Indian River

I agree with everything Redtwin said in his answer to this, too. I haven’t used the split sleeper in several years. I messed with it a few times when I first started here but haven’t used it since then.

As an OTR driver doing mostly cross country loads all the time, I’m able to drive the shift I prefer and don’t experience a lot of days/nights flip flopping around. If I load in CA and deliver in NY, there’s plenty of time throughout the trip to adjust my sleeping schedule to whichever I prefer. Even if the pickup appointment is 10pm in CA, there’s usually enough time between then and the delivery appointment 2,700+ miles away where I can load at 10pm and go straight to bed afterward if I wanted to, then start driving the next morning. Once in a blue moon I will encounter a load that’s scheduled up tight, forcing me to drive a full shift immediately after leaving the shipper. It’s not often, though.

I’ve never had a company dash camera in any of my trucks at IRT. I’m on my 4th or 5th truck now. Some guys prefer to keep the same truck until it’s traded off. Personally, I drive one until I’m bored with it, then when I’m in Florida I ask if they have any vacant trucks on the yard with low miles and in good shape. They rattle off 4 or 5 truck numbers and tell me to go look at them. If I see one I like better than mine and it’s worth the hassle of moving, I ask if I can have it. By doing that, I prevent myself from getting a brand new one, but I tend to get a newer truck more often that way, and I usually end up finding one with 50k-90k miles where it’s still in new condition but yet already has all of the factory defects worked out of it. Right now I have a mid roof with a bunk bed that I use for a big shelf, so I plan on holding onto this one as long as I can.

Same answer Redtwin gave regarding the chaining. Personally, I chain. There are a lot who don’t, though, including some West Coast drivers who are usually the ones who encounter it the most. If I have less than 3 hours or so left on my clock, I try to find a place to park before reaching the “chains required when flashing” signs at the common mountain passes when the weather is bad. Donner Pass, 4th of July Pass, and Lookout Pass are the ones where I usually encounter the flashing lights in the Winter, especially Donner.

 

Yes. The inverter is even wired to wall outlet receptacles in the sleeper. The inverter itself also has a few plugs on its face if you need to run an extension cord outside for something. Mine is mounted under the bunk on the back wall.

 

When we say “West Coast drivers” at IRT, we’re basically referring to drivers who are based out of the Visalia, CA terminal. Most of them live on that side of the country in CA, AZ, NV, OR, and WA. Some of them hire on as regional and stay on that side of the country for the most part, some are hired on as OTR and run all over the way I do.

I’m purely OTR as you put it. An example of the way I operate is:

Leave my house in San Antonio after taking home time, go to McAllen and pickup a load going to Spokane, WA. After I deliver, I’ll load in Grandview, WA or Salem, OR and haul one to Florida. Afterward, they have me load in Arcadia, FL and deliver in New Jersey. From there, I might go to the Port of Wilmington in Delaware and grab a tank of OJ that delivers in the Los Angeles area. After that, I go up to Tipton, CA and pick one up that goes back up to Spokane, WA.

That’s an example of how I operate. That’s not a dedicated loop or anything, just a common example of my runs. Once I’m ready to return home I schedule it a few weeks ahead of time and they put me on a load that delivers somewhere in Texas. From there, I dead head home.

I will let Redtwin speak for himself on what his classification is as far as NE regional, etc. When you hire on, they usually discuss what you’re hiring on as, and that’s between you and recruiting, what’s available at the time, etc. I intentionally hired on as a OTR driver and didn’t want to or request to be regional. It’s all on what you want and what they have available at the time, but recruiting can probably explain that in more detail.

 

I just realized I forgot to answer your question in my last reply regarding the different regions.

Visalia, CA
Grandview, WA
Cedar Rapids, IA
Clovis, NM
Mission, TX
Bensalem, PA
Cordele, GA
Winter Haven, FL

Those are locations where we have terminals. Grandview and Cedar Rapids are probably the smallest ones. The rest on that list are full blown terminals with all the bells and whistles. They have offices with dispatchers, tank wash bays, nice fenced in yards with keypad entry gates, etc. I’m just a driver, so I can’t speak for recruiting or management, but I would tell you to expect to be based out of whichever one of those terminals you live closest to. If you come onboard as a OTR driver like me, “based out of” won’t have much meaning, as you will be running the system like I described earlier. You’ll see your home terminal, but you will see the others as well. You can get your PM service at most of them. I usually get mine done in Visalia, CA because their shop doesn’t have as many trucks to deal with as Winter Haven, and I try to run on that side of the country as much as I can anyway. It’s easier to find parking at night, the scenery is better, and I just enjoy my runs better on the West Coast.

If you live in the NE but hate operating up there, try to hire on as OTR instead of regional. You’ll get a countrywide variety that way, even if Bensalem is technically your “home terminal.” The same would apply for any other region. Hopefully that explains everything.

Larry H.