Thank you for keeping your thread going Daytona! Maybe things will work out better between you and your FM in the future. I'm hoping to start at Maverick at the first of the year in the Atlantic Division.
Have to start somewhere
Discussion in 'Questions From New Drivers' started by daytona45, Jul 5, 2007.
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Partial Quote: OK have been out for two weeks got home empty Friday night was good to be home after two weeks I need out of the truck for a while.For some reason I am losing my car driving skills I am not sure why.Vicki and I went to the waffle house and I almost got us Killed by a big truck who was in my trunk. I forgot I was in a small car so the closer he got the more I increased my following distance.I am sure he was screaming at me.
LOL!!! I thought it was just me!! Last time I was home it seemed very hard to drive my pick up LOL. I was even having problems keeping my speed up without working at it LOL.
Partial Quote:The weather up north is starting to get nasty I just do what the other trucks do.I got caught in the snow in Chicago Tuesday I just slow down and stay out of the hammer lane I worry about winter driving but what can you do if it gets dangerous I will stop the truck.folding a frozen tarp and rolling up frozen straps are a bit of a pain in the ##*.
We have been routed Arkansas to Salt Lake City to Champagne, IL to Wisconsin to St. Paul and now back to LA along 80 during 2 nasty winter storms. Yesterday the windshield was icing so bad I had to stop every 15 miles and scrape it off and break the ice off the wipers. Ruined a brand new pair of wiper blades in 1 day
. Being from FL and not haven driven in snow much, this has sure been a baptism by fire (ice actually). Winter storms suck and St. Paul was -2 degrees at 3am when we were there hooking a load. It actually hurt to breath. I got to get some warmer clothes.
Partial Quote: My backing is starting to improve hell it couldn't get much worse finally something clicked and I understand what the trailer will do now if I can just figure out how to get my setup right from the jump.
I had to squeeze into a small spot in a Flying J the other night at the end of a row. The guy behind me was a bit too far back making my nose stick out. I got the trailer in as tight as possible and was still sticking out a bit further than I liked. It was then I realized I was trapped LOL. I couldn't get out without clipping a Knight truck until a truck across the way left in the morning and gave me an extra 2' of turning room. I felt like such a dork LOL.
Partial Quote: Finally my 65 mph governed truck is killing me I just hate being stuck behind other trucks but your choice is to either have a turtle race with them or shut down.I wont shut the hammer lane down if traffic is busy so I spend a lot of time reading the back of Schneider,Jb Hunt and Roadway trucks they seem to be the only thing slower than me.
At least you can still pass Swift
. I feel your pain, we are governed at 68....... Its a pain but the less you have to switch lanes the less the risk of hitting some one switching back to the right. Our Freightshakers may be ugly, but I love the autoshifter and it has more room than most Pete's and KW's. They just don't look near as cool. Now if you offered me on of those Pete's with the double sleeper/RV like the movers use I'd be all over it. Actually if they would remove the top bunk and put closets up there and put a small toilet where the closet is we'd be happy LOL.
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Yeah I know what you mean I didn't drive in the snow much so this is a whole new experience for me.I like driving the big truck but they left the part out that I would lose my car driving skills..Man you guys must get a lot a miles a week.
LOL I know what you mean about designing them trucks I would like things a little different as well.I wrote my truck up for a few things I am sure the mechanics probably think I am a pain in the ### but my windshield washer stop working so I kept smearing the road over my windshield I ruined the driver side wiper I would stop at every other rest area spray the windshield with windex and motor on.I empty right now I hate starting the week that way.
I noticed a lot of guys shut down once the snow started falling I was following a guy in the granny lane I figured if he shut down I would too there where still guys blowing by us in the hammer lane so it couldn't of been that bad I don't mind it so much in the day time but the night time makes me nervous.Y'all be safe talk to you later
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They was the Super Truckers. They fear no snow or DOT man, they yell at you 3 miles away on da CB to get out of there way. LOL!
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So I went into the yard and talked to safety they gave me a letter while I was gone for incorrectly logging my fuel on 5 occasions.You have to be within 15 minutes of when you fuel I was putting it down when I pulled up to the pump don't do that put it down when you complete the transaction cause sometimes you can sit there longer than 15 minutes waiting to fuel.I also I had two 14 hour violations I didn't really go over 14 hours what I did was give myself a 9hour 45 min break without realizing it so remember be careful. If you start on one page and finish on another probably a dumb rookie mistake but safety doesn't give you much of a learning curve.They also have no sense of humor.
So now I am racking up the safety points and I am starting to wonder if they are gonna cut me on my next mistake. I don't have a lot of safety points left now and if you go over they put you on probation.That is probably just a formality before they show you the door.So after my delightful meeting with the safety lady. I sat all day in the yard waiting for a load at 4:45 just like usual for Monday I got my load for tomorrow out of Hope Arkansas going to effingham IL.
If things don't change my career maybe over soon.I am not sure what to do now I am sure if maverick lets me go they will put that on my DAC and then I will never be able to get an OTR job with anyone reputable.I really thought I had a good handle on the log book but apparently not or I am not as smart as I think I am.
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Well Daytona it sounds like you now know what you did wrong so that you won't make that mistake again. You might not have many safety points left but if you know what you did wrong and don't do it again, shouldn't you be alright?
I am going to look on the brightside for you. Try not to worry. You aren't on probation now and maybe it won't come to that. I have learned to not dwell on things that might happen and just focus on what is happening. It is tough to do but helps keep from stressing on stuff that hasn't even happened yet. I know easier said than done. You sound like a great trucker and very safety conscious, so I can't believe that you would get fired.
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So I start the week empty that is always bad and they give me a load at 4:45 pm monday.It was out of Hope Ar going to Teutopolis IL to load tuesday at 10 am.I get to Teutopolis and it is 3 pm Wednesday now. So I am thinking they will head me south east or west. WRONG from there I get a load from the same place going to Grand Rapids Michigan a little 350 mile run crap no money on this one.
What I found interesting is that this company owned its own trucking company but they had other company's hauling their freight. My guess is they didn't have the authority to haul interstate goods.Now I qualcomm for directions but they have none no problem I have my GPS it gets me where I need to go and I am off.
Next day I get to Grand rapids I am half a mile from the shipper and they allow no left turns on the street I am on. I have to drive 10 miles out of route make three right turns end up on a street that says no trucks but I am only a mile away so I push on through what can I do. I cant turn this thing around. I finally make it there and the guy is complaining because this is a small plant and he has nowhere to put this load in his warehouse.Not my problem but I have to listen to him whine.The whole time I am thinking I need to head south before the weather gets bad.
I send in my empty call and they say get comfortable and we will page you when we have a load.Now it is Thursday at 4 pm and I am empty in Michigan I am screwed.at 4:45 they send me a message to pick up this load in Winiham IN. to go to Houston Texas are you noticing a trend here(4:45 is the magic number for them).Yeah I am headed south so I run down to Winiham that night park overnight at the shipper so I can get loaded first thing in the morning so I can get going. All goes according to plan and I am loaded and tarpped at 8 am and ready to go. I go into the office to pick up the paperwork and they say we have a problem with the paperwork. I think what do you mean we I ain't French and I don't have a problem.But I do so I sit and I sit and I sit until 1300 while they straighten out their paperwork problem.
Now through all this short week I am watching my logs like a hawk cause I cant have any problems with the safety people.After thinking about my logs all week and the safety department I have decided that no matter what I will be driving. If not for maverick then for someone else and if nobody will hire me then I will buy my own darn truck. But this is what I was meant to do that is how much I enjoy this job. It sometimes sounds like a pain in the ### but it is really the best job and the most fun I have ever had.
Call me twisted but I love driving places seeing new things everyday and some of the same things over and over.Meeting new people everyday.Everybody has a story if you listen to them.I met a guy in Indiana who the company he was driving for went under and he was stranded in a truck stop poor fellow.So a few of us chipped in and gave him enough diesel so he could get home.He had a interview on Monday I hope he got the job.I met another guy who had been driving since 1966 and he told me story about securment in the old days that made me glad I wasn't there for that. He was a very interesting guy who dressed immaculate but had no teeth so it made him hard to understand.So that was my work week and maybe now you see why I love my job
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