My first driving job was with DTI in July 1996 here is my story. Only worked for them till January 97 when SWIFT bought them....
Do you know what the difference between a fairy tale and a trucker's story is? A fairy tale starts out "Once upon a time " and a trucker's story starts out "You ain't gonna be leave this ####!". In these series of stories about my ten years driving truck you may find out why. These stories are based on true events all though may be hard to be leave, some funny, sad and even embarrassing. They'll be CB talk and trucker lingo. It will give you an inside look at the trucking industry and the professional driver. The changes that happened between 1996 to 2006, hopefully in an entertaining and informative way.
I was 21 years old when I started driving truck and learned a lot things the hard way. I've been responsible for billions of dollars worth of freight over the years, just the truck and trailer are worth $150,000. Several times I've hauled a load retailed at $3,000,000. I've signed my name on thousands of federal documents. I've been to Jay,ME, Bellingham,WA, San Diego,CA, Homestead,FL, and everywhere in between. I've worked for six companies, two of which are no longer in business (I didn't do it I swear). I"ve drove White GMCs (Volvo), Frighteners, Internationals, Macks, and Peterbuilts. With 8, 9, 10 super 10, and 10 speed auto-shift transmissions. driven over 1,000,000,000 miles, wish I could say accident free but I would be lying.
It's a rough and lonely lifestyle and most of the time boring. You have to be comfortable with yourself because you spend a lot of time with just yourself. I learned to entertain myself by listening to talk radio, audio books, stand up comics, and day dreaming. Even if you run team it can be lonely, because one is driving and the other is sleeping, or in my case frustrating. Spending 24/7 with someone in a cap of a truck, which is smaller then a prison cell can get on my nerves. I've seen a few marriages break up in the cap of the truck. There has been times I wanted to through my team partner out the door, and my ex-fiancé.
On Wednesday July,17 1996 I woke up in a hotel in Gary,IN. I got a bus out of Joplin,MO about 1am Tuesday morning and got into Gary about 3 in the afternoon. I was going to orientation for Direct Transit Inc. or DTI. Most trucking companies pay for your bus ticket and hotel for the orientation sometimes they even feed you while your their. The first thing we had to do was a DOT physical. A DOT physical consists of eyes, ears, reflex, blood pressure, height and weight, hernia and sugar. Then the piss test, drug test. They were about eight of us their. We got out of the doctors office about 12:30 then we stopped at McDonald's on our way to their terminal in Portage, also to change hotels which was just down the road from the terminal. Most of the time in orientation we were filling out paper work or they talked about polices, rules and regulations, and they're equipment. The main thing is they want to get all the drug tests back before they let us loose in their trucks.
Being a trainee I had to wait for a trainer to pick me up, it took almost a week before I finally got into a truck. He called the day before to let me know when he would be there and where we were going, Salt Lake City,UT. I was really starting to get excited about finally being able to drive a 18 wheeler. I had to be with a trainer for at least four weeks before I could upgrade to solo driver. I should make it clear both my trainers just used me as a steering wheel holder. All I did in training was drive fuel and did a log book only backed the truck maybe 3 times. Never scaled a load or slid tandems.
He arrived sometime in the afternoon I put everything in the truck and we started off, he told me that he needed a co-driver because his wife stayed home this month and the load couldn't stop. We had a load of fur coats. We stopped at what used to be the Petro truck stop about 15 miles down the road so I could get my $75 advance off my COM-DATA card. COM-DATA is a company credit card and checks for the trucking industry, you can also deposit your paychecks with them if you didn't have a bank account or direct deposit, which wasn't as popular then. Trucking companies give advances to drivers per load, but don't get carried away with them or you'll have a negative paycheck ( I did that once).
When we got to the other side of Chicago he pulled into a rest area and let me take over. I was scared, excited and nervous all in one. The schools just get you a CDL and even with 4 weeks with a trainer it's not gonna teach you everything you'll need to know. I think I grinned all 10 gears that first time, he even had to help me put it in 6th. We made it back on I-80 west bound and we sat and talk going down the road. He went by Bounty Hunter on the radio and lived in Virginia. He said they called him that because one time some one stole his CB radio and he tracked him down and caught him and got his radio back after a couple months. He also told me something I'll never forget " Driving straight down the highway is so easy if they could teach a monkey to do it they would it's all the other b.s. you have to deal with that's hard.". I made it into Nebraska when we had to change drivers, the wind was blowing so hard I couldn't keep the truck steady. At least once a day we had to make a check call on the Qualcomm or QC which is the most common satellite communication system in the industry. Technology has advanced since 96 but back then they could tell within a half mile where you were if your moving, if the truck is running etc... and also keeps you in contact with the main terminal. A check call is to let dispatch know how many hours you can work that day. A driver can only work 70 hrs in 7 days. Back then you could drive for 10 hrs 2 hrs on duty not driving then 8 hrs in the sleeper. These regulations changed in 2003.
It only took about 36 hrs to get to Salt Lake. It ended up being a drop and hook ( drop one trailer hook up another). "I love this dispatch says it's a hot load it's gotta be there then we end up dropping it here so they can unload it in there own sweet time" my trainer said.
We had another load that we picked up in Logan,UT and took to Columbus,OH. I was on his truck about two weeks when he took time off at home and I staid with him in Virginia for the weekend. His wife came back on the road with him so the company had to find me another trainer. One load that sticks out in my memory, we picked up in Belle-mead,NJ going to Swanee,Ga it was Reckitt and Colman ( now Reckitt and Benkieser) Air wick, Lysol. When we hit the D.C. circle ( the interstate that goes around a city instead of through) traffic came to a stop. I couldn't figure what it was, never being there before thought maybe it was a toll road ( he used to make fun of me because every time I started back up after a toll both I had it in reverse. FYI reverse in a truck is in the same place as 1st gear in a car). I yelled back in the sleeper and he got up, come to find out over the CB their was a bad wreck and 4 or 5 teenagers were killed( going buy we saw the blankets on top of them). Also when we hit the Atlanta's circle we got a message over the QC just saying "your sister is OK." Didn't know what it meant till we heard the news, a bomb went off during the Olympics in Altanta and his sister was there. Bounty Hunter dropped me off at the terminal in Moosic,PA where I was gonna get my next trainer.
This guy and me didn't get along from the start. He was like 6' 4" and must of been 550 lbs and a slop. Our first night we stayed at the terminal and he was eating cold fried chicken laying in his bed. Our first load was going back to Suwanee, with the same load as before. A couple things stick out in my mind about my time with him. One he was always complaining that his trainee was making more money then he was. Also I got to spend a couple hours with someone very special to me in Joplin,Mo ( my biggest regret is I never told her how I felt before I left) been missing and thinking about her all the time. The most interesting load I ever hauled was with him, also our last load together. We picked it up in Mojave,CA, we drove 3 or 4 miles down this little dirt road to a dinky building in the middle of nowhere. We picked up a couple of barrels of paint and a compressor ( for the space shuttle). As they were loading us we got to talking and they told me that the seal that failed on the Challenger came from them, "I wouldn't brag about that." I said. The load was going somewhere in New Jersey. I got dropped of back at the Portage terminal to get upgraded and get my own truck.
My second trainer who went by Ghost Rider wanted to stop and eat before we pulled into Portage. I just wanted to get the hell out of his truck and into mine. We finally made it to the terminal, I checked in with the manager. he told me " I got to find someone to give you a test drive.". He found another trainer to do it and took his truck. My test drive consisted of getting lost and ending up on I-94 and getting back, I don't think we made it into Michigan.
Now I was assigned my first truck and the fun really begins, hehehe. I was so exhilarated when I saw my first truck. It was a 1993 freightliner FLD with a double bunk coffin sleeper, ( like the red truck in " Larger Then Life" but silver), until then I was driving white GMCs (volvo) which didn't have a 10' hood on them. I went to check it out and do a slight pretrip inspection on it. A pretrip is required by the DOT on the truck (tractor) and trailer. It consists of lights, turn signals, tires air pressure (air-brakes), AC, heater, fluids windows, etc.... Also to mark down any previous damage on it. I moved my stuff out of Ghost Rider"s truck and into mine, truck #1945.
I was also assigned my first dispatcher, Brain I think his name was ( an #######) All he was to me was a voice on the phone and messages on the QC. Judy my night dispatcher was the total opposite, she was sweet as could be. I only was at their main terminal in North Sioux City,SD twice, some drivers were never there. By that time I didn't want to meet Brian but I wanted to meet Judy, she was cute too.
Brian wasn't in that day but I sent a message on the QC freestyle ( QC has freestyle or canned messages ,fill in the blanks that go to different dept. of the company) saying that I wanted time off ASAP in Joplin.
I didn't get aloud tell the morning so I slept in the truck at terminal. Next morning got a load plan pick up or p/u at the terminal going back to Suwanee,GA. Easy run I-65 S. to I-24E onto Atlanta's circle and N. on US 23. I stopped at a truck-stop in Franklin,KY and bought my first CB (Cobra 29) and antennas. Installed it before I went to sleep. Got to Suwanee the next night unloaded in the morning.
I stopped at the Petro truck-stop (TS) in Atlanta to mail my Trip pak, which consists of paperwork for the load, the signed bills of lading (bol), my logs, which are graphs of the hours of service of a driver and required by the DOT. The companies trip-sheet, consists of trip# and routing( back then companies paid state taxes by the miles driven in each state.). Any receipts (tolls,scales,fuel,ect..) received during the trip. Trip Pak is a service that overnights these documents in a special envelope that you drop in a yellow box at most TS. Also had to wait for my next load.
I got a message that the trl was sold and I had to take to the south side of Atlanta and drop it. So I dead headed (dh) (move with an empty trl) and dropped it. Then was given my next load info. p/u at there drop yard (property that a company owns or leases were drivers can drop or p/u trls) just down the road. This was just going to Tifton,GA about 180 miles south on I-75 and a drop and hook (d&h). Sounds relatively easy doesn't it? Come to find out DTI screwed up the trl #s and another driver had my load which had 2 stops on it. It screwed up his day up because he had to wait all day at the Target DC (Distribution Center) than go to Douglas,GA to the Walmart DC. Brain told me to get an mt trl, and start heading to Jacksonville,FL, don't know why but couldn't figure out what mt meant. After about 20 mins I asked " empty trailer". Boy I felt stupid. My load info. came and I was p/u at Mary Kay in Jacksonville,Fl and taking to Hartford,CT.
After unloading I went to a TS and fueled up sent my TripPak out and waited for my next load. I was going to p/u at Stanley Bosch just east of Hartford, for some reason my internal compass wasn't working and started going west. I got turned around and headed east. Bounty hunter told me "your not a real truck driver until you can make a U-turn with the truck". I ended up p/u 2 garage doors which only weighed 900 lbs and had them strapped against the inside wall of a 53' trl. Don't remember were it was going but had to drop it at Portage and bust my ### to get to Braidwood,IL ,I think. Because I committed to a preplan, never did that again. It was a load of cans going to the Green Giant's canning plant in Owaso,IA, I think.
By now I've been in the truck for over a month with out time off and not only was getting pissed off I was burned out and accident prone.
I p/u in Muscatine,IA going somewhere in Jersey with empty bottles used for anti-freeze. When I got to Jersey and backed into the dock I ended up locking my keys in the truck. I told the dock workers this and one of them about 19 came out with a coat hanger and had the door open in about 5 secs. Things that make you hmmm.
The next load was my first hazardous material load (hazmat) also was ruled by Murphy's Law (anything that can go wrong,will). First the load info and the shipper's directions were different so I follow the directions to Deleware. It turned out the load was droped at the Waltwhittman in Philly. it was a load that was placard OXIDIZER going to a fertilizer plant back in Muscastine, in order to haul a hazmat load you need a endorsement on your CDL, back then all you needed to do was pay and take a test of 100 questions ( I took it twice and flunked the 1st time each time) that has changed since 9/11. another thing along with the load info they sent a fuel routing which didn't match my routing. They had me routed on the PA turnpike and fueling on I-80 (because of the tunnels on the turnpike hazmat loads are not allowed). Also I had between a half to quarter tank of fuel. This was on the weekend and could not get ahold of anybody to get a fuel stop closer then Bartonsville,PA on I-80 and I was down in Philadelphia. Being a green horn, only driving solo for less then a month I took PA 611 north, a beautiful scenic drive along the Delaware River, if your not in a 75' long tactor trl. Also kept noticing signs for a low overpass 12'6" now a 18 wheeler is 13'6" when I got to the overpass not knowing what to do I walked into the Doe boys pizza place, which I parked in front in the middle of the road in Mt Bethel,PA to ask for help they told me "trucks go under it all the time just stay in the middle of the road". I got thru that just to get pulled over about 15 miles down the road in Delaware Water Gap because hazmat loads wasn't allowed there. after threatening to wright me up with all sorts of things that could cost me $2000 including having butts in my ashtray ( FYI you can't smoke with in 25' of a hazmatt load includung the cab of the truck). he ended up writing me up for about $350 which I turned into the company and they took it out of my pay checks ( but they were late with it and I had my first arrest warrent issued ,I was so proud). Nothing happened until I got into Muscatine got lost trying to find the place. I saw a big building ahead and figured I could get turend around, wrong. It was a community college and in the process of turning around my trl caught a guideline for an power pole. There I was half the trl in the ditch the front of it crushing the drive tires and I was paniced. After it was all said and done it took about 2 hours for the wrecker to show up and get me back on the road. got to the place and drop that and p/u another load.
There is a saying in the industry, if your not crazy when you climb into a truck you sure will be when you get out, not sure which applies to me yet.
After the last load all I wanted to do is put in the past. It only took about a half hour to drop that one and hook up to the next one. I was going to a CO-OP in Zahl,ND with a load of fertilizer. Which was about 60 miles from Canada and 40 miles from Montana in the north west side of North Dakota. I think I made it to Albert Lee,MN, fueled up and got some sleep. woke up and headed out, I-35N. to I-494W. to I-94W. into North Dakota. When I finally got off the interstate and saw the awesome bad lands, it took my breath away. Although I never had a load going that way again, would love to take a drive through it again. I got to the little CO-OP and they unloaded me. I had to help tailgate the load because they didn't have a dock, I put a chain on the pallet and he would pull it to the back of the trl with the forklift and take it off. After that I had to wait there tell morning. I didn't have a TV and don't think I could get a radio station out there, so I finished the book that I was reading.
It doesn't seem like sitting on your butt all day and holding a steering wheel is very hard work but doing it for only a couple months, I still haven't built up stamina. I must have slept for 14 hours that night. I woke to the QC going off telling me to go to Grace City,ND and pick up my next load. I DH over there and picked up a load of sunflower seeds, don't remember where that was going because I ended up dropping it in Portage,IN, again.
Ended up picking up returned auto parts that were going back to GM in Detroit. There were 3 of us going, so we convoyed up there. Killing time talking on the CB, my handle was Scorpion, my dad's handle. We made it up there and got unloaded.
Was told to head to Clinton,MI, I think, for my next load. Which was BOSE stereos, that were going to the Carolinas. When I got there they gave me a tour of the plant. All I had to do was a D&H. They had a paving crew in the lot and my trl was the only one left to move. I droped mine on the street and backed up under this one. Wasn't paying attention and the trl was sitting to high and the king pin went over the fifth wheel. These guys have already started paving around me and I couldn't raise the trl up anymore. So being rushed and not being able to stop and think a moment I was moving the tractor all around trying to get untangled (a few years later it happened again and I figured out a trick propably would have figured this out then if I wasn't rushed.). I finally got it hooked up but then I hooked the airlines up and the gladhands (connections) broke off the trl. I was able to pull it on to the street and wait for the service truck.
Now a week before I talked to weekend dispatch supervisor about getting time off. I was told to meet another driver in Hebron,OH at the Pilot TS to switch-out (s/o) and I was going home. A switch-out is were drivers trade trls usually at a TS. It turned out to be a cute lady driver about my age . She already had a driver following her around like a puppy dog. We traded trls and talked, she complained about the company and asked about my truck, she was in a flattop and was there a couple months longer then me.
I fueled up, droped my trip-pak, showered and headed out. I was going to Springfeild ,MO for Reckitt & Benkiser. Got a suprise when I got there. When I opened the trl doors, cans of cheese puffs fell on me. It took me several hours to re-stack and get unloaded. Brain asked me when I would be ready to leave home. "In 8 days" he came back "That's not time off that's a vacation.". "You didn't have a problem keeping me out for 8 weeks' I said. All he said to that was " Just make sure the truck is safe a run it once a day so the batteries don't die.".
I ended up only taking 5 days off for a couple of reasons. One things weren't going as I hoped with this girl, but I left with renewed hope. Two caught the rambling bug and was getting restless
Brain was surprised when I messaged him letting him know I was ready for dispatch after only 5 days. By that afternoon had my load info.. had to dh to Kansas City,MO to p/u at Certenteed Insulation, with 2 stops on it. The first in Sterling,IL, the second at the MENARDS in Janesville,WI.
Then I picked up in Madison,WI going to W.Nyack,NY with a load of inserts or fliers to the Post Office there.
I think after that I p/u in Albany,NY going to Toledo,OH. I was in OH for the rest of the day shuttling trls around before I got my next load info.. I p/u a load of leaf blowers somewhere east of Columbus, going to Reading,PA.
Before I went to pick it up I got a message telling me my friend in Joplin was in trouble but it didn't have a call back number. Now this is what I like to call the per-communication era cell phones were not common or practical at that time and WIFI didn't exist. So communication with a driver and they're loved ones was either by snail mail or pay phone. In fact most truck stops had a room just with pay phones in them and the restaurants had phones on all the tables. They sold phone cards too. It was better to buy the generic ones over the name brand because if you had an AT&T card and tried to use a Sprint phone you were SOL. They did not except each others cards ( in Texas you had to pay even for a 800 number the ones on the street). So on my way to Reading I was worried about what happened to her. It took a few more weeks before I got back.
After that I drove to Belle Mead,NJ and dropped that trl then bob-tailed to Allentown,PA to shuttle trls from the rail-yard to AMES DC in Lees Port,PA. The trls came off a train that came out of Chicago. I had to shuttle 3 of them but was told the last one was sold and I had to live unload it. I got the first two done in one night but it was a Friday and had to wait till Monday for the last one. So I spent the weekend in New Smithville,Pa at the Bandit truck stop. Monday morning when I got to AMES found they bought the trl and I didn't have to set all weekend.
Since I was getting paid by the mile and the shuttle runs were short I talked Brain into giving me a long run. i got an mt trl and dh to Belle Mead,NJ and d&h going to Tolleson,AZ just outside of Pheonix. Because the loads out of there were so heavy it was a good idea to scale them out. Most truck stops have truck scales and wait distribution is important for a smoother ride and to be legal (steers 12,000 drives 34,000 tandems 34,000 and gross 80,000 max or you need a permit.). The problem was when I pulled on the scale at the old 76 truck stop in Bloomsbury,NJ I wasn't straight and had to back off it. When I started to I heard a crunch I had hit one of the concrete post along the sides of the scale. I went to slam on the brake but totally missed and hit the go pedal instead. The post went under the wheel well and came out of the headlights on the passenger side, tore up the hood. I had to take it to the Moosic,PA terminal to get it fixed and I lost that load which went through Joplin and I could of found out what happened to my friend.
Was told it was going to take a week to fix my truck and to pick another one. Pickings were slim at the yard but I found one and moved in, but that truck needed work too. About three days later my truck came back from the shop with a new hood on it and was asked if I wanted it back. I moved back into truck 1945 and ran all night to Toledo,,OH
After delivering in Toledo,OH I p/u in Nepolean,OH at the Campbell's plant. going to Jessup,MD with a load of Ragu marinara sauce for GAINTS food stores. It was a driver unload but good for me it was a straight pull all I had to do was pull it off with a pallet jack.
After that got a load info. to p/u in southern Jersey to get a load of MT bottles for BUDWEISER in Columbus,OH. On the way out there got off I-95 onto US-32 I think. As I was merging looking at my driverside mirror saw an KenWorth in the hammer lane with is right turn signal on nothing else back there. About 30 seconds later heard a load scraping noise ( like a state plow truck going down the highway) look over my left shoulder and saw the Kenworth pushing a car down the highway sideways. Got on the radio " Hey KW you got a four-wheeler on your bumper.". Apparently the car sneaked out from behind me to try to beat me on the highway just as the KW was changing lanes. Later he told me he never saw the car and thought he blew a tire. After the state troopers took my statement and hauled the driver of the car away for no insurance they let me go down the road. I got there and hooked up d&h slid the tandems up ( trl tandems slide for wait distribution and some places like having the tandems all the way back for loading or unloading purposes) thought I locked them, got rolling and the first time I had to hit the breaks for a light they broke loose and slid all the way back with a crash thought they were going to slide right off the trl with the noise.
After that p/u a load of Eveready batteries going to Maryville,Mo about 70 miles north of Kansas City on US-71. Got I-80 till IA then took the back roads which at times had bridges I had to slow down to 25mph because of the weight limits. think I grossed out just over 78,000(39 tons). I was thinking that they might send me home after that even if it was close to 300 miles away but they didn't.
Instead they sent me back to CertainTeed Insulation in Kansas City to p/u with 2 stops in WI. Don't remember where to but I remember the load after.
I p/u giant rolls of paper that are used for newspapers and any other printing, going to Altanta,Ga. Was running late to begin with and then I missed the entrance to the paper mill which by the way all paper mills have a unique smell (they stink). Ended up on a little two lane road looking for a place to turn around ended up driving for over an hour to get back to the mill. Was to late to get loaded, so I was told so had to sit there till morning and even though it was the middle of October there was snow on the grown in Wisconsin. They woke me up by pounding on the door and apparently the dockworkers were told to load me as soon as I got there. I was parked out of the way facing up a hill with a little left slop when I started to move my wheels just spun throwing mud and the truck started sliding to the left into a pile of pallets. They hooked a chain to a D-10 CAT and pulled me out and I got loaded. Got a load out of Swaunee,GA going to Belle Mead,NJ then d&h there going to Springfeld,Mo then home.
Till next time catch you on the flipside, I'm gone..............
DIRECT TRANSIT INC..
Discussion in 'Motor Carrier Questions - The Inside Scoop' started by desperado75, Jul 29, 2016.
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