One more thing, tell Mr. RC to talk to as many drivers as he can - at Chatt. That's the only and best way to find a partner. There's not enough time to find a partner during team meeting. They put a bunch of drivers in a room and ask, "where do you live? are you a smoker or non-smoker? do you have HM or not?" So, it's up to the driver who is looking for a partner, to look around, talk to others, etc and then, when they are ready to team up, go to team coordinator and give your names, info, etc and she will assign you a trk.
COVENANT -- From a wife's perspective
Discussion in 'Discuss Your Favorite Trucking Company Here' started by Redcoat wife, Aug 31, 2008.
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Wow. That's a lot of good intel on the finding a partner. I just got off the phone with Redcoat and he is in somewhat better spirits. At least he's still speaking to me. They are on their way back to Hutchins which is good in that he can test out but bad because it's too far away for me to fetch him for his home time. I'm hoping that once he gets there he can hook a ride to Choo-choo. I'm thinking I can make it from Birmingham to there in a little over two hours, get him some home time, and then get him back to find a partner.
I was thinking of making him a sign to take with him. He can hold it up at the meetings:
MWM N/S D/D free no HM ISO partner from B-town area. Must like creature comforts, bathing, and have own cell phone.
I have a question. Who can tell me about those expedited trucks that appear to be a hybrid of a truck and a camper? What's the deal with those? Do people buy them or are they company trucks? -
OUCH Rocks, that sucks bud. I guess I got lucky with my team partner; he and I continued teaming after our mandatory time was up, and it wasn't bad, other than we sat more than a team should.
We had some good times too: we picked up a newer truck in French Camp (when we switched to Temp-Control [REEFER]) and it was ungoverned!
-YEEHAW!!!
But then he got a dedicated opportunity (poland springs) and took off solo. You will get there, unfortunately it is just going to take you longer than expected. So keep your chin up, and hang in there!
Mrs. RedCoat, glad RC's 'tude is looking up. Why shouldn't he talk to you- trucking may have been your idea, but he was free to say no. It will get easier at some point. Just keep talking to each other and things should be fine. Too bad he isn't going to Chatt- however they do run a Van around between Chatt and some close terminals, he may be able to catch a ride back to Chatt if one comes by. The Van is for drivers who need to go to other terminals for trucks; I drove it once, trying to make some dough while wating for the Shop to replace a windshield in the Volvo I had.
And to answer your question, those expediters are usually Owner Operator Rigs; however many O/Os own them and hire drivers to drive them. Check the 'Expediter' Forums for more info. And take care!Last edited: Nov 17, 2008
AfterShock and Redcoat wife Thank this. -
Hey wallbanger, my trk is ungoverned too, YEAHHHH!! But I don't speed more than 68 or so when passing other Covenant trks, heh, heh, heh...
Today the terminal manager here got me another partner. A male, from Calif, not sure if he has HM or not (I do). I would prefer a female (I am female and already had too many problems with male partners 
)... Anyway, just want to get out of here.
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Latest update.
Redcoat has tested out (just barely) at Hutchins.
He and his trainer arrived there yesterday after dropping their load off at the shippers Monday morning. He watched all the required videos Monday afternoon and they spent several hours practicing reversing on the course. Redcoat said he did pretty well on the reversing and felt confident for his test today.
But when I talked to him a little while ago, he said he barely made it through his test. They allow you a half hour to get reversed to the dock and Redcoat said he "made a right mess of it" and just barely got it into the hole in the allotted time. I told him it was probably just nerves. Anyway, the thing is done. All he has left is the Smith System test and Rocks has told me that's where they drive around in a van and the newbie tells the examiner what he's seeing. In the military we called that "situation awareness." It's basically just seeing the big picture and trying to predict how things are going to play out and to anticipate problems.
When he's finished with his final test, they have to figure out a way to get him from Hutchins to Birmingham. They mentioned him taking a bus but he really doesn't want to go that route because of all the stuff he has on the truck. He's hoping they will let him rent a car.
After his home time, he'll be looking for a partner. Rocks already has one so if any of you new drivers want to give Redcoat a try after reading this thread it might be pretty interesting.
Just kidding.
Hopefully he'll get home by the end of the week so I'm thinking he'll be ready to get back out sometime next week just before Thanksgiving.IrunU Thanks this. -
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Nice, and good strategy, since you can never tell who the snitches are...
Mrs. RedCoat, glad to hear RC has made it! He can rent a car, but Covenant probably won't give him a dime for it. Keep us posted since he will probably enjoy being out of the truck so much, that he won't want to go back! -( at least not into a Covenant one!)
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Latest update.
Redcoat is all done. (Can I get an AMEN!)
He thought he had a ride to Birmingham all lined up with a solo driver headed this way. Redcoat talked to him earlier in the day and dude said he didn't mind giving the lift. He was supposed to leave in the morning but when RC and his trainer got back from dinner, dude had already left.
RC says the company won't pay for a rental car unless more than one person is traveling. They keep wanting him to take the bus.
Redcoat's trainer is going to check in with his DM in the morning to see if they can get a load headed this way. I told him if he can get within a couple hundred miles of B-town that I'd come get him.
Wallbanger, you don't know how close to the truth you have it. RC is pretty fed up with the entire industry (let alone Covenant). His main beef is that drivers are treated like pond scum by the companies, the shippers, and the DOT. It's just so many of the simple things that keep adding to his aggravation. For example, Monday they dropped a high security load off at the shipper (remember their rule says that you can't stop within 200 miles of the origin or destination). So of course when you get to your destination, you really have to take a leak. But the shipper wouldn't let them use the bathroom (a common theme I've found) so they had to wait until they were unloaded to go find a McDonald's somewhere so they could relieve themselves. I'm guessing these shippers don't care to have nasty drivers mess up their bathrooms but it seems that they should be able to find some way to accomodate the drivers who work their butts off getting their goods to them.
Redcoat told me once he gets home, he has hours worth of horror stories to tell me.
This board should start a discussion area for drivers that are looking for partners. Kind of like a semi-e-Harmony.
baseballswthrt and IrunU Thank this.
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