WannRead For WannaBees

I'm an old koot --- some folks say just oldER, but either way, I'm speakin' from experience.

I read and hear the NewBees and WannaBees complain' about what seasoned drivers find satisfactory. And, it seems the seasoned drivers aren't settling for less, quite the opposite.

When I was first learnin' the ins and outs of Big truck truckin', -- round about the third year OTR, I could throw a hissy-fit in a New York minute.
And (too) often did.

Back then I was a driver trainer who trained about 75% women.
ONE of those women trainees taught ME another approach to a disappointing situation, and I still use that approach to this day.

Now, don't get me wrong ---- there ARE thangs that'll make me go WhaT?!!
But after about 8 to 10 years yellin' that, it starts to get funny because you've learned how to EXPECT that.
It's no longer a real surprise.

And betwixt 10 and 15 years, you begin to realize that your BEST,
STAR*SPANGLED ROAD STORIES,
just happen to be your worst times out on the road.

But, it seems after 30 years OTR, that driver finds it hard to believe ANY driver with more than 3 years experience tryin' to convince him that they like EVERYthang 'bout their company, and can't relate to the horror road stories.

What seems like a big deal today,
may change tomorrow.
And maybe not by choice.

Part of Big truck truckin' is learnin' how to
work the system.
Job-hoppin' just makes that harder.
Time is experience.
Spend it wisely.

Pay your dues, and quit lookin' for that pot-0-gold at the end of a rainbow.
You'll have better luck by rollin' up your sleeves and digging into ONE of the better truckin' companies.
Don't set your sights on a bottom-feeder company. Shoot higher.

If all y'all can hit is a bottom-feeder, and you go with them, expect less than stellar treatment.
Cowboy up and git 'er done.

But I have to admit, I think I'm actually starting to enjoy the complaints in an entertaining way.

You see, ........ SOME of them sound just like
ME, ---- back in the day.
And THAT makes me feel younger.
And wishin' I could go back there,
knowin' what I know NOW.

I know I can't do that ----- but
y'all can.
IF you've a mind to, of course.
And that mind needs to be open.
All the time.

I've delivered MANY thangs in my Big truck truckin' career, but one thang I flat refuse to deliver is sugar-caoted bovine excrement.
I tend to calls 'em like I've seen 'em --- if y'all care to look at what I think I saw.
If I saw it at all.

 

That's probably what I should have said in the first place --- but I decided to test y'all's "patience" by seein' if y'all'd read it all.

 

You're welcome, PathFinder.
My pleasure.

YOUNGER days?!
HaiL, amigo!
You're still a kid.

YuP!
I've seen others who took the bottom feeder route, planning to stay with them for a year, then move on to a "better" company.
And they wound up "movin' on" about three of four times in about 5 years, lookin' for that perfect fit, --- right off the bat.
And they're constantly still at the bottom -- tryin' to climb the ladder in record time with limited experience or aptitude.

I chose to stay with one company, a better "starter" company, for the same amount of time. And in that time, I learned how to pull doubles on a dedicated military tour -- 6,700 miles in 7 days, and two days off -- then do it all over again.
A real $$$$ run.

Then I was a driver trainer collectin' ALL miles driven at MY pay scale, and an extra $25 a day (I called it Hazard Duty Pay) when I was with a trainee -- and a company paid motel room every night (if I wanted it), plus a potential 7 cents a mile quarterly bonus on ALL miles driven, -- (which added about $2,500 ---> $3,000 to my wallet every quarter) -- AND, I got to take the Big truck home on my days off to clean it up (every two to four weeks).

PerKs!

From there I took a dedicated local gig, which for the most part, drove me loco.
I just didn't like local drivin'. But I didn't realize that until I gave it a try.

That's when I discovered the second and ONLY other truckin' company I ever applied with, and was hired by, and worked for until family health issues necessitated my coming off the road.
Which, after collectin' over a million mile markers, wasn't an easy thang to do, cold turkey.

But my last official gig for the company was transporting a factory sponsored Super Bike race team to the last Superbike race of the season in Lost Wages. That's when the VERY successful team's team manager asked me if I would be interested in driving one of their new Peterbilts, pulling one of their brand new 53' transporters the next season.

I had been a fill-in driver for their transporter when our/their regular driver took time off, and, as a result, I saw tracks like Daytona, Homestead, Las Vegas, and Sear's Point, (now Infineon Raceway), a road course up near Frisco.

Those were the most GRACIOUS folks I EVER worked with. Fine motel on race and practice dates, and invited to celebrate with them when they won -- which was often.

EVERYthing just clicked.
It wasn't like having to "go to work".
It was something to wake up and WANNA do.
Imagine that.

But, I had to turn it down.
However, those top teams won't accept just ANYbody to pull their multi-million dollar race equipment around, or be around the equipment and riders.
It's gotta be a team effort.
So I felt honored that they thought enough of me to ask ME to become a full-time part of their team.
That was one of my goals.
I reckon I achieved it, --- I just couldn't
accept the position under the circumstances.

Prior to buying their own Big trucks, the race team basically contracted with the truckin' company I drove for to supply a Big truck and a driver for same -- to pull THEIR transporter from their shop in SoCal, to the various race tracks.
That's IT.

ALL I was required to do was drive the Big truck to the tracks, --- and after that, --- whatever I wanted to do was up to me.
I spent a whole week in Florida, -- one day.

The former relief driver watched the races, and tv in his Big truck bunk, and hung out at the motel, or whatever.

I didn't do that.
NopE!
I picked up a broom and kept the garage area spotless. Emptied trash cans in the work area.
And every morning, the team manager gave me a credit card and I became a "gopher" --- gopher dis -- gopher dat.

Lunch, snacks and water and GatorAid every day for four days, came to about $300, each DAY, and I shopped for the bargains whenever possible.
At the track, I kept the water and GatorAid coolers full of liquid and ice, and even cooked lunches on Bar-B-Ques every afternoon, and kept a hospitality table full of snacks.
At Las Vegas, I cooked for over 30 people including 3 crew members and one racer/rider who didn't eat meat. Neither did his girlfriend, so I guess that makes five vegetarians.
Whatever veggie dishes I threw together, they seemed to like.
I had no idea how to cook for that many people on two Webber Bar-B-Ques. And I've never prepared veggie plates for others.
And I worried I'd give one of the race riders a belly-ache and they'd blow the race because of me. :smt087

The team manager pulled me aside the first day and informed me that I wasn't required to do ANY of those things, that the team trainees could do those chores.

I asked him what those trainees are tryin' to learn.
He told me wrenchin' on the motorcycles.

Hmmmmmmm
I asked what they'd be doin' if I wasn't doin' the other gopher stuff?
Wrenchin' on race bikes, was his answer.

At that point, I suggested we not mess up a good thang.
And, because the trainees were usually the last to leave at night after practice, I gave them a ride in the bobtail, back to the motel, ..... where the team manager and one of the crew chiefs took me out to eat every evening at a quiet restaurant, while the rest of the team went to town to party, --- and THEY invited me to THAT, too.
But, ..........................
HaiL!

I had a pass for the HOT PITS.
And even saw myself on ESPN, standin' there, lookin' ever-so-cool surrounded by the excitement of racin'.
How cool is that?

Now, the OTHER relief driver heard of all the other stuff I volunteered to do, and told me I was "Outta yer everlovin' mind!
Followed by W H Y?! would you do all that extra stuff when you don't HAVE to?!

Hmmmmmmmmmm
Good question.
I wish I had an answer better than,
because it FEELS good and I LOVE it.

But, I'm also aware that Big truck truck drivers aren't supposed to feel good or love their job, .......... dare I say LIFESTYLE.

In betwit those fill-in gigs, I transported watercraft for photo shoots with the Hawaiian Tropics Girls, and up to Hollywierd when the Bay Watch TV series needed 'em for filming (tapeing) the episodes (with Pamela Anderson), -- hauled many custom calendar motorcycles, one with gold-plated brake rotors, --- DON"T SQUEEZE THE BRAKE HANDLE!

The company did trade shows and special events -- like following the Olympic torch run across America ---
Hauled snowmobiles on a tour for demo rides, outboard motors, ski-boats, 4-wheel off-road vehicles, sensitive military electronics, gaming devices (slot machines) and very HIGH-VALUE items like furniture ---- mostly pad wrapped.
It wasn't unusual to use 350 -- 400 furniture pads. Which all need to be re-folded.
UgHH!
BUT!
It paid $35 to fold 'em, be it 50 pads or 500 pads. But the average was around 100 pads, an easy hours exercise.
And there's usually SOMEone at a truck stop willin' to do that for $15 ---> $20, or just help for $10.

In Florida, when it's 105 degrees, and about to rain, it's pretty hot in the trailer, --- so I appreciate ALL the help I can get.
How DO those Florida folks get used to the humidity?

The company drivers were drivin' NICE Big trucks, KW's and Freightliners, and one of the former show trucks that was assigned to me was a certified triple-digit runner. Missouri Highway Patrol clocked one of that truck's drivers at 113 mph.
I don't know if it was flat out.

I, however, have never received a citation in a Big truck for ANYthing, except for ONE over-weight citation in my fourth year of drivin' an orange Big truck.
Last citation in my private vehicle was back in the 1970's -- in Bishop, Califiornia, on Hwy 395 -- for speedin'
When I started drivin' Big trucks, .... I remembered THAT town.

And NO preventable accidents.

The second company's drivers were expected and required to THINK, and perform more like an I/C or O/O.
No forced routes --- go whch ever way on whichever roads y'all wanna. Fuel ANYwhere. Call ahead to the shippers and/or receivers for our OWN directions.
Keep track and know when Preventative Maintenance is due on the Big truck, ..... KeeP the truck CLEAN, (company pays for one wash a week, if necessary -- or more if the Big trucks will be in the public's eye at events.

The biggest requirement -----
Just be where you're supposed to be
ON TIME
or before.
And be ready for ANYthang!

SOMEtimes, that meant getting creative, but it was a challenge I was usually up to back then.
I usually preferred to stay out 6 to 9 weeks at a time, then take 7 to 10 days off in a row.
Once I was "in the groove" of OTR, I didn't want to get out of it by taking a few days off, only to have to get back in the groove when I returned to duty.

But,I would NEVER drive tired or fatigued.

That arrangement seemed to agree with the dispatchers,................. as well.
And the dispatchers were former Big truck truck drivers with YEARS of experience who KNEW how to keep a driver rollin', and how to fix "situations" at slow shippers and/or receivers.

If y'all told the head dispatcher,
I can handle ALL the miles you can give me.
I wanna RUN!
Y'all better be right, --- or you'd soon be yellin' UNCLE!

I only use these personal examples of mine to illustrate another positive approach to gettin' into the truckin' industry, and that there ARE enjoyable aspects --- if y'all stick with one or two companies, rather than job-hop.
It's a way that HAS worked for me, and allowed me to advance within the first company -- until I found another gig I liked better. But I didn't set a time frame as to how long I'd remain at the first truckin' company, I just played it by ear.

I received the same advice I'm handin' out now from others who passed on the advice on to me. And now I to y'all.

Don't be too quick to follow the crowd, and don't be quick to listen to just ANYbody. Find those who are realizing success, and not always whinin' and complainin' --- and ask THEM how to git 'er done.
Don't ask a whiner.
Unless y'all wanna learn to whine.

There are plenty of drivin' jobs for the below average and average drivers out there.
But there's a demand for GOOD QUALITY Big truck truckers, --- with experience and a stellar attitude, who WILL treat the equipment properly, and not see every aspect of the industry, other than driving, as being put-upon to do more than they WANT to do, even if the reward is worth it.

Like one owner/operator pointed out to me,.......
There ain't too many highly successful people who got that way by only workin' an 8-hour, 9 to 5 job --- 5 days a week, and goin' home and doin' nuthin' after work, --- and take every weekend off, ---- to relax.
HaiL!
Relax when you're older and can afford to because y'all busted your buttox when y'all were younger, and invested and saved wisely.

Life is full of decisions.
And, you CAN decide to make NO decisions,
past that decision.
However, if YOU don't make your OWN decisions,
LIFE will make 'em FOR y'all.
Usually not to your liking.
But a decision was made, none the less.

Take charge of your future!
Pay attention and RESEARCH.
Keep your eyes, ears and mind open.
Learn that you CAN trust your own judgment, and pay attention to those "gut" feelings.

And BE CAREFUL out there.
Y'all never know when y'all might run into
someone like me, on a baaadd day ----->
When it's better to wait until
a good day ----- >

Like they say,
Timing is EVERYthang.
And, the clock on the wall says it's time
to end this post.

Are ya'll STILL here?!