J&R Schugel Trucking

drvrtech77 · Dec 11, 2017

wfutch79 said: ↑

As you may recall I started at J&R Schugel as a student driver and went through their 4 weeks of training and am now getting paid on a graduated scale up to my first year of employment with them.

My cents per mile increase every 3 months, I just received my first raise with my last pay check. I was a bit confused about how it worked so I asked some questions to get clarification.

The pay scale works like this:

0-3 Months: .34
3-6 Months: .35
6-9 Months: .36
9-12 Months: .37
12th Month: .38

Then a review + raise every 6 months.

When they say months I was not sure if it was full calendar months or if it started counting from the day you start, in my case August 28th I went solo. It turns out it is full months, so for me it was September, October & November. My first pay raise went into effect with my first pay check in December.

This is the case with the tuition reimbursement as well, it kicks in after your first full month solo, so I got my first payout at the end of October. They pay that out at the end of each month, currently it is $300 per month for 12 months no matter how much you paid for your school.

Enough about that boring stuff let's talk about something a bit more fun ..... MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH SNOW!

I picked up a load in Winchester, Virginia on 12/3 bound for Mankato, Minnesota for deliver on 12/6 .... OK no problem I can make it in plenty of time. As I start heading North the temperature begins to drop dramatically ... I start thinking in the back of my head that I am going to get caught in a snow storm and be stuck. I check the weather and it was clear for the time being but they were predicting some snow after I am going to be out of the area ... OK cool. Fast forward to 12/5 ... I am in Tomah, Wisconsin at the Love's and it is COLD ... if I recall correctly it was 19 degrees that day with a wind chill of 3 degrees. This Florida boy was out of his element for sure ... I was freezing!

I woke up on 12/6 and started heading toward Walmart in Mankato, Minnesota. On the way there I begin seeing dark clouds forming and it looked a little like precipitation was in the very near future ... I was right. Just outside of Mankato it started snowing and just kept getting worse and worse. I got into Walmart with no problem ... while there the wind picked up and it started blowing the snow and it piled up in their lot.

This was my very first time seeing snow, being from Florida we only see it on TV ... LOL. I did pretty good driving in it too ... at least I think I did. I did not slide or skid so that is a good sign I did OK.

It came time for me to leave so I go inside to get my paperwork walking over the snow was a bit challenging, I slid a couple of times but did not fall. I spent the night at the terminal in New Ulm and headed out early to pick up my load to Florida.

That load picked up in Marshall, Minnesota from Schwan's. There in Marshall it was 1 degree with a wind chill of -15 .... that is REALLY COLD! I get loaded there and start heading South, the temperature begins to rise a little. It was 20 degrees when I stopped in Illinois. From there the temperature kept improving and I was getting into temps that I was a little more comfortable and the snow had long since ended. On 12/8 my planned stopped was in Northern Georgia, for those keeping score 12/8 was Friday and if you watched the news you know Georgia got some snow Friday. So here I am back in the #### snow. It snowed pretty hard there in Georgia, the DOT was out all night plowing and brining the roads.

Now here I sit at home with the temperature 60 degrees and my dad looking at me like I am crazy because I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I told him this is not cold .... up North is cold. LOL.

My first experience with snow went well, I stayed upright and did not skid or slide. I know not to get ####y though, it's dangerous to drive in such conditions but we have to do it sometimes.
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After being in Single digit temperatures 60ﾟ as gotta feel like a heat wave... L o l

Vic Firth · Dec 11, 2017

Good job! The more experience you get driving in the white stuff the more confident you will become.

drvrtech77 · Dec 11, 2017

And remember you're always the captain of your own ship... Only you can make the decision whether you believe the roads are good enough you to drive on safely... No load is worth ever wrecking a truck and trailer and injuring or killing yourself or anyone else.

wfutch79 · Dec 13, 2017

Unfortunately I am going to be sidelined for at the very least the next week. I have some health concerns that could effect me safely operating my vehicle. I won't get into all of that here. Just wanted to drop and update so you guys know what is going on.

Vic Firth · Dec 13, 2017

wfutch79 said: ↑

Unfortunately I am going to be sidelined for at the very least the next week. I have some health concerns that could effect me safely operating my vehicle. I won't get into all of that here. Just wanted to drop and update so you guys know what is going on.
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Best of luck to you!

Oldironfan · Dec 13, 2017

I was called by recruiter at Schugal was told $15000 sign on. I asked paid how. He said over 3 years. I said I'd think about it. How many drivers stay here for 3 years? Not many I bet. Also I do not need elog so I never called back.

CrossettDriver · Feb 26, 2018

wfutch79 said: ↑

Unfortunately I am going to be sidelined for at the very least the next week. I have some health concerns that could effect me safely operating my vehicle. I won't get into all of that here. Just wanted to drop and update so you guys know what is going on.
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Did you quit?

wfutch79 · Feb 26, 2018

CrossettDriver said: ↑

Did you quit?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately yes I did.

There are a few reasons why.

1. My father-in-law fractured his hip and I was needed at home for an extended period of time while he recovered. My wife could not handle taking care of him and our daughter while working full time.

2. I could not get my depression and bi-polar under control while on the road alone. They refused to allow me to move into another truck to allow me to take a dog or a passenger with me. If I had someone or a dog with me in the truck I would have been OK.

I enjoyed my time on the road but my mental health and physical health need some attention. I need to get myself healthy and maybe I will take a look at driving again but for now I am home.

Lonesome · Feb 27, 2018

Hope things work out for ya!

FloridaDudester · Jun 20, 2019

wfutch79 said: ↑

Unfortunately yes I did.

There are a few reasons why.

1. My father-in-law fractured his hip and I was needed at home for an extended period of time while he recovered. My wife could not handle taking care of him and our daughter while working full time.

2. I could not get my depression and bi-polar under control while on the road alone. They refused to allow me to move into another truck to allow me to take a dog or a passenger with me. If I had someone or a dog with me in the truck I would have been OK.

I enjoyed my time on the road but my mental health and physical health need some attention. I need to get myself healthy and maybe I will take a look at driving again but for now I am home.
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Are you back in the trucking game?. I know this post is more than a year and a half old. I followed your diary and appreciated being able to sort of ride along your time at Pinellas Technical. I live on the other side of the pond, North of Tampa.

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