Air mobile fleet 3 weeks out 5 days home in South Florida.

There been numerous posts concerning the fly and drive positions.

 

I can give you a couple of tips.

1) Be prepared to spend to spend a bit of time cleaning other people's messes. Febreze, Windex, paper towels, and work gloves are a "Must purchase on day one" with the start of every three week tour. If you get assigned a truck that is an absolute disaster, take pictures and get them to your DBL, you will not have to drive it, they will either have someone come detail the truck or assign you a different one.

Some messes are expected, but mold, gallons of filled urine bottles, and mice eating abandoned food (I've seen all three) are unacceptable. You are a mobile fleet driver, not a mobile fleet maid.

2) do not try to bring your work gloves back home on a flight. You can get two pair for $2.75 at Walmart, just replace them. I had a pair trigger the security scanners at the Atlanta airport.

3) Food management is important. Try to plan shopping so that you consume your last bit of food and drinks the day before you fly back home. This was probably where I wasted a lot of my money when I first started. You can't take it with you.

4) Buy a 1 inch three ring binder and keep it up to date with all of the permits, insurance cards, and the DOT reference card. I came across many trucks that didn't have their cab books up to date, and was sitting on a load assignment that couldn't wait for me to update it for them.

Having your own means that the only forms you need to look at are the registration, lease agreement, and Oregon Tax Permit (if it applies) as those are truck specific.

I got in one truck that didn't have the cab book at all, and a few trucks over the years that had permits that expired years ago.

5) When you get assigned to a new truck, do an "over the top" pre-trip inspection. Make sure the annual inspection sticker is current, the fire extinguisher is charged, the triangles are actually in the box, have an extra truck key, look for abandoned items hidden under the mattress. Document ANYTHING that is wrong with the truck, scratches, dents, cracks even miscolored paint, write it down and take pictures both inside and out. I got assigned a truck that had one of the closet doors held shut with duct tape. Three weeks later they called asking if I broke it, and why I didn't say anything about it... Lesson learned. Approach your first vehicle inspection with the same mindset of a person who was going to buy the truck. Don't put yourself in a situation where you might find your self responsible for something that has been broken for two years.

In the late fall, and winter, make sure the bunk heater works properly before leaving the OC, some trucks won't idle properly no matter what the outside temperature is

6) if you find any personal items left by previous drivers, report it immediately. I have found perception eye glasses, cellphones tablets, watches, prescription medication left behind. It's just the right thing to do for the other driver, and no one will be wondering why you didn't mention it. Most of the time, you'll be asked to drop these items off at an OC, and they will find the owner, and ship it back to them.

If you find abandoned prescription medication, do not leave it in the truck! Turn it over to the driver service desk at the OC, or if you are picking the truck up at "Bob's Truck Repair" in Nowhere, Oklahoma, call your DBL, and tell them you're getting rid of it. You do not want to be caught with prescriptions that aren't yours ever!

7) Never fly JetBlue with connecting flights. Their baggage policy is just retarded. They might be okay if it's the only flight you have thet day. But trust me, if you have connecting flights you'll regret it. My DBL never put me on another one again after my first experience with them.

8) Get a Frequent Flyer card for Delta, and United. The tickets are purchased with your name on them, the points go to the ticket holder, not the buyer, enjoy the perks, they rack up quickly.

9) Have an inventory of all of your items in your phone or printed out. Make sure you don't leave anything behind when leaving the truck to fly back home.

10) Be prepared to have a rare... But very embarrassing flight flight home from time to time. Some times the planners will keep you running right up to the time you have to just grab your bags and hop on a plane with no time to shower. ALWAYS shower the night before and pack everything but your bedding the night before your flight.

If the last day is hectic, and your in the deep south in August, with a broken air conditioner, your going to be "that guy" on the flight, and there is nothing you can do about it except giving your self a paper towel bath in the airport bathroom, lather up on deodorant, and just deal with it. It sucks, but it's life, and some times it just can't be avoided.

If you need more tips, I'm sure I can come up with a few more.

I hope this list doesn't make you worried about mobile fleet. I've been driving for over 20 years, and the few years I've been with mobile fleet have been the most fun I've had in a long time.

They say that trucking isn't for everyone, and I guarantee that mobile fleet isn't for every trucker. There isn't a lot of middle ground in mobile fleet. Most of us absolutely love it, or hate it and leave quickly.

Good luck driver!

 

A mobile fleet truckers best friend (hell, any truckers friend; I swear by them:

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Amazon.com: DUDE Wipes Flushable Wipes, Unscented with Vitamin-E & Aloe, 100% Biodegradable, Dispenser Pack (48ct): Health & Personal Care

Amazon.com : Cleanlife Products No Rinse Shampoo 16 oz 3 Pack : Hair Shampoos : Beauty

 

@Reddot fantastic post! I cannot stress searching that truck enough. Even if it's something as small as a USB drive. How do you it isn't loaded with kiddie porn? The last truck I 'inherited' from SNI, the guy was a fiend who was fired. Had I known that, I wouldn't habe driven 600 miles to get the truck from where the drop yard was.
I get there , open up the door and smell,,,,,,,man funk. There were.....toys, bottles of lotion, magazines, and a portable drive that I tossed without looking at it as there was no way in hell I was letting it near my laptop.
I also found various bottle of pills. Some in aspirin bottles, but they werent whay was supposed to be in there and others in unmarked packets.
I spent 5 hours cleaning that truck and was still terrified I missed something.
Had I not been in a rental car, which I had dropped of at midnight and took am UBER to the yard, I would have come home