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

Sounds interesting. I have talked to a couple other ham guys in the past... One was part of some nation wide emergency communications response team. Not sure of the details but some volunteer program to step up in cases of disasters, etc.

 

And Morse Code is no longer required correct? Seems I heard that before. I might need to grab a Ham book and start reading up.

 

That's correct, morse is no longer a requirement for ANY level of license.

 

Finally caught up, and getting more excited by the day. Ready for my physical (which I will be doing next Friday in Richmond, then to finish out working my notice at my current employer, which will be finished Oct 2. I've been ready to leave the current job for a while now, due to lack of support and caring for their employees, and am delighted to hear the news that Abilene does their level best to take care of their employees.

After reading this thread in it's entirety, I feel I must clarify earlier statements I have made. I used to run NE all the time, and found that I didn't care for it much. I feel I would enjoy going in different directions vs. running the same old routes day after day, which is one of the major reasons I am so excited at the prospect of joining the Abilene team. HOWEVER, that being said, I will not refuse whatever load is given to me. My first driving job was forced dispatch, so I am familiar with that concept. With my second and third driving positions (both with the same company with a short break in between), They were NOT forced dispatch. We were given a choice of what loads they had available, and were able to give input on which load we'd prefer. Of course, at times there would only be one load available, and we had the choice to turn it down and sit. I never did. I realize that the company is a business, after all, and that they are not in the business to cater to drivers, but to deliver freight....period. They helped me out a couple times, so I tried to do what I could to help them out. The only reason I left them? The company was sold to a "Logistics" company. Sadly, it wasn't to remain a family business, but to go to a larger corporation. Not really my cup of tea to just become a number.

That said, I feel Abilene will be a good fit for me, and hopefully they will feel that I am a good fit for them, as well. As far as the refresher training goes? I have already identified a couple of things I know that personally I would like to concentrate on. Knocking the dust off of my reverse gear, as I HAVE been out of a truck for a while, and trip planning. I've seen poor planning before, and done it a time or two myself *blush*, and have realized after the fact that it's much easier on the driver (ME) to run a properly planned load, vs. trying to shove the truck down the road to make appointments because I didn't take more time to plan a break out. Also, I will be definitely having to get used to eLogs, since I have never done that type of eLog before. Closest I came was when I was able to get the small company I worked for to allow drivers to operate with Driver's Daily Log software on a laptop. (Loved the fact that the software did all the "tick" counting, and recap. Not that I can't do it, just that, in my mind, working smarter, not harder, is always the better solution.

Thanks for all the welcome wishes, everyone, and have a wonderful day, and safe trips.

Jamie

 

I think you've made a good choice with Abilene, Jamie. Hell, even I can't seem to stay away! Yup, local position didn't work. What they said and what actually was happening was 180 degrees from each other. Plus getting sick sick sick didn't help. So, I'm back! I know you all missed me!!!

 

people yammer on and on about local jobs
for some it works
bumping more then 3-4 docks a week aint for me

 

I agree. While the idea of being home is lovely and I did enjoy it, the way that company was trying to run things was crazy. AND very unorganized. I can't stand that. I think they need every driver to have extensive port experience. I have zero and the 2 guys I rode with were not cool with the fact that they needed to train me. Plus, I don't generally talk very much (Especially when I'm not feeling well, which I definitely wasn't and still have lingering effects), so I come across as standoffish. It just wasn't the fit for me.

 

10 deliveries, 9 pickups, 19 docks- and i got stuck with a swinging door trailer........long day.

 

your welcome to that

 

I've mentioned this a number of times in different threads myself. Local isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Sure it's nice to sleep in your own bed and use your own shower every day, but the hassles and stresses of the job (in some instances) isn't worth it, and if you regularly run 12-14 hour days, you really don't have much of a life during your work week.