"Trucking Companies do not recognize Pepsi as OTR" ?

Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by n8dwgphx, Aug 21, 2010.

  1. MACK E-6

    MACK E-6 Moderator Staff Member

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    One could've worked for an LTL for 20 years, going everywhere running through snowstorms and the pits of hell on the 4th of July amd everywhere in between, but the outfit that runs sleepers and swing doors will declare that same driver green as grass and send him out with a trainer that has 6 months "experience". Unbelievable...:rolleyes:
     
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  3. timd1978

    timd1978 Light Load Member

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    A lot of the beverage drivers don't lump cases. Some of them are bulk drivers who bump docks, pull off some pallets without touching the cases (especially with ASN check in) and roll on to the next stop. These guys have to move quick though to make all their stops. They are bumping docks, ripping pallets off for check in, grabbing their empties/credit and hauling tail to the next drop. While this is far from OTR, many small companies can work with this. Also, some companies (Schneider for example) will consider that as partial experience towards pay scale.
     
  4. timd1978

    timd1978 Light Load Member

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    This beverage drivers who run side bay make more money at most places (55-65/yr), but their experience doesn't usually count for anything with most companies.
     
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  5. Brettj3876

    Brettj3876 Road Train Member

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    Yea i know there is the bulk side to it and it sucks most dont consider that otr exp. Both of the jobs I've had don't count for otr. Food and my current job running bulk cement in the oilfield. The skills you learn in both of those fields far exceeds your general door slammer, but some bean counter feels otherwise.

    My company's pay wasn't nearly as good as the top paying food companies but 1100/wk was company avg for a 4.5 day work wk. If you did 3 20hr team runs to nyc it was more like 1100 take home
     
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  6. timd1978

    timd1978 Light Load Member

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    That is good money right there!
     
  7. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    Elpaso to Phoenix is DEFINATELY OTR work, you should absolutely keep or have kept a formal Log paperwork. Not to have it is a problem with you with fines, OOS violations etc to begin once you are caught without paper logs.

    There might be some discrimination from some trucking companies cherry picking new hires and applications to weed out occasional OTR work or those who have no OTR work whatsoever.

    When they get so many applications they can afford to be picky and choosey OTR means OTR experience. There are quite a few goodies that go with having OTR experience as you know.

    Elpaso to Phoenix is a nice little run I say. But they can keep the Trinity site and alamagordo hill to themselves and out of my life. That 10 mile pull is always a little challenging to me morally because that part of the USA is referred to as the land of the dead in spanish. It's easy to imagine why in that area. I never did like that part of the USA anyhow. They can have it.
     
  8. clausland

    clausland Road Train Member

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    Like @TripleSix said, we didn't have all these "titles" back in the day. A good hand could be depended on to go and do whatever needed to be done.

    I hauled wood chips in a dry van to the pulp mill, 3 loads a day, 50 miles up & 50 miles back, hardly considered OTR right. Then the boss needed a tarped hardwood lumber load from NY to go to NC or AL. Then I'd run 2 loads a day to the island and back, turn around and load to NC or ME.
    I ran beer in a reefer out of a rail hub in Syracuse all over NYS all week long, but never leave NY. Then the next week I'd run from VT to Cali or FL or AZ and produce back to Montreal, etc, etc, ect.....

    Point is, a good hand can be depended on to jump in any truck and haul any load on any trailer to anywhere without having to have his/her hand held or be "labeled" as a ______ , just saying....

    Oh yeah, one more thing, they can stick their E-log and GPS where the sun don't shine, don't want nor need either....
     
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  9. x1Heavy

    x1Heavy Road Train Member

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    I did not notice the "Titles" until you brought it up. There has never been titles in my life time of working with big trucks thankfully. Maybe a trainer here and there but it's so informal and FUN.

    A long time ago I had too much of space games that are very physical and same as infantry combat only with laser guns one evening and staggered into my farm milk truck at 5 am unable to shake off the yawns. The one boss asked me what the hell have I done with my night off. I told him that I had been engaged in space games until 2 am in the morning and am wore out. Time to go the farms and collect milk for the day on my route and I already knew it's going to be a three thermos coffee day and maybe twice the usual two packs of smokes to go with it to stay awake.

    He put me into the corner of the office and used many profane words telling me to choose here, today this morning if I wanted to join Nasa and be a space man or want to be a professional trucker hauling milk for Baltimore Kids to drink in school. (Greenspring Dairy off Jones Falls produced alot of milk in carton for schools in the area among other customers ranging from grocery stores to 7-11's Walmart did not yet exist in those days... imagine that...)

    The bawling out woke me up properly and I got through the day. But it changed my habits for the better. I saved my space gaming for days that I don't have to work the milk route. What I did not know then was I was to continue playing those very physical arena battles until age 42. That was when I realized Im too old and slow to keep up with the young'uns. they can be in one corner and be gone over to this base before I had a chance to consider the battle problem or do anything other than just to die in place LOL.

    ANYWAY. enough about space stuff.

    The moral of the story I am trying to get at is that you might be with your family at dinner one evening and then suddenly working your way to Cincinnati in a 2 foot snow storm the rest of the night to be there at 9 am next morning. Or perhaps go to Baltimore, spend the rest of the night loading butter for Hunts Point at sunrise next morning. God knows 10 million people are waiting for that load of 48,000 pounds in butter minus the pallets and fuel.

    Or hop into a box truck with a engine and transmission you never have touched before and know nothing about hopping from one concrete highway plate to the next (Yes you merchedes what a POS truck you built.. nothing but a solid block of wood on bad tires...) boing boing boing boing... hop hop hop while all the other drivers laughed and laughed at me coming up 95 before they finally paved the #### thing with blacktop. FUSO is another truck that had this horrible hop from plate to plate with the added joyful experience of flopping forward with each hop as the rear end bounced above your steer axle below and behind your drivers seat leaving you with the idea that you will faceplant onto the next plate with your teeth through the glass. HOP HOP HOP HOP. They called me bunny that morning on the CB. AND laughed some more.

    I don't mind trashtalk and teasing and can give and take just as good, but at that day I was 21 and was about to cry actual tears from the teasing i was getting in these horrible trucks. You could not pay me a million dollars to endure a lifetime bouncing in these things.

    When they finally started giving me nice conventionals with condos and airrride I cried tears of joy. But don't tell anyone that.
     
  10. MACK E-6

    MACK E-6 Moderator Staff Member

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    Sounds like you drove one of those 1519's....:laughing6:
     
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