Glad I moved over to Poly Trucking

I plan on it. Sometimes it is very very hard. By far t his is stll the best OTR gig I have had.

 

Getting a decent truck as a new hire is often an uphill battle. So for anyone hiring on I suggest you plan on traveling light for the first six months so that you can change in & out of loaner trucks quickly.

 

I have to agree

 

I forgot what it was like to be the new guy and have to pay my dues again

 

I suppose that is to be expected.....to a degree. And only to a degree.

 

It can be quite frustrating. The first truck I got ( which was the same one I kept till I got a new one ) had a reoccurring problem that was minor in repairing. I even write it up several times & it was never touched. So I rectified it myself after two months. Bought the parts & did the five minutes worth of labor. Turned in receipt for parts & got reimbursed.

Then there was another issue with the same truck that had me in a loaner for a month.

So I to have had my fair amount of frustrations with tractors. However, as long as I rolled with flow of things I kept getting plenty of miles.

 

Problem is moving. I carry quite a bit, and having to move from unit to unit once is a RPITA. When you have to do it multiple times, it drains you. I'm still looking at the possibility of applying at Poly early next year, but I'm also looking at a job working from a terminal 15 miles from my home, hauling LPG. Depends on income, to be quite honest. Can't really stomach a pay cut, as much as I'd like to! But I worked for this company for a time in 1999 when they were much smaller and enjoyed it very much. Problem was back then that in propane's off-season, they'd haul reefers, which I want no part of. They don't do that any longer....only bulk commodities.

So....just when I think I've got it all figgered out......pffffffft......

To all you Poly drivers....please stay safe and enjoy the holidays!

 

Moving into a loaner here isn't as tough as switching to a whole new truck over at Happy Valley. Mainly a duffle of clothes, your cooler, a supply of forms for your load info(plus a spare log book just in case)...maybe a computer and dvd's for entertainment and your bed stuff. Every thing else can stay with your regular unit.

The worst part was making sure your truck had the right number/type of tire chains and pallet pulling equipment. I know several of the loaners I took had chains so rusted they probably would have fallen apart before you got them to the tires...and with my luck, I'da needed them if I hadn't swapped them.

 

I'd probably be one of those guys with no chains....have no desire to deal with 'em, though on second thought, I guess I'd have to have them on board anyway....

Also....I have to say that looking at all the JUNK I have in my truck, I could probably stand to divest myself of a good bit of it. Got a few large plastic totes that carry extra clothing and the like....those are easy to move.

 

They're starting to have drivers here sign a "are you willing to chain y or n" form here. Perhaps it will help them choose who goes west when they have the option of offering loads to available drivers.

One thing I wish I'd have set up before starting here is a seperate account for 'living on the road' expences. The way my wife and I have done it for years is any money I need I take out during the week and the money that hits the bank is hers to pay bills. At Poly, they don't have their fuel cards set up to put personal money on like Crete...in fact the only way you get cash is visiting the fuel desk at a truckstop or having them put personal cash on it and someone at home can cut a comcheck and put it in the bank. I went to Wally and got a Bluebird prepaid card, and with direct deposit there is no fee to load money on it. Plus the withdraw fees are similar to a normal bank or ATM fee...so now I have ATM access to cash.