother with that in a truck.
A mesh laundry bag will let stuff air out. You don't want to keep wet sweaty dirty stinky clothes in a bag that won't breathe.... :0(


Y'all drive safe!
Mary

 

Just for fun, I looked them up on the BBB website. 39 complaints in 3 years, about half were resolved, no problem.
Most of the problems seems to be delivery and not in stock sizing. I'm guessing they get stuff from commercial rental companies, so they don't always have everything in stock.

Employees... ONE!
BBB rating... (From A+ to F) is F


Interesting....
Mary

 

Wow. Probably just a random guy that has contacts or may even still work for local uniform companies and only buys when he gets an order. Guess I got lucky. Or happened to pick a size/product that was easy for him to get.

To tell the truth, the 2-4 week shipping time statement painted that picture for me without looking him up on bbb.com. On the other hand, his business address maps to a house with a big garage or barn next to it. So he's not exactly hiding from anyone.

 

My husband and I both tend to jeans and t-shirts, I keep both long and short sleeved and layer in cooler/cold weather. He wears steel toed boots in the mills and such and deck shoes while driveing. I wear a pair of steel toed hikers and tennis shoes while not working (course I have been known to just wear slippers if I'm not getting out of the truck except rest areas)

We both do have a pair of sweats apeice, great sleeping wear and also works well when soaking wet to get into something quick when they want you gone.

As for packing for orientation and training with another driver, I would ask what kind of space you will have in the trainers truck. This time of yr warm cloths that fold down well. Layer.

Funny thing about our flashlights, my husband has 2 medium mag lights and the one that gets used the most is my little shaker light. . . yeah you shake the thing to charge it up, was in my hurricane suplise, no batteries to worry about.