From the schoolbus to Transland

It's company policy that the driver has to pay the deductible for something that is your fault. Kind of like if you loaned your neighbor your car and he damaged it you would expect them to pay for the deductible on your claim. If I would have caused $10,000 worth of damage I would still just pay the deductible. I am completely understanding of this. The thing that does get me upset is that I did offer to fix it myself but they won't let me. I have autobody experience and I know I could fix this but they said it would have to be taken to a shop. Oh well. No big deal.

 

First I would get the paperwork done asap. they will still hire you but you will be flagged No hazmat so you don't do any hazmat loads. When you do the fingerprinting they will tell you it will be anywhere from 1 to 6 weeks. Don't freak out they are just giving you the longest time it's possible. Three of us got ours in exactly a week and a half.

The road test I am not sure. With me they knew I was fresh out of school and my instructor was one of their old drivers. So I was labeled as a student. So my trainer gave me a road test during training. But I have also seen them give road tests to new hires to see if they are what they say they are. I would call Marti in recruiting to see what she says about your situation. The road test is just like your cdl test but you will also have to drop and hook a trailer.

Trainers are hit and miss. Some are good others have some issues like not letting you drive enough. Either way it was the hardest part for me. Like I said before you are in someone else's "house" as a guest. It gets easier once you are in your own truck. When I started training I asked my trainer what I needed to do. He told me to be his shadow. follow and watch whenever going into a recieving office, fueling etc. When we would drop or hook a trailer we had a system. I would do the landing gear while he did the other steps, no matter what the weather was doing. I kept my cell phone use limited to when he was driving. Avoid situations where you are sitting in the truck on your phone while the trainer is doing something like I mentioned before. Be willing to learn. Try not to say stuff like "Yeah I already kow that". Ask questions. You may not drive a lot at first but that's to build up your stamina. If your trainer has some time off ask to go with a city driver to work on your backing skills if needed. One week with city will have more docking then you will during your entire training.

Let me know who you get.

For orientation keep your cell off, make sure you have any documents you might need and ss# of falily members plus a voided check for direct deposit. And you will need some caffiene to stay awake for most of it. I kept notes for future reference because they are gonna load you up with info like if you were going into your own truck right away. It will seem overwhelming but don't sweat it.

I am gonna be home until monday so I will attempt to update my trips this weekend. This last two weeks was a doozy. I went all the way to Utah then back and then to oregon and back. It's good to be home.

 

Transland does not procrastinate at all. Probably because they are a smaller outfit. They called me the week after I mailed in my application. Prime I did the online app and they finally called me while I was dropping a trailer in Wisconsin on my first week out solo.

 

July 13 to July 19​

This trip found me with more newbie challenges and brought some more changes.


Sunday night I left the house and brought the load where I had damaged my truck to Okmulgee, OK. This was a place I knew and I remebered there was a small truck stop just a mile from there so I left earlier than probably necessary but I wanted a decent parking space. I parked for the night and wished I had something more for entertainment than just a deck of cards and a cell phone.The shipper is a place is in my earlier reports where you walked in a building and used a phone. Very impersonal with a bunch of signs telling you what Not to do. You get the feeling they think truckers are dumb idiots with diseases. OK. I was kinda nervous on where I had to back due to my incident but right before I started another truck pulled out and that made my situation easier. The curse of this load was there until the end though there was some freight where the bags were split. It wasn't my fault but just another detail to make an easy transaction more trouble than it needed to be. I go back to the truckstop and wait for my next load assignment.
After a phone call that put me in a bad mood due to some news from the home front I get my next load offer. Go to Fort Gibson, OK to (Gasp!) the very heart of Chicago, IL. The part that made me nervous was the instructions said to follow exactly because of all the low clearance spots. Great. I don't mind traffic, busy streets, etc. My biggest weakness is taking a wrong turn and needing to find a way out. So now I have to make sure I don't screw up. I go to Fort Gibson and I get there and find about twenty trucks in a tight area all staging to get into a set of five docks. I do luck out though. The lady in the shipping office asked me if it was crowded out there so I described the situation in detail to her. She tells me to go around back to one of the back doors since I was way early. I happily oblige and head to an area where there was plenty of room and parking.


Tuesday was uneventful as I had plenty of time to get where I needed. I figured I would get to Monee and then head in early before rush hour starts just in case there is a screw up. I park at a TA where you pay $10 to park but get a certificate for up to $10 in the store. So it's basically free if you spent money. Well I had some groceries to get and I got a flashlight that mounts on your hat. I figured I would need it for reading directions in the morning. I slide my tandems all the way forward and hit the sack.


Wednesday I had a 8am appointment but I started at 3am to beat the traffic. My instructions say to take a certain exit. So I am looking for a certain street exit (since a number wasn't given) and I noticed it was one of those split street exits. Where an exit has two diffeent names. About five miles into the downtown interstate I realized I missed where I should have turned. Most of the time one can take an exit, go over the overpass and get back on the freeway the opposite diection. Not in Chicago. The way across the interstate in underneath it. Sometimes it will be high enough most times it won't. It took me about 15 miles before I took a gamble and picked an exit. I get to the bottom of the ramp and to my horror all three possible directions had UNMARKED low bridges. So I sit and wait ticking off the cars behind me. Finally a straight truck that looked almost as high as my vehicle passes through and I say a small prayer and I go for it.Then it it looks like left turns weren't meant for what I was about to do in a truck so I take up the whole road and completely had my tandems on a curb being careful to make sure I wasn't gonna clip my roof on the overpass. I get through and with a sigh of huge relief I get back on the freeway. So far I have already screwed up and it was the first turn of the instructions.


This is where it gets really hairy. My directions say "Go west on 39th to halstead and go south. go to pershing and go west. go north on ashland, go east on 35th." So I am cruising west on pershing noticing all the low places around me. I go south on halstead I pass one side street that was a dead end and then hit my brakes. A bridge layed before me 12' 9". I noticed a weld shop that had possibly enough room for me to turn around. I back up a little and start my swing. This was the closest I have ever been to jackkninfing the truck and bending the fins of the cab. But I get through and start heading north instead as I didn't see low bridges. It was obvious that this wasnt the right way either and I was starting to see non commercial areas coming up. Ok no big deal I will just circle back to 39th. Simple right? Not here. I turn right and about a block ahead of me I see a sign that says no trucks. I stop. I can't back up. I look around. Clearance wise I was ok. No low powerlines or bridges. It was a residential village type area. Cars parked on both sides of the street and I was taking up both travel lanes. This was tight. Ok I just have to take two more right turns. So I proceed and thank my self for sliding the tandems earlier. I BARELY make it through the first right turn. This is where my school bus driving experience came in. Driving a large vehicle around all these cars was something I did daily. I make it to the next right turn and finally get back to where I started. Another driver who was also lost flags me down. I told him him I didn't know where he needed to go and told him I knew where NOT to go as he was about to enter this residential area. I get back on pershing and start heading west. And right ahead of me was Ashland. The going south on Halstead wasn't even necessary even though the directions say to. Grr. I finally make it to my destination. I am still two hours early. PLENTY of room to stage and back especially for a Pepsi place. The security lady was very friendly and said they would unload me early and to pick a dock. Alright! The shipping lady was even friendlier and even told me where I needed to go for my next load assignment. This place was a good place despite the nightmare of getting here. Tally another one to experience and my lack of it. So I head to my PU and they say I am 12 hours early. I knew that but they had plenty of room so I would wait. About three hours later I check to see if I could get sueezed in and I am told the load was cancelled. That would have been useful info a couple of hours ago. But my next Load offer was literally across the street. I find the place and right away I start getting weird looks from their office. I had the right pu number so they tell me to go to this one warehouse. Now I know why I got the looks. This was supposed to be a FLATBED load. So I wait. An hour and an apology later from dispatch I get something at a dairy place north of Chicago. I called them for directions and made sure they knew I wasn't driving a reefer trailer. They said it was milk powder so no big deal. I find the place no problem but had to do a blindside into a very narrow opening on a street. After about 10 minutes I get it in there. They load me and I off into the thick blanket of Chicago construction traffic. Everyone here is so sick of stop and go traffic that they are all impatient and fight for every inch they can get. Every traffic light seemed to have at least three or four that run the red lights. A truck pretty much has use their size to "influence" your way over if you need to change lanes. I make it just outside the city and find a place to end my very long day.


Thursday I make it to my destination without incident which was Bonner Springs, Kansas I ended. It was a cold storage facility where the docks where bacically cave openings. I will have pics later. One bag was damaged so that had to be dealt with and I headed over to KC to hit the sack.


Friday morning I get my assignment. PU in Lee's Summit and take to the yard. OK. I get to the yard and take another trailer to Roanoke, TX. Looks like I am working this weekend. I have been here before during training so that was no big deal but I had to push hard to get it there in time. I get there I am tired and irritable. I am told one door only to find a trailer already in it. After doing this three freaking times I told the guy in the office that I was picking a door and I would inform them of the number.They didn't argue. I headed for FT worth Pilot to sleep for the night.

Following week coming soon.

 

Sorry for the lack of updates. I finally get some home time and I forgot my notebook. I will just make a few comments and such to overview the past month.

I officially got my 90 day bonus yesterday. And as promised I got a new laptop. So now maybe I can keep up with this thing. Here are some things I learned in my first three months:

Transland had switched FMs on me and right off the bat I get two 1400 mile runs back to back. So now I have ventured into the great Northwest. I went to Utah, back to KC and then went to Washinton state. I learned a lot about mountain driving. Utah needs to improve the pavement paint so it's not so faded at night driving down winding roads. To me Utah seemed to be the worst I have encountered.

Truckdrivers in Idaho have a severe attitude problem. A flatbedder decided it would be fun to harass me on the radio simply because my 65mph Volvo almost passed his Peterbilt. The next morning a driver had deragatory remarks towards me when I tried to tell him he lost his Oversize Load sign that had fallen in front of me. Oh well I am sure the scalehouse up the road pointed it out too. And it seemed like everyone in the state had some weird mean streak. Once I got in Nebraska everyone was being friendly and courteuos to each other again.

Special thanks to the driver in WY who thought it would be funny telling drivers that their side doors were open so they would pull over and check. Three of us fell for that.

There is a chemical place in Houston that has no business dealing with trucks. Basically if you take your backyard (if it's a small one) fill it with mud, craters, and scrap metal and drive your truck in it you might get the same experience. This place was so bad that you had to drop your trailer because the yard dog was the only truck that can manuever inside. Also I was there for six hours which is the second longest wait I have had to that time.

I found myself going over my 70 and had to reset in Rawlins, WY at the Flying J. This is when I broke down and got a tv for the truck. Later I bought a couple of movies. One was Maximum Overdrive and the other was Duel. I asked the lady at the counter if it was wrong for a truckdriver to buy movies that were about trucks trying to kill people. The look I got in return was classic.
Now here are my rants about truckstops. When I was a kid I loved truckstops. Now they are nothing more than convenience stores that sell diesel and truck accessories.

Pilots - The people that engineer the layouts of the lots need to be shown what an 18wheeler looks like. Apperently they have never seen one. Also if they would fix the card readers one would not have to make up to two or three trips back and forth. Yesterday when I fueled I went in and stood in line. Got my pumped turned on, went outside, pump was not turned on, so I had to go back and do the whole routine again, fueled, pulled up because I not an a-hole, went in to get my reciepts, kiosk was down so had to wait in line again. And these people wonder why truckers are so cranky in there. I have yet to see a clean bathroom at a Pilot except for the showers.

Flying J - Usually but not always the parking lots are bigger but always smell like urine. I like the fact that when you fuel you get a free drink. the restaurants should be shut down for what they try to pass on the buffett. I once payed for a meal and the cashier asked he "how was your meal?" When I started to reply she changed the subject by interupting me before I could give my opinion.

TA - Now I know why drivers have a beef with Idle-aire. Good parking space being taken so a driver who doesn't need it is screwed on finding parking if it's after 8:00pm. Our fuel stops are Pilots and Flying j but our repair accounts are at TA and Petro. Four hours to repair a flat when I am the only truck is rediculous.

Petro - Not much different than TA but it seems that more of the riff raff of our world hang out here more than the others.

Loves - See decription of Pilot above. The only difference is the name and that we can't fuel here.

If I am looking for a meal or a parking space for the night I try to support the independent truck stops. Speaking of meals I now have a coffee pot, a cooler, and a microwave and a well stocked cuppard. This means I don't need to rely on the TS for food. I do wish that they would stock more produce and not charge a month's salary for it when they do.

So far what makes it hard in this carreer for me is the little things. Simple actions and transactions that should be simple but for one reason or another are made difficult by stupid little things. The rules of a shipper, card readers and the fueling processes, directions to destinations, Lack of proper signs, and other such things added with lack of common sense and courtesy makes the job more difficult than it needs to be. Add my inexperience into the mix and it can be an uphill battle.

There are positives to the job. Money has been good. I seen a lot of neat things and beautiful scenery. I appreciate the things I have a lot more especially at home. To the drivers who have been helpful, I thank you. To the ones who haven't, you are the ones who make the industry suffer, you are the ones who bring the negativity to life and give it it's power. If you hate your job and life so much go elsewhere. Stop making my job harder. I do that enough by myself due to my inexperience. Besides I am still having fun out here you don't need to ruin it.

I will start back my weekly updates next week as I now have a laptop. Transland has been good so far and I have only talked to one driver who was upset at the company. For now I am gonna go hang out with my family before I start my week.

Later.

 

Well for awhile I was extremely busy getting some major miles. After accidently going over my 70 a couple of times my FM backed down a little. I am running about 2700 miles a week on average. I was layedover in FT. Worth, TX for two days during Labor Day. But from what I saw from the truckstop I wasn't alone. I also think that Hurricane Gustave made it harder to find freight since a lot of trucks went north to Dallas. The following week I was doing flips back and forth to Texas. Easy runs that I knew. Good thing too because other things would be thrown at me. I got a nice gift from an officer in Big Cabin, OK. But not for speeding but for wrong use of a traffic lane. Also I had to get an alternator put in at Big Cabin. Here is my week:
September 7th - September 14th
Normally I leave on Sundays but due to slow freight I got an extra night at home. Monday morning I called the FM. I had a choice of New Jersey or Ft. Worth. I chose Ft Worth even though it would screw my cycle up with a 4am appointment time. I show up and try to nap while I was unloaded. My next load was at the same place so I went across the lot and napped more while getting loaded. Afterwards I head to the Pilot to finish my 10 hours. I didn't have to deliver until the next day back in Springfield so I thought I had plenty of time. About an hour from home I get a load assignment to bring my load to the yard and take this one as far as legally possible for a tomorrow delivery in Leeds, AL. I get as far as Cabool, MO. A nice quiet truckstop with plenty of parking.
The next morning I head out and give my FM an ETA. Nice drive, perfect weather, so I made decent time. About 6pm I arrive at a parking lot that is unfinished with work trucks everywhere. Consignee was a store chain opening a new store so apparently this was common with these loads. I squeezed through and found a spot only to find out I won't be unloaded until the morning. Good thing my truck is well stocked.
Thursday morning I am awakened by a knock. Time for unloading. Didn't have to back into a dock but I did have to do a blindside into a nook and cranny to be able to get out. I DH 95 miles to Decatur for my next load. A hazmat load going to Harrisonville, MO. I headed back the way I came. About 100 miles from my planned shutdown (which was Cabool again), southbound tells me about all the tornadoes happening where I am heading. I manage to avoid them and shutdown right before all the rain hits.
Friday begins with a cup of coffee, a quick pretrip, and a muddy parking lot. I get to as far as Springfield and my next load assignment comes through. Kansas City to Salt Lake City, UT. I drop and hook my Hazmat load. I DH to KC and drop and hook again. After a quick fuel up I head to a rainy highway. It rains all the way to Grand Island where I shut down for the night. The good part of working this weekend was I have done this run before and it's a good one with a fairly light load. I even already have my return load.
Saturday I head out into the vastness of Nebraska and Wyoming and get to my fuel stop in Cheyenne. I take a long deserved shower, fuel up and used my points to replace my CB radio, (it decided to die Monday). I shut down in Little America. The next morning I drive three hours to Salt Lake and I am ready for the five am appoint time tomorrow. So now I am enjoying some football and some internet time. See ya next week.