Comet Transportation

If you already have your prescription then America's Best has some of the best prices in the industry but I made the mistake of going for an exam.......ehhh never again. But anyway hopefully you get back to training lol. You ain't making money sitting.

 

You have insurance through Western? I'm still trying to figure out if I'm going to stay put long enough to get insurance here.

 

So at about noon on Tuesday I received my load info. Pickup was in Gaston, SC delivering Wednesday morning in Bethlehem, PA. Now I live in Charlotte, NC why can't I get a load from my city? Anyway I get to the pickup and it goes bad.....I check in with the pickup number that the broker gave me but the shipper is saying that it isn't right. So an hour of phone calls and the issue is finally resolved but the shipper tells me to park and wait until a worker comes out to tell me what dock to back in to. 4pm, 5pm, 6pm, 7pm......finally a worker approaches and tells me to go to dock 3 then he says hold on. Angrily another driver approaches him and starts yelling about how he needs to get load now. So the worker tells him to go to dock 3 and he puts me in dock 4. 8pm, 9pm....I get my paperwork and haul out of this crazy place.

Now reality sets in.....this load is supposed to deliver in 12 hours and my trip planning has me cutting it very close but oh well let's get it. First order is to scale the load. Well I know there is a Loves off I77 in SC so I'll drive there. I get my weight right grab some coffee and hit the road. I77-I81 we're rolling now......that is until I get to the Troutman scale off I81 in VA. It's now roughly 2am I know my weight is right so why was I told to pull around back and park? The officer approaches and asks to see my IFTA. I hand it to him and he tells me to bring in my credentials because there is a problem. OH BOY!!!

"Your company's operating privilege in VA is suspended". He explains and at this point I am at a lost for words. How would I have known this? Does the company know about it? If they did know why would they not take care of it? These are all questions that are going through my head. He asks if I can get a hold of them at this time and I inform him that I cannot get in contact with anyone from the company until "normal" business hours *generally I cannot reach anyone from my company from 7pm cst-7am cst* He tells me that I'll have to stay here until the issue is resolved.

I was knocked out until someone was banging on my door....It's 8am and it's another officer asking for my credentials and that he is going to do a level 3 inspection. He tells me to pull around and meet him at the inspection area. Long story short:
)Out of service-breaker strip exposed in tread no.1 axle right
)ABS malfunction lamp inoperable
)Empty fire extinguisher
)Left low beam headlight inoperable
)Service air line to no.1 axle brake chamber is chafing against plastic cover
)Audible air leak on left side near fuel tank
)Defective ABS malfunction indicator lamp for trailer
)Tag light inoperative
)Out of service-false report of drivers record of duty status
)Company must pay $464 to reinstate VA operating privilege

Is this what being a truck driver is all about? All I want to do is be able to provide a good stable life for my family. I don't want to spend money paying citations or looking over my shoulder hoping that DOT doesn't "find" something wrong with my tractor trailer or logs. Why am I still sitting at this scale? Company must be waiting until tomorrow to handle these issues.

 

Yeah it's really sad. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day

 

OK cool thanks for that info. I'm really nervous about moving to another company. The money/miles here are better than most other companies that will hire with my experience. Trust me I am looking though