ESTES Express (5 Year Review)

Was it Tulsa? That one and san antonio were the 2 worst hotels.

And yea, I wish there was a true "extra board" trainer. Would help to learn how to play the system, I'd love to do it out of my terminal.

 

I rode with hub guys when I first started and other than learning how to use the ELD and put in drop and hooks I had to ask the extraboard guys a bunch of questions over the phone.

 

You do have driving experience correct? Estes I thought requires a year.

Its not really a trainer. You just ride with a scheduled guy for a few days to learn the paperwork kinda shows you what to do at another terminal. Rest is pretty much same where ever you go for the most part. After a week out there alone you catch on pretty fast.

 

Decatur Al was worst one I ever stayed at. I never went back. I refused to lay down there.

 

@LtlAnonymous

UPS still run linehaul Saturday and Sunday and keep it moving? I got some things sitting close by. Will they run linehaul Sunday nights or expect it Tuesday?

 

Ugh. That sucks about the bedbugs. And the trap house thing........Yeah, that's not good. I would have came out of pocket and went to a different hotel if it looked like a lot of bad things were happening that could be dangerous.

At least they give you several hotels to choose from at most terminal stops though(I think someone said that on this thread). Meaning you can avoid the bad hotels in the future.

Understood about the training.

 

Yeah I have just over 2 years driving experience, all with the same company, all doing dry van and reefer. I went with them 1 month after getting my CDL Class A. I tested in a manual I have no automatic restriction on my license. But I only drove automatic trucks with my company. So at this point it's been over 2 years since I've driven a manual.

The training sounds good. It's really just the shifting I'm worried about.

 

So what did you do when they sent you to Decatur, just stay at a safe/clean hotel of your choosing and you came out of pocket?

 

Here's something my original trainer taught me before I could understand manual shenanigans.

You can tell what gear you're supposed to be in by the numerical speed.

2 & 5 is 7th. 1 & 5 is 6th. 5 & 5 is 10th and so on. You'll get better at it once you learn your truck. To down shift, I always accelerate to pop the stick out of gear, slow down to preferred speed, and then go back into gear.

 

Just stay where ever and not say anything