Running with JCT, Part Deux

Care to explain why? Was it truck-related? Making the company-to-independent mindset and behavioral changes? A combination?

 

As I started in my earlier post, it was 100% truck related. Couldn't stay out of the shop. On my 90th day, I got a brand new 2010 ProStar. Haven't looked back since.

 

I've long been interested in JCT and just popped in one day on the way to see my grandchildren in Lawton a few years ago. I had a very nice, open chat with a woman whose name I've forgotten, a tour of the place, and a press-the-flesh with Mr. C, himself. I came away with lots of printed material, good insight into realistic expenses and income, and best of all, a free t-shirt!

What's not to love about that? Unfortunately, they were staffed more than full because the trucks they ordered weren't coming in quickly enough to assign drivers, but I was mightily impressed. JCT remains high on my list.

 

All in good time. That's what my Granddad used to say about SO many things. I never TRULY got it until many years after he passed.

I'd love to tell you that I wish I'd have known about JCT 10 years ago and made the jump then. Truth is; JCT and I both were very different back then. Had I made the jump back then; would I have been able to make it? Who knows? Odds say probably not.

Your innards know more than I think we give them credit for. They seem to have a very strong sense for things we can't discern and no amount of research can enlighten us on.

Love havin' ya around. Trust your gut. It knows more than you think it does. If there comes a time to make a leap . . . your gut will move your feet for ya. If that day comes, just PLEASE, for Heaven's Sake don't leap to any of the Megas!! JCT is the ONLY place I'd consider this type of gig. Hard work, a LOT to overcome, challenges NO amount of research can prepare you for and a less than perfect Carrier to lease on to? You bet'cha! Big time reality check.

JCT being a place you can survive, adapt, improvise, overcome and actually succeed after paying the Diesel and Asphalt God's their due and showing them the measure of your resolve is resolute endurance regardless?

YOU BET'CHA!!

 

I neglected to add a free PINK t-shirt! Considering I know a couple women who both succumbed to and survived breast cancer, I wear it proudly when I can.

 

Lost my first wife to breast cancer. This one we dodged a bullet on when the super high-res radiology imagery came back negative as to the lumps being cancer or fibroid cysts. Can't tell you how big a scare that was for us. I don't fly my pink to be PC. It personal to me. Kudos to JCT for their support.

 

OH NO!!! DARLA DEAD!! She won't start!! Maybe she's just sleeping!! . . . Re-Posted to 2015 Cascadia OTR Performance . . .

Sigh. Nite all. Mater will be knockin' early. Be safe and have a good one.

 

I spent 40+ years in the exciting world of aviation. During that time, I saw the complexity of airplanes go from simple to unbelievably intricate. Airplanes can and do take off and land by themselves and make their own routing and altitude choices (when allowed) based on weather, fuel, and other factors. They 'talk' to each other to make and share decisions (is that always a good thing? One day...) They require fewer and fewer pilots with different skill sets, including a much higher level of computer familiarity, longer training sessions, and more and more fatter operation manuals, all of which are now entered into the same electronic data-keeping systems that operate the airplane's other systems. Enroute charts and instrument approach information is electronic, not paper, and airplane data recorders now capture data points that no human can possible see or hear.

Mercedes has built and is in the initial testing of a truck that will drive itself, allowing the driver push back and rest, eat, read, even to sleep while the truck is in motion. Engineers, whether aeronautical or automotive, can always design a vehicle that can outdo the drivers and the technicians working on them, but just because we can doesn't mean we should.

I'm not sure that unrestricted automation is a good thing.

 

DD, I agree with you. It is a little scary when I think about it on the trucking side. I posted a while back when I first got Darla, that there will come a day when a truck driver will look a lot more like a dispatcher and be driving a whole bunch of trucks from a cubicle in an office, like the kids that fly the drone planes. I think that is scary not only from a job standpoint, not that we can't learn how to E-Drive, but they will need fewer of us as the technology progresses and allows a single E-Driver (or pilot - or RR Engineer or Ship Capt.) to operate multiple vehicles. Also from a safety standpoint, though. I don't think there will ever be a substitute for in cab (or ####pit etc.) human judgment. Of course the argument could also be made that SOME humans' judgment out there today might be better off replaced by a machine. I do believe that day is coming, though. I doubt I'll see it, but some just coming into the industry might. I do hope that big airplanes are the last to go, though. I have had my truck malfunction, and even stop running while I was tooling down the highway plenty of times over the years. I was able to negotiate it to safety. Same with a RR Engine or a Ship, or Barge. Something goes hinky and you can get it stopped. Planes? They tend to fall out of the sky when stuff goes haywire. I think we need to keep humans looking out of the windshield as long as possible and for goodness sake always keep a trained and experienced pilot handy in the ####pit of an airplane.

 

I'm gonna spend the down time shopping my truck insurance. I've gotten the business account going strong enough now to be able to outsource truck insurance and I am sure I can beat what I'm paying through JCT, and even if it's only by a little, every little bit helps and paying a monthly premium directly vs weekly from my settlement will improve cash flow. My PD insurance did go up a fair bit w/ Darla being brand new. PD premium is based on value. Shannon Krowley did say I could do that when we talked during Orientation, but I was wondering if any of you guys have gone that route or had helpful info. I'm not looking for insurance sources, I have plenty and I know how to shop truck insurance very well. I did it for years for another trucking company. I'm asking more about JCT info. How do they handle that, does it throw a wrench in the gears or anything? If it turns out it's not much of a savings at all and a real pill for JCT, it might be worth the little extra just to maintain the status quo. To be clear, I'm talking about truck insurance; not health insurance. Thanks in advance for any input.