EPES TRANSPORT-Greensboro, NC

Thanks on the info ..n yeah prime its a good job to get your licence n learn to drive that's it they jerky u around so much n play with our checks soo much ..n how is epes with paying u.. r u calling payroll fighting who owns who..n how the home time work cuz I talk too a driver n I couldn't understand how it work u tell them how many u want off or they tell u ???

 

hell I like prime hehehe they're one of the only ones I see coming I know I can pass and not have to wait in line and pick my spot and have plenty of clear road to pass so I don't hold the other guys up lol

no pay issues. always on time. no issues getting issues corrected, and any issues are VERY rare and any I've ever had was because I wrote a number down wrong on my trip sheet, not because of anything they did....and when I caught it they paid it the next check. load locks, scales, lumpers, any of that stuff we pay for on the road always comes on the next check. no problems.....as long as you keep up with your receipts and file them correctly with payroll. no endless phone calls or trying to chase people down. supplemental items like detention and stop pay are always right there when they're supposed to be.

hometime is hit or miss. sometimes you get a 10 at home. sometimes 24. sometimes 34. sometimes 2 full days or more. it all depends on what your load home for the weekend is, when it picks up and when it delivers. 85% of the time you'll at least get a 34 but sometimes it works out that you don't and sometimes you get stuck out 2 weeks. they won't hang you out more than 2 weeks unless you want to be. once they know you've been out that long and/or on recap they'll get you in. some guys run the weekend and are home during the week. it varies driver to driver but you can count on getting through the house at least once a week and sometimes you'll get a night at home during the week as well. generally if you come in empty for the weekend they'll ask you when you want to go back out but if you're loaded that's what your hometime will go off of unless a drop has been arranged beforehand. they're very good about working with you if you have a need to be in for a family emergency, doctor visits, school functions for the kids, things like that just give them a week notice and they almost always can work it out for you.

 

I generally stay out ten or eleven days and then I take three or four off. Dispatch seems fine with it. On my first day or so out I give them a time window I want to be home on, for instance " get me home between the thirtieth and the first of the month. Then I give them a little warning a few days out like I did today.
I figure. The way I run I give them two weeks notice every time I come out. So they've got two entire weeks to figure out how to get me home.

 

I had a prime pass me today by the way! Couldn't fricken believe it. Right by me. Prime. ####.

 

I thought I saw your truck...last night/early this morning! I had to do a "split" so I could make it to Elizabeth by 0600! Dang soda machine took my money and didn't give me my Dr. Pepper...had to buy another one....oh boy $3.00 for a freakin' Dr. Pepper! lol

 

####...binoculars?! You got "side rockets" to take out cars on the side of your truck too? lol

 

The guy I gave a ride to, that one time, worked for Prime! He had NOTHING BUT GOOD THINGS to say about them, other than his FM! He was ALL ABOUT his Fuel Mileage and how good it was, running at 55, and our trucks should be governed to that! hahahahaha

 

so are you running more or less 8 a day and recapping or running hard and resetting during that 10-11 days?

lol yeah I've got all kinds of toys. these are just a small pair only 12x25.....but very useful for the rare times I need them. in this case I was able to read the road signs past the entrance to the truckstop without having to walk up from the back of the parking lot and down the 4 lane to see if it was a crossover going back south or a no left like the one coming into the truckstop.

some days I really wonder why I enjoy this job lol......this hasn't been a very enjoyable trip to florida this time. got up this morning and ran headlong into thunderstorms, wind and driving rain, into Miami, to a customer I had to figure out my own directions to, in rush hour traffic. coming down 27 was fine but once I got off 27 on the only logical route in, it took 1:45 to go the last 18 miles. I could have used those side rockets in the midst of those ########. this was worse than philly ever thought about being. I started looking for the lane change for first right turn 5 miles out and 1/4 mile from it I still hadn't been able to get over. those self-important ######## just will NOT let you in. so, I ended up having to stick my nose in and take the lane the first chance I got.

next road and it's still bumper to bumper but in the right lane where I needed to be. 3 lanes, 20 mph in a 55. barely a car length opened up at a cross street and some moron decides to shoot the gap and make a left from the other lanes across in front of three of us and didn't have the space to do it, 2 cars and me. we all had to slam on brakes......they got stopped easy but wet roads and heavy I tried to shove the brake pedal through the floor and almost didn't get stopped. from 20 mph. it was #### close. what an idiot.

got to the cons and it's a 1 1/2 lane street, have to back into and thru a gate with barely enough room for 2 trailers and one trailer in the close dock, nose sticking out past the fence. it was tight, but I stuck it in there in the pouring rain with one pullup. surprisingly enough, only 30 minutes to unload after I left 45 minutes early and ended up getting there half hour late.. that leaves me stuck just a couple of miles from the next load with nowhere to park and 4 hours to play with. decide just to take the chance and run on over to the next shipper. 4 other company trucks there either loading or waiting on paperwork and they don't have a door for me. this place kind of annoys me the way they don't have any room on their lot but routinely schedule more trucks than they can fit in there. sit in the street and wait for an hour with the flashers on with 5 other trucks and finally get a door at 1145 and of course, they go to lunch 12-1300. tick tick tick goes the clock. i'll be glad to get out of here and headed back up the big road.

jersey looks pretty good about right now lol this has been a tough trip and a lot of stress for only 250 miles

 

oh I'll take NJ over Miami ANYDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha Ran into Les today. Saw him walking inside, for pick up as I was arriving, for drop and hook at Western Carriers(you guys know this place in North Bergen).....he didn't see me so I crept up behind him and said, "driver your load won't be ready for another 48 hours, go back to your truck now!" he satrted laughing and turned around and said, "I knew that voice!" Asked him if he knew about you becoming a trainer......I think it brought a joyful tear to his eye...NEVER seen him almost jump out of his own skin by the mention of it! Boy was he ever so happy about it! haha Looks like he's getting someone in about a week, from what he was saying. I will admit, though...working here, I'm starting to see more and more of the same guys, which is great, out here! It's better than being at a HUGE carrier and ALWAYS running into a new guy, and NEVER seeing the same guy twice.....well, that's how it's been for me lately!

 

Ah the day just gets better as we go. Sitting on the side of 95 with a blown tire waiting for service. Narrow shoulder, steep drop off, barely off the road, going to run out of time way before the tire gets changed and closest parking 30-40 miles away. Too far out still to make final with a 10 so that puts the load late as well. Just been that kind of day.

It's a #### good thing I don't drink anymore lol