New to tanker driving; starting soon...

A little off topic, but I think that's what vacation is for. Hey what do other people on here do for fun the scant few days they have off? Wifey and I got to have a weekend off out of town paid for from her job. I don't know about you guys, but I've always been kind of interested in our commodity hauling aquatic brethren... this here is a thousand foot laker pulling into the port of Duluth, going to load coal I believe.

 

It's been 40's, rainy, all weekend, with a strong wind pushing the waves in. Pretty standard Duluth weather to be enjoyed (I used to live here, might move back here in the future). I like it because it keeps away a lot of the annoying tourists who can't handle weather. And for the record, 45 degrees in may isn't "cold" to a Minnesotan. We had a snowstorm over a week after Easter this year, and the snow that fell lasted for most of a week. I always chuckle to myself when I'm down south and hear guys go on about how "I won't go up north in the winter, I don't want to deal with that weather."

 

I don't really use "chilly" much if it's above freezing. "Cold" is something like -10, and bibs start sounding like a good idea by -20. -40 is when it's really fun to be alive.

The big lakes are something aren't they.

 

...I can't wait to see how awful sugar gloop flows in freezing weather.

 

Back on topic a little bit...

I am set to show up to my terminal for the actual training June 5th. So I probably won't have much to post until then. But for now, I suppose I can describe some more about the orientation day.

I've already spent some time with e-logs, so that doesn't phase me too much. They use the peoplenet system for logs and dispatch. Last time I experienced that was with an early-adopter company that had those green screen peoplenet things with the blocky text (those sucked). This system seems a little over-complicated for no particular reason, but whatever, that's logs. I like the integrated navigation (assuming it works well). Spent a bit of time with the guy in charge of keeping those running, he seemed pretty sharp, and the sort of no-BS but also not humorless friendly/helpful, and knowledgeable.

They are in the process of installing forward-facing cameras on their trucks. Not sure how much I'm going to enjoy the little extra "big brother", but I'm not really worried about it.

I think I'll be driving a mid-roof cascadia of some sort (they have a number of volvos, but I'm not what you call small, and I don't really fit in the sleeper; as in, laying down on the bed my feet are flat up against one side and my head is mashed into the other side, so they said they'd put me in one of the other trucks they have). They seem to refresh their fleet fairly often, so the oldest trucks they claim are just a few years old. I volunteered to be out for a few weeks at a pop, so I was told I'd likely get one that isn't more than a year old, so it may have a built in fridge. I'm not sure of the other amenities or specs, but I know it'll probably be an auto. I also believe they're governed at 64.

I was told I was paid (will be paid on the first check) 150 for my orientation day. Single health insurance amounted to something like 11 bucks a week (weekly pay), haven't looked too hard at the details yet. I have insurance through my wife's job so I don't know if it'll be worth the bother of changing over or not. The family insurance looked spendy.

I don't think there's much for load/unload pay, but detention is paid 15/hr after two hours. If I do a 34 hr reset on the road (probably will do this once or twice a trip) I'll get 150. There is a points-based bonus program that covers a spread, up to 175 a month, and it sounds relatively easy to attain most of that if not all (no speeding, no excessive idle, no hard braking, etc). We will see. Guy who handles the e-logs got this instituted and said he was pushing for more, makes me believe they're on the level. After a year, there is some sort of profit-sharing.

All the people in the office seemed friendly enough. Met the owner, and the guy who's going to be the owner soon (who bought me lunch from the bar next door). Everyone else I met seemed decent. My terminal is in a different location from their main office, so I didn't get to meet the manager of that or the shop folks yet. Ran into one driver on my way out who said he'd been there for about four years. Said they were squared away and a good place to work for.

That's all for now for a while...