TransAm Trucking, Inc. - Olathe, Ks.?

another thing about backing up in tight drop yards
dont stress yourself to the point you can not ever back up
flag down a yard dog give him $5 and he will put the trailer away for you
everyone is happy
some of these places are just plain hard until you have experience
Friona Tx meat plant is horrible
while your waiting for your cows to die back in a few times there
you will either hit a few trailers or know how to back up afterwards

 

i am sure you have all heard it before
but it is the trailer tandems that do the pivot not the end of the trailer
put the tandems all the way back and see how well you back
with them forward you have to anticipate by 10 feet where the trailer will be

 

So true cranky one... When I was with my trainer one of the first backs I did was in friona.... Much fun lol

 

I don't know if Indiana has a program but I will check it out. Only thing is I have a job here in Korea but want to move back to Indiana, so if I quit maybe they wont help ?

 

New drivers! Pulling a reefer is not like any other trucking job. You have to keep an eye on two engines instead of one. You MUST keep a constant eye on the TEMP setting and the Defrost light. Scale masters and cops know your under the gun for on time delivery and Reefer drivers can be checked for logs a bit more often than say a flat bed.
Sliding the tandems back is something i taught years ago when the 48 foot was just coming on the market and even to day some drivers just can not seem to get the hang of it. It seems that would rather fight it than do it the easy way. Between flat bed, dry van and reefer the reefer drivers tend to get screwed a bit more. Grocery houses like to mess you over for some reason. When I pulled a reefer ( never again) I always got to the receiver with very little fuel in reefer tank or I adjusted the gauge .. I let them know when I hit the dock that there was about an hour of fuel in tank. I am not nor is the company responsible for temp. At the dock it is theirs alone. . Your company may have a different view of this.
Just as a side note. Check out the companies safety rating. I think is is very close to the max allowed . Just saying.
Ask the company about the policy for over or damaged goods. Do you get it.? Does it stay at receivers. if one bottle is damaged in a box of six is the claim of the box. Then you should get the other 5 bottles. You company is buying 6 bottles for 1 damaged one. I used to really piss them off by keeping the undamaged ones. They take it home so should you be able to. The drivers hand book should tell you about it. If you did not get one get the Temp for all required items hand book . Every truck stop has them . lettuce beans etc. Important!!!!! Just because your new don't think you cant speak up. If you find a problem with the truck or trailer or reefer don't be afraid to tell some one.Another driver does not count. If your using a qual com or the EOBR make dispatcher or whom ever is telling you so you have a record of what was said . NOT the phone.
Fail an inspection you get the points too.

 

These guys take the cake but they can not bully me. They dispatched me on a load that I told them that I could not deliver tomorrow and they said it was ok and then I put it in writing and again was told it was ok. Now they are trying to get me to swap and I said no. Emily said I could not refuse a swap I reminded her that on more than on occasion I was told Sunday delivery would be fine both in writing and over the phone by 2 different people. I also reminded her that I am 1099 and contracted to this load and I could refuse as that is my right(I did not send in a form 1 as I could not deliver on time but did inform them of this). I wrote terminate me if you do not like it. Have not heard back in over an hour but everytime I get a good load they try this crap. Well not today. I have rescued more than a few loads here just to be rewarded with crappy miles after. I am going to call the manager and ask him just what kind of operation is this after yessing me to death that it was ok then trying to stab me in the back.

New drivers this industry is tough why do you think so many quit before they give it a real chance. Know your rights and stand by your convictions. Wayntp next time you swap with a driver if he does not find a safe and legal space do not move out from under your trailer and if he does not have it cleaned and fueled do not move out from under your trailer until this has been done. Plus do not do anything while you are on your 10 hour break they can not legally make you do it if you get threatened to be fired record the time and date and you can report it to a manager or the DOT. As for the idiot from USA dont listen to him as you see we have all started somewhere and we have all screwed up. We all had trouble backing at first it will just click everyone is giving good advice.

Remember this anything that is easy usually isnt worth having and anything that is worth have usually isnt easy. Just hang in there it was tough on us all, it isnt just the job but you are in unfamiliar surroundings all the time and away from home but in time this country gets small real fast just hang tough. Hope you guys make it this industry is very unique in that if you know what you are looking for you can find it

be safe ou there

 

Gordon A's post yesterday about how some drivers forget what it was like being new to the industry has made me think back to my first blackbelt testing. There are many martial arts studios that are comparable to the cdl mills ....they take your money and you walk out with a license but you really don't know what you need to know. When I first started I chose a school with international recognition, it took years of training to achieve rank. It was an excellent school with the exception of one thing .....board breaking.....and in order to achieve rank you had to be able to do a minimum of 5 different breaks. They did not "teach" you how to do these breaks because the theory was that it was a combination of the skills you already knew and focus. The test for your blackbelt took almost 8 hours..... a written test, a series of forms and moves, a series of sparring matches and at the very end after you were exhausted and played out...board breaks. I had worked, I had trained, I had studied, at 4'11" I could hold my own in a fight with men over 6' tall....but the first time I tried to break a board I failed. From that point on it was hit or miss ....mostly miss. I was totally defeated by wooden boards. Testing was around the corner and it was all or nothing ....you passed every step or you failed. I practiced, I worried, I practiced some more... and I couldn't do it. My focus was broken. I visualized myself setting up and breaking the boards....it didn't work. It was so bad that they had an instructor's meeting about what to do about me! Talk about humiliating! And embarrassing for the school I belonged to.....if I failed my instructors would lose face and it would be in front of an audience and a panel of eight judges. I had to give myself an edge .....I watched other people, I watched online videos and I learned positioning,(it wasn't all power!), I learned how to set up for the breaks. Then I had to overcome my fear.....easier said than done....one wrong move could mean failure, broken bones for me or the people holding the boards. I was focusing on doing the job to the point that I couldn't do the job, if that makes any sense. I had to change the way I was thinking. I concentrated on getting the set up and positioning as perfect as possible, then I pictured the job already done.....not doing it, but already accomplished. If I let my mind focus on doing it .....then I was over thinking the problem. If I concentrated on the routine of the set up and then just assumed that it was a done deal, mission accomplished, I was able to do it. I passed, went on to get my instructor's collar and my certification as a judge. When ever a student was having trouble with board breaks I was the instructor they were sent to.....not because I was so great, but because I understood failure and how to work through it.

Don't let backing defeat you. Practice, learn to do your best set up....and then just let it happen, because you know that you have done everything right.

 

They tried one more time to get me to swap talking about on time delivery. I said do you realize that we as drivers are a valuable out here and have many options so treating the good ones like doo doo only chases them away. What options do you guys in the office have if this company folds? I know some will be ok but for most life would stink, drivers are the life blood of this company. Been under 2500 3 of the last four weeks. Since I have been here have delivered one load late when I was first adjusting to my medication, ran into whiteout conditions in WV and an accident that closed down I81 and had to detour 20 miles in Va. but yet they keep giving me garbage load after garbage load and I will even rescue loads but not today. Conrad tried to talk me into swapping but I said if my attitude appears selfish you should remember attitude reflects leadership that seamed to silence him for a minute. He tried to get me sell me a load that was 600 miles and nothing after but I was suppose to have faith. I said how about this I deliver this load and you give me a reason to have faith cause the reverse isnt working out for me. I know I have talked about giving my 2 weeks notice but still have not and I am going home May 6 maybe I need to rethink everything after I recharge my batteries but they are not going to terminate my contract so I will continue to do what is best for me. Sorry if that sounds selfish but they are not giving me the miles I need so I will not give up the good runs when we all agreed on a delivery date. Rant over

 

Your not selfish. Your being a person and standing up for your self.
If they listen to you and those like you the company will get better.
Your right in attitude reflecting the company. Most in teh office do not know how their pay checks are earned. First of all. If If a driver does not pickup a load on time. The load does not get delivered on time or is late that is a negative reflection on the company. So if drivers do not do their job from start to finish NO ONE gets paid due to no income for the company. Drivers are the back bone for ALL trucking companies. We don't do our job, no one has a job. A company cannot stay viable by hiring only new inexperienced drivers..Be glad your not working for C.R.England.

 

I like what you wrote. It shows how to look past the present to find a solution for the future. Well done young un, well done..