CTL Transportation new hire experience 2016

We left Lake City for Jacksonville in the morning. We unloaded at Renessenz. After about an hour and change there, we went straight to Southern Tank Wash to get our hoses/fittings cleaned and drop off our trailer to get it cleaned out. We were then suppose to swap out trailers there and bring a clean tank back to the Jacksonville terminal. Well it so happens that the trailer we had to take back had expired inspections, so we bobtailed back.

We picked up our BoL and new trailer at the terminal. Our new load called for Polychemie of Scranton, PA. We took the empty trailer to SNF of Riceboro, GA. We were suppose to drop and hook for a loaded trailer, but guess what? IT WASNT LOADED! We arrived 4 hours later then our scheduled time and they still hadn't loaded it yet. Now I see why that place has a notoriously bad reputation. We sat there for 3 hours to get loaded. Once it was done, we headed up I95 7 hours behind schedule. We rested for the night in Manning, SC. At least my grandparents lived there and I got to spend the night with them.

Now the easy part was over.

 

Yeah, sorry guys for being absent. I'm on my 2nd week on my own now. Used all 70 hours my first week and been busy getting stuff for my truck and resting when I get the chance. Let me finish telling about my last week and a half of training.

We left Manning SC around 7am and headed N on 95. We took our 30min at the Flying J just south of Fredricksburg VA which had a Golden Coral. Seriously the best one I've been to and can take out left overs for dinner is by far the best money I spent on food at a truck stop. We decided to take US 1 from Fredrick MD to Harrisburg PA to bypass Baltimore/Philly but we had to go through 2 1/2 hours of traffic on the DC beltway. Once we got to Harrisburg, we took I-81 to Hazelton PA to stop for the night. We stayed at the Candlewood Inn & suites which had a full size kitchen with full silverware (glasses, plates, utensils, pots, pans, etc) and memory foam beds all for $100 a night.

On our way out to Taylor/Scranton PA, the GPS....and my trainer directed me through residential roads to get to the customer. I had to take some of these turns by starting in the oncoming lane and use all of the intersection to make it. We get to the customer in one piece. We unloaded everything ourselves with a fat rude operator observing us. Once we finished, we were instructed to get our tank washed in Philly. Our next load was to be loaded in Flemington NJ after our 34 hour reset. Our plan went out the window shortly after we will got to the wash.....and getting lost in the Poconos to get there lol.

 

Hmm I seem to be lazy when it comes to posting.

After we get to QualaWash in Bensalem PA, we get a call to go assist a fellow driver in Newark NJ, whom is unable to pump offload, due to not having the right fittings. We had 6 hours left on our 70, just enough to get there and do our reset near Newark. While on route to Newark, we tried to cross the Delaware river without paying a toll and get to the Loves in Bordentown to get a cash advance for our weekend hotel. We took US 13 to Trenton, but I missed our exit for US 1. My trainer told me to take the next exit after as there was bridge that crossed over on that road as well. It turns out that bridge (Calhoun St Bridge) has a 8ft clearance and a 3 ton limit! My only option was to turn R on to N Delmorr st (which is residential) and in doing so made 3 cars back up for me so I could make the turn. I got a lot a funky looks while going through downtown Morrisville lol. After making to the Loves in one piece to get my advance, we stayed the night at the Holiday Inn in East Windsor NJ. With our remaining time the next morning, we swapped trailers at the QualaWash in Rahway NJ, and then managed to find a place to stay and park at the Country Inn and Suites in Elizabeth NJ. The hotel location was perfect, as it was right next to the Jersey Mills outlet mall and it had complimentary shuttle rides to Newark International. The airport had a free monorail that connected to NJ Transit lines and thus Manhattan. I spent my first OTR 34 hr reset in NYC!

After a weekend of sight seeing (WTC, Central Park, Grand Central, Times Square, Chelsea Markets etc....), we went to Troy Chemicals in the Port of Newark. We got there at 9am and was told to wait until they finished unloading a truck ahead of us. After waiting several hours, we were ask why we were sitting around and not unloading. We told the guy that when we arrived, there was another truck ahead of us.................turns out, there was never a truck ahead of us. We wasted 5 hours for nothing! Once getting inside the tightest space I've ever saw at a customer and start the unloading process, my trainer's pump doesn't work. The pump just wouldn't turn on. Luckily we just had to wait an hour for another CTL driver to come rescue us. The process took 5 hours to unload and we had to stay another night in NJ, this time at the Holiday Inn in Carteret. We got back on our original plan the next day to Flemington to get loaded. On our way back to Atlanta, we decided to take I-78 to I-81. We rested that night just southwest of Roanoke VA. We then went and took I-77 to I-85 on our way to Conyers GA......back to boringville lol. Once we unloaded, we took an empty trailer from our Atlanta terminal down back to Jacksonville FL. Along the route, my trainer dropped me off at my terminal in Savannah.


My 5 weeks of training was over!.