Calex Express....My New Home!

i second that seems u go thru alot of crap to be home everynight

 

I'll just say this one last thing, don't want to derail the thread. I honestly, after driving for nearly 9 years now, think that local driving is one of the biggest misconceptions within the industry. Home daily is really nothing but a tease unless you're one of the small majority of drivers out there that can find that really sweet deal, and let's face it there are millions of drivers out here so the probability of this happening lends itself to the odds of winning any given states lottery.

Here's just a quick example; Go in at 2:30am on Friday, trailer has brake issues so I take it back to the yard and hook an empty to do what was scheduled as my 2nd load, take a quick nap(our trucks have little sleepers) get loaded and go to the job site. Get unloaded by 10:30am, deadhead north to Harrisville, Pa to grab a load of rock dust for some backwoods coal mine, finally get it loaded and have a truck in front of me. Long story short, finally rolled back in the yard at 7:00pm, kind of felt like Dr.Seuss when I filled out my log for the day, nothing but a childrens story full of fiction and adventure.

I like the guys I work for and I know it's not their fault, but days like this are more common than what people think, a company like Calex that uses E-logs allows their drivers to have the proper rest and maintain a pretty scheduled lifestyle, the sacrifice being that you have to be gone from home. For many of you that's not a sacrifice but for me it is.

This crazy career is all in what you make of it, but don't be fooled by the bold print stating HOME EVERY NIGHT, you'll be there but just enough for dinner, shower, and a few hours of sleep.

End rant............

 

TT... after 35 years of trucking I can count more on my amount of time home being OTR then I ever could when I ran local!! At least when I tell my wife I'll be home I know I have "x" amount of time off, and of course I just DON"T answer the phone before that time!!!

Now back to our regularly scheduled thread.... Johnboy, enjoy your cruise!!! Wish I was going!!!

 

where do they usually run drivers right after orientation should i expect to be gone for a week or a couple of days? just want to know how much stuff to put in the truck right away

 

Thanks John, and I will.

Just to touch on a few things from the last few posts. I have a mix of about 50-50 home at a normal time and home late with just enough time to shower, eat, and sleep. Many days I'm up at 3AM and don't get home until 6PM. Then there is the site work that is only paid while you are on the site. Any travel time in the truck is free time. For us, we're working on the I-476 near Philly so that means a 1.5 hour travel to and from the job. That's 3 hours I don't get paid for every day I'm assigned to that job. Then there is the truck maintenance (or lack thereof) in my case. Most of our equipment is in bad shape, and trying to get the shop guys to fix things is difficult at best. If they do it at all, it's seems to be at their leisure.

So, in a nutshell, local isn't the gravy train that a lot of drivers think it is. Other then the shower at home and sleeping in your own bed, most times you're just too flat out tired to really enjoy anything.