Maverick Transportation

You can request routing. I seldom use it, but once in awhile I do. I have beat their miles before. Sometimes I am over, but as long as you stay under 10 % they won't say anything. I am usually 5% or less. Their routing will put you on some cow paths sometimes. I followed it for awhile a few weeks ago. The road they had me running was not on a truckers atlas. I ended up dropping down farther south to get off of it. After about 20 miles on a curvey road that my trailer would barely stay on around curves I said to heck with this. Good thing I did not meet a car coming the other way. MY GPS sometimes will put me to far out of route also. That is why you always want to double check with a trucker's atlas. Cutting through the woods saves miles, but can cost time.

 

Not a good feeling when you are thinking of quitting your job for this huh? Kinda gives me cold feet!

 

After you get used to doing this it is just like any other job. The easiest way to keep your miles down is use a ruler and lay a straight line between point a-b check your atlas for restrictions and low clearances and hammer down. A GPS will get you there most of the time in under 10% Just doublecheck it before you roll. I hit the show map feature after I enter my addy. Then look at my atlas to double check myself.

 

No he was in his last week on traning on the road but since he had his CDL he came in as a student driver no experiance. He got his CDL through coke-cola and just drove a 16 bay truck never did log books or went to far. He was out of Fayettteville, NC and had to go 45 min to laurinburg, NC which when he started would get lost cause he didn't have a map. Anyway when he went to laurinburg for 3 weeks of securement training, they had a one or two day class on mapping which the instructor never checked their work to see if they knew what they where doing. My advice is just make sure you can trip plan!!! His trainer was pissed and even said he got screwed over, but nothing he can do just knows now he never wants to deal with flatbed again. Has a buddy that just spent all day tarping a load in ILL because the temp was -30 with windchill and the tarp was frozen together. So now he wasted a whole day drive time on tarping a load and even if your not driving your still on the clock for your 10hrs of driving. If you want to deal with tarping stuff and strapping down then go for it. His other friends that he met their are short for the place to, said would rather haul dry van or refeer less stress and drop and hook. Good luck in what ever you choose!!

 

3 weeks of securement training??? I thought it was only one week and one weeks ori

 

He ended up having 3 weeks because they didn't have a trainer to take him out, it was around xmas time so he just got screwed all around. Some guys that had driven before just went out with a guy for local loads then where issued a truck but he had to wait.

 

Ok I see. Well I suppose he should have had a Atlas with him anyway to be on the safe side. They should have made sure he had one on him before pulling out.

 

Yeah I think some of the trip stuff should be common sense anyway. I took a trip in my 4 wheeler from S.C to Sheppard AFB in Witchita Falls Tx. by doing a google search. It was 1200 miles and I never missed a turn but thats just me, I stay in the road anyway.

 

Sorry to hear about his problems, but any company will can you if you stay lost and out of route. Not just flatbed. The buddy of his that spent all day tarping a load, something is wrong there. Even in bad weather. Having a map is just basic common sense in trucking. Drop and hooks have problems as as well as eating up your drive time and it is 11 hours not 10. You can get a trailer that has flats, lights don't work, brakes won't hold etc. Reefers and vans have their own stress that can burn time as well. Trucking is a very stressful job. It is a fast paced industry and many are not cut out for it.

 

This is so true. Regardless, if he didnt know how to read an atlas he shoulda never gotten his cdl's--so somewhere he got failed out somewhere. Flatbed, reefer, or van -- there are gonna be days when you will have issues. There is no such thing as a pie job--if there was I would have it!