Indian River

I agree with what the other posters said about the surge. We have a drop yard outside of Wilmington now where we drop/hook, but I would agree that getting a TWIC would be a positive thing if that’s going to be your terminal.

After working here for going on 5 years now, the tank surge is more of an annoyance than it is a driving issue. Take it slow on your curves and don’t spin around in a parking lot as fast as you might if you were pulling a regular trailer and you’ll be fine. I’ve pulled pneumatics before too. Since you’ve done that, you shouldn’t have any problems.

Think of the feeling you have when you’re hooking onto a trailer and accidentally back under it too fast. The feeling you have when the king pin slams into the hitch - that’s the feeling you have when you’re pulling a load that has horrible surge. It’s not a constant thing, but you’ll feel that as you go through the first 3-4 gears while getting your speed built up. It’ll fade away once you get above 45 or 50 mph and you won’t feel it anymore unless you start stabbing the brakes.

Some loads you don’t even feel any surge, or if you do, it’s very little. Watch curbing a tire when you’re loaded too, especially if you’re already leaning to one side due to the pavement not being level. After a few weeks, you will be just as comfortable as you are in a pneumatic, and you’ll figure out how to shift in order to decrease the hit on the loads that have bigger surge.

 

I’ve been at IRT for over 4 years. Both of these statements are inaccurate.

 

Sorry it didn’t work out for you. It’s been great for me as an OTR driver. I average 3,000 miles a week and when a facility has problems and I get hung up somewhere, they pay detention. Most of the OTR drivers that I run into at shippers/receivers who I visit with average the same miles as I do, so I don’t think I’m the only one.

I’ve always preferred the long hauls. I left Delano, CA last Wednesday and delivered in Bradenton, FL on Sunday night. That was 2,582 paid miles in 5 days. Before that one was Elizabeth, NJ to Fresno, CA. That was 2,888 paid miles in 5 days too. I’m halfway to Flemington, NJ now and it hasn’t even been a full week since I left Delano, CA yet. Like I said, they keep me hopping. I did the Fresno run with another guy who left Elizabeth on the same day I did. He ended up on a Florida run right behind me as well.