Day by day adventures of a new solo OTR driver

Good news is the truck is finally fixed... looks like they replaced a lot of the cooling system components including the radiator. Hope it lasts. Been sitting around since 1100 waiting for a load, called in and made sure I was active and available, guess there just isn't anything they want to send me out with yet. Glad to at least be out of that hotel room and back in my truck.

 

Came through Atlanta today, no time to pop into OC to meet and greet. In Tampa now.

 

Headed the opposite direction of you sadwar... around 1330 a preassignment finally showed up, pretty decent run. Headed east towards I-95 from Atlanta and picked up a load on the way. I planned to stop early for the night and take my time on running this load up to Virginia, but they threw another preassignment on me before I had even picked up the current load and had time to do a trip plan and send in a revised ETA to delivery, and of course there went any hope of me being able to take my time on getting this load up there. So I ended up driving until midnight... its been a long time since I've done any night driving - usually its raining and I'm trying to find a customer, so I avoid it at all costs.

But tonight was different... I forgot just how nice night driving can be when all you've got to do is just sit back and cruise down the freeway. Add in light Saturday night traffic and its about as good as it gets. The large cars crawl out of their docks, the ethereal orange glow of hundreds of chicken lights illuminating the road as they pass. The green light on the nose of the reefer just says "its all good... enjoy the drive" as the unmistakable growl of that E-block 3406 CAT rumbles into the night sky from miter-cut stacks. My new belts finally broke in and stopped squeaking, so with the window down all I hear is the light whine of the tires and the cicadas as I cruise north on I-95.

I stop at the Pilot for fuel... I am the only truck in any of the 10 lanes. No one is waiting impatiently to pull up to the pumps only to block them for 30 minutes to go shopping after fueling. I grabbed a coffee to help me through the last hour of a drive and headed out again.

Made it just inside NC and have about 300 miles to go tomorrow to the delivery. 450 miles for the first day out, I still have about 3 hours left on my 11 but I know the rest areas will get smaller and parking will become more difficult the further into NC that I go, especially since its past midnight. After this load I get to pick up a crap relay load out of VA and run it to NJ. Great, back in the Northeast already. Maybe I'll get out of there quick.

Anyway... I'm tired enough that I'll easily sleep my entire 10-hour break. Truck seems to be running good overall, its way too muggy here in NC so I'm idling tonight, hopefully I won't wake up to a puddle of coolant.

Until next time...

 

gettin close to a face to face meet with ya DFO, heading outta MD down into VA on 95, if I see ya, I'll give ya a wave

 

Glad to hear your truck is fixed diesel. I can't seem to get any shop to fix my truck. It has had a vibration above 45 mph for the last 5 months. I have taken it into 5 different OC's during that time. They have replaced all the tires, aligned it to death, even balanced the tires. They have also checked the entire drive line, suspension, etc, so they say. The problem has gotten a bit better, especially when I am loaded over 30,000 lbs. But it still vibrates. It will shake for about 5 seconds then stop for about 10-15 seconds. Then start again. Annoying as hell.

Any suggestions from anyone on this board would be most appreciated!

Thanks!

I'm in Tampa visiting the kids, day off today. Back at it on Monday.

 

if I was gonna guess, bad ujoints, out of balance driveshaft or carrier bearing going bad

 

John says its either the drive shaft, an improperly seated U joint or the clutch housing.

 

I just got done reading the posts that I didn't finish last night. Dieselfuelonly, BRAVO!!!! I'm probably not speaking for only myself here, but it has felt like I was in the truck with you, seeing everything you've been seeing, and feeling everything you have felt, in this thread. I agree with everyone who has said you should start writing a book. With your ability to capture everything you see and feel, and actually be able to put into words, has been amazing. I am waiting for my drug test results to get back to Schneider. I already have my orientation date setup for September 3rd. I'm really looking forward to driving the big orange trucks. Thanks again Diesel!!

 

And to Worried Mom, I just got out of CDL school last month. I got hired into a company that makes you do 4-8 weeks of training then sends you on your own. You do 2 weeks of training with the trainer in the passenger seat, then the rest is team driving with the trainer sleeping while the student drives, then vice versa (or however it's spelled). The only reason I see these companies doing 2 months of training, is because when the trainer and trainee are running team, the company is making A LOT of money by only paying the student $350/week. I don't know about your son, but I'd rather have my training setup like Schneider does with the 5 days OTR and 13 in classroom and range. Your TRUE training isn't going to be with someone else holding your hand. It's going to be with making your own mistakes, fixing those mistakes, then learning from those mistakes. I'm done....

 

didn't they ban worried mom? i did 4 days with my trainer and i'm doing outstanding, without being scared.