TransAm Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.?

I get to tell you all about drivers and companies that have their heart in the right place.....funny that this happened today when the discussion has been about drivers that are jerks.

The company that the King works for now is all company drivers with the exception of an older driver with years of experience that is an owner operator. They have a requirement that every driver call into the office by 10am on weekdays. Yesterday the O/O did not make his check in call and they couldn't get him on his phone.....nor did he call in this morning. They were having no luck in locating him. The King had just got back to the yard so they sent him out from this end and had another driver start working his way back to where they thought our missing driver could be. They found him, about 200 miles out from the yard, truck still running, slumped over the wheel....thankfully they found him in time! And thankfully the company took matters into their own hands in finding their missing driver. They got the driver taken care of, his truck taken care of and took care of the driver's little dog.

 

See!!! Now that's what a good company will do for their drivers, look out for them as much as possible, and treat them fairly. Not going to say how many miles I drove this week but will say this, my paycheck was within 7 miles of what I actually did.

HTQ, glad they found him and that Da King was willing to be a part of it.

 

Okay ...so I left the funny part out ....because I am a wife. As they were getting this driver taken care of the King gets me on the phone to tell me that they found the other driver. He was semi-coherent, so the King tells him I have my wife on the phone and I will have her call your wife to tell her what happened. The driver said ...."Oh God NO! Just take care of my dog and my truck. I am happily married but if you call my wife she might show up here!" .....

 

10-4 roger on that
nothing patty cant make worse

 

Shame on you guys!

They were asking questions trying to gauge his responses and he was trying to answer but they couldn't understand most of his responses. But when the King told him that I would call his wife everyone understood that loud and clear!

 

I will say training at TA is a joke. It was my first company too. I see other companies that have new drivers out with trainers for up to 2 months. I think a big problem with TA is that they shove rookies into trucks before they are ready. TA has the shortest training period of all the starter companies. I am lucky I had a good trainer.

 

This is a video that I watched before I left for CDL school and it helped. I still think of the phase the instructor uses in the video "turn toward the problem" every time I back since watching the video almost two years ago.


On the topic of feeling the heat of others watching you if you are struggling to back into a spot let me tell you this. There is nothing more boring than watching a truck driver slowly and carefully backing into a parking spot! Drivers are playing with their phones, sleeping, doing paperwork, etc. We all know what you are doing and NO ONE CARES.

To Get Out And Look (G.O.A.L.) is not just a matter of safety but a learning technique. As you take action to back and then get out and look what effect that action had on the truck you will learn. If you have to get out 25 times to look, do it. Each time look you will learn what happened and you will adjust until the times you need to get out are reduced.

The Grand Poobah of all trucking is not going to send you a letter after one million miles and tell you that you no longer have to G.O.A.L. To G.O.A.L is the right way to do the job if you are unsure of the position of the truck, regardless if it is your first day on the job or your twentieth year anniversary.

Don't pressure yourelf to rush. If you are a new driver, don't fret and think "Oh, I hope it will be an easy back at this next delivery". PLAN ON IT BEING DIFFICULT. Hope it is difficult so you have a learning opportunity. Go to your delivery and plan on taking 40 miniutes and 25 G.O.A.L. to get the job done. Take the hit on your clock and get the job done safely. You paid to go to CDL school, you are now going to have to pay with some extra OTJ learning time. Write off the time you loose on your clock as an education investment.

After being assigned a door at a receiver I have said the phrase "ok, but it will take me awhile to get into that door. I am not a very good driver yet" more than once. I ate up plenty of time on my clock, taking 20 to 40 minutes to back or turn around in tight places my first 3 months on the job. It does get better as you get out and learn how the truck reacts.

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International sign pop quiz! Sign on Bangkok "Sky Train". The pics of the first 4 you are to give up your seat to are a warm up, can you get the 5th?:

 

^ On the topic of backing, I don't know who started the idea that doing a pull-up is some kind of bad thing. I have rarely hit an "ace in the hole" when backing into a spot but then again I have rarely tried! I do a pull up as soon as I can. To reduce the time and distance that you can not directly see your right side, trailer tandems is a good thing!

Not all receivers enforce it, but tandems should always be slid to the rear when unloading (to support fork lifts as they enter your trailer). Once you are assigned a door and maneuver to near where you will set up to do your back. Slide your tandems to the rear! You will have better control of the trailer when backing with them in the rear position.

 

International sign pop quiz! Sign on Bangkok "Sky Train". The pics of the first 4 you are to give up your seat to are a warm up, can you get the 5th?:

[/QUOTE]


If it's a sky train, is that the seat with the parachute??? lol

 

If it's a sky train, is that the seat with the parachute??? lol[/QUOTE]

I know! I know! But there should be a crown on the last picture ....because surely the Queen would get priority seating!

I give up passport .....tell us! Clergy?