FCC--Fremont Contract Carriers

I saw a rare sight on the highway this morning going through Wichita. An Evel Knievel was actively patrolling traffic.

We need more motorcycle cops. They actually pay attention. I see too many cops in police cruisers in the median or something paying more attention to their phone or stuffing their face with donuts than looking for bad drivers.

 

Ain’t that the #### truth!!!

 

Dang it didn't mean to type in the middle of your post... oh well, you'll see it... ##### technology!!

 

Been in foodservice for 11 years, primarily as a shuttle driver pulling doubles. Have also filled on routes and do a fair bit of hand stacking most nights to help get the trucks loaded (and to fix dumb stuff the loaders do so my drivers don't have a mess at the other end). Before that did a year on Staples dedicated (driver assist unloading, though that was not usually real work). Before that delivered auto parts to dealerships (100% fingerprint) for about 6 years. During a layoff I spent a few months at Bestway. Started out with the Pumpkin in one of those Orange cabovers almost 20 years ago.
The foodservice job pays great. 11 years in I have a decent amount of vacation every year. I love being able to take care of my guys every day. But I'm getting pretty beat up. The management at our place is...lacking. There's a lot of stress. It's gotten better lately but for a while I was shuttling, playing amateur yard jockey every night, as well as fielding calls and texts while I was off duty about the latest problem. I was logging nearly 70 hours a week and working a fair bit more than that. I'm home every day but there's just nothing left for the family.
I've realized I needed a change for a year or so. The wife realized it a few years ago. I have been putting off dealing with it. So after putting up with my <insert your favorite profanity here> more than any normal person would, she's had enough and has filed for divorce. I hope to patch things up with her eventually but that's not going to happen while I'm in my Gold plated rut. So now I'm going to change...if I have to, I guess.
Kinda freaked a bit about going back OTR, I've been in regional/OTR several times over the years but I know it's gotten worse since I was last out there.
Not sure about whether I'll ask for a manual or an automatic. I prefer a manual and it feels much safer on slick roads but I'm pretty beat up. The left knee expresses it's displeasure after being stuck an stop and go traffic in a real truck.

 

It's a scorcher in the DFW area. Truck reported 109 doing 65 on the freeway.

Picked up in Aurora yesterday after my truck service, swung by the house for a 10, and dropped here in Lancaster. Picking up a preloaded here at the same customer going to the Target DC in Topeka.

Told dispatch that I wanted to run this weekend. The fiasco on Monday and with my truck in the shop for half the day yesterday means I only have about 1,250 miles driven this week. If I stick to being home Friday night or Saturday morning, I'd still have over 20 hours left on my 70, which seems like wasted miles and money.

 

This place has the most stress free trucking I've experienced. Great equipment and shop, great customers, majority drop and hook, no touch freight, and dispatchers and office staff that will bend over backwards for you. Give Mike Andreson or the other two people in recruiting a shout. You will not regret coming over here.

 

Amen!!!

Go Full Auto!!! … lol
If you are already having concerns about the knee, why punish yourself anymore…

As to “gotten worse” out here, while I never drove in the “Good Old Golden Age Back When Things Were Perfect” days, the vast majority of my time is in my truck and just occasionally interacting with guards/clerks… I have an Auto, fridge, micro, A/C, GPS, Laptop, and internet… I can easily communicate with friends and family via phone or FaceTime or actually visit them and even chat with the yahoos on this thread… I drive for a great company with very few internal headaches or complaints… my wheels are rolling most of the time so I probably don’t miss the brotherhood that we once had out here. (This thread is also a form of brotherhood)

but sure, truckers are pigs and parking smells like piss, and brokers suck… lol … I return to my truck and enjoy the view.

(not intended to be commentary on the good old days or drivers that miss them (total respect) but rather saying things out here today, in my view, are not so bad either)

stay safe