Abilene Motor Express....A New Place To Call Home

Is that when you have your next hometime?.

I am heading home on the 12th ...one day after Irma is supposed to hit .

I wonder what the fording depth of a Freightliner might be?.

 

Ummm...not exactly what I was meaning! You can take a chance on folks in the right circumstances. I basically talked my way in by saying if you give me a chance and it doesn't work, no hard feelings. So I was sort of in the same boat when I came here. I only had 6 months experience when I got here and was immediately put in my own truck. My only "training"? The only other experienced driver in my orientation (20 years). I shadowed him to Knoxville with Hill loads going to a warehouse that absolutely had to be there the next morning at 6 am. After being up since 0530, being in a short (1 1/4 days) orientation, getting into a truck, finding the trailers, driving through rain and ice, yada yada yada, we finally arrived at 0300. Guess when they showed up? 0800. Welcome to trucking! For about 6 months I didn't know how to find my way around or if I was coming or going when I did! What helped me is developing friendships with a couple of old hands. One in particular who basically held my hand and gave me the training I didn't get elsewhere. I called him multiple times a day for assistance in every aspect of trip planning, fueling, have you been here, etc. Still talk to him almost every day, just not for help me I'm lost, (well sometimes for that too) but we have become good friends. It felt good the first time he called me and asked had I been somewhere!

 

I knew what you meant, I certainly didn't take it personally.

I am hardly an old hand, but I am still occasionally surprised how many times I have run into new hires in their own truck who don't know how to operate the fuel pump at the yard or properly fill out a transflo cover sheet. I once spent a good 15 mins in the yard showing a new hire the various QC macros and the proper sequence to send them. He had just got his own truck and had a load already dispatched.

The month of training I had was rough, but when I got my own truck and got my first load I was glad I had enough instruction to not feel lost. I can understand an experienced driver wanting to hit the ground running, but they still need to know how things are done here.

 

I have a day of hometime tomorrow to get my CAT scanned. Got back to the yard last night with 40 minutes remaining on my clock. So I talked to Chris last night about whether or not they needed me to do any local stuff today. He said "Yeah, we could use you to run to Givens in Chesapeake. Got a lot of freight that needs to come out of there tomorrow. Run up there a couple times, get some miles." And I said "Sure, sign me up."

Hit the road this morning at 5:45am. Wanted to get here early, as soon as they opened at 8:00am, with the idea being that I could make two trips to Givens and back before they close at 4:00pm.

Arrived at 7:45am, got signed in, got assigned a door, bumped said door at 8:00am sharp, and waited.

It is 10:30am currently, and they have JUST NOW started loading me. Which means I won't be getting back to the yard in time for a second trip out because I'd be getting back here right around the time they close up shop.

On the upside, I got to test out the new Detention reporting procedures.

 

How well does this one fog a mirror? Does he get a nice, full, even coating? Or just a little round spot in the middle?

 

I DID!

(Not really. )

You actually talk to people at the yard? I just keep my head down and try not to make eye contact.

Yeah, I had six weeks of training and definitely think it was time well-spent. Rarely does a day go by without me doing something that I learned from Mike or Shirley or Peanut, and being glad that they were able to pass that knowledge and experience on to me.

 

For future reference, they never start loading before 10 am with the loads going to Berea. Paperwork and customs and all that jazz. If you leave at 11:30, go straight to the yard (460 is your best bet due to traffic and construction on 64), you'd be back by 3:30ish. They say they close at 4, but as long as you are there by then, you'll get loaded. Tell my guys there and Ms. J Tanya says hi. Might get ya special treatment (like door 25! )

 

Speaking of training, I was surprised to learn that new hires with only a year or three of experience are being given a truck their second day, without any NE training. It was my understanding back when I started that everybody got NE training unless they'd been driving for several years.

But I've met a couple of drivers recently who only had a couple years experience and who didn't go through NE training. So either my understanding is wrong, or they've changed that particular policy in the year since I started.