Trans Am Still

Tell Cranky Yankee that if he doesn't come back hid Red Sox will be cursed for a hundred years this time and so will the Patriots.

 

My beloved Red Sox are already cursed. We let Theo go to the Cubs big papi is retiring after the 2016 season and we way over paid for a washed up hanley Ramirez and a very round Panda bear that is disguised as 3rd baseman.... I hope this Cranky fellow gets your message cause I could not handle 100 years of this.. while I do not know this man I am begging you to return and overt this catastrophic relapse into mediocrity from continuing.
Thanks

 

HTQ you were posting the good things about TA , I also heard they will approve you before you get there and have a short training time (12) days ?

Being in Korea these 2 things were a positive for me.

I had heard about a lot of people quitting jobs then once they got to orientation a red flag would pop up and they would get sent home. That would SUCK !

And I would hope that after a good driving school like SAGE and the training that TA gives you would be enough to get you going on your own. I think this would work for some but maybe not all.
I am sure some might not agree but they have been doing it that way I guess for a while.

I would really like to hear from people that know of people that have just gone to school and then TA for the short training and how their career turned out , anyone have any info on the short training and drivers feeling comfortable going out alone with such a short training period ?

 

You brought up some things that I had forgotten about, dennisroc. If you are approved by TransAm for orientation then you are guaranteed a job as a driver. Being the distrustful soul that I am, I had the King request it in writing before he went to orientation and they were happy to send him a letter of confirmation.

When the King started with TransAm the training period was longer. It was based on driving hours with your trainer and driving procedures....backing, safe parking, etc.. His trainer turned off the GPS every time it was the King's turn to drive. I know on a personal level that being cooped up in a truck with another driver for a lengthy period of time would be much harder.

It isn't the driving that you are training on while you are out with a coach. You have been to cdl school and received your cdl. It is the driving in big cities in heavy traffic with incredibly ignorant people in places that you have never been before. It's trying to find your shipper or receiver. It is trying to fit your truck into some places, especially in the northeast, that were never meant to accommodate a tractor and trailer of that size. It is learning company policy and procedure while you are trying to do all of this.....and trying to remember all of the laws, rules and regulations that apply only to you. It is all of the stress, anxiety and nerves that you will be dealing with for awhile. While you have earned your cdl you still have to learn all of these things plus so much more.

I think the length of the training period is something that each person is going to have to decide for themselves what they are comfortable with.

 

It gets somewhat better as time goes along....but having a majority of the drivers as newbies means that their policies and procedures are always geared toward the new driver. Your DM is the person that will make the biggest difference for you. Hopefully, you have one that you can develop a good working relationship with. One that will realize that you keep the driver's door closed and the wheels rolling.

 

This is for all of you that have any info on this ??????

Have you ever been to a place where safety was a concern ? I know any place can be unsafe at any time but I mean when you have a delivery in a not so good part of town type delivery or pickup ?

I worry about my safety but mostly for my wife.

What was your worst place ?


Probably talked about this before but not sure , also maybe some new story's !!!

I thought I seen in the news that Ohio had some Rest Areas that had people robbing drivers and others I am sure.

 

It was not a delivery but I was supplying equipment for a dock renovation at a cold storage facility in Chicago. Had to meet the drivers there to deliver the equipment. Place was located right accros the street from Caprini Green projects. ( have since been torn down) At the time they were considered the worst/ most dangerous housing projects in the country. I arrived at about 1 in the afternoon trucks were to be there at3 because the facility as I confirmed with the owner had a strict policy that they shut and locked all entries and exits to the facility at 4:30.. If you were inside the gates you were staying all night. If you arrived after the gates were locked you had better not even slow down.. countless robberies of drivers whole assults and even a few shootings.. You could tell when you pulled up to the place from the liquor store on the corner across the street with Bars and razor wire around the building the congregation of of homeless drug dealers and addicts in the vacant lot and the great big sign that said if gates are locked to not stop or park your truck. It is not safe..

But as I said they tore it down.. But in Chicago most of your meat packing and processing facilities are not in really good neighborhoods. The old Chicago Stock Yards are on the South side and west side near cicero and midway airport. But since I did business with many of these places and had trucks delivering equipment what I found worked best is to make sure of the hours of delivery or that they will accept deliveries. If you are not going to make it buy delivery cut off then your better off not even going.. cause in bad areas they will generally not let you in after cutoff.. Also now a days most facilities in these types of neighborhoods have pretty good security so if you can get in the gates even if you cant get unloaded you will be safe to camp out for the night..

Again this is not a driver experience but it was at facilities that reefer drivers would pick up and deliver too..

 

They don't usually put warehouses next to the million dollar neighborhoods. So in most major cities they are in really bad neighborhoods.
I once did a bed delivery for Sleepys to the projects in Far Rockaway around 2300. Not gonna lie I was a little nervous. I lived in Jamaica Queens during the crack head late 80s into the 90s. You learn to just blend in as best as you can in those type of environments. Don't look scared and don't look for trouble and you'll be alright.

 

In the year plus I was with TransAm, I never felt unsafe with where they sent me and I did a couple of Chicago Meathouses. They were during the day and in okay residential neighborhoods. Now, many of the swaps we did were in truckstops in questionable areas like Atlanta, Birmingham, Gary IN, East St Louis IL, West Memphis AR, but I never had ANY incidents. Like Jaso said, don't go looking for it.

 

George would you feel safe taking your wife or children where you have been ?