Melton: Orientation and beyond...

Bill left today for Melton. He has never driven flatbed before; only reefer and dry van so this will be a whole different and more challenging experience in my opinion. I plan to post his experience in a nutshell as it happens; I won't bore everyone with small stuff like what he had for lunch, etc... but anything informative or helpful that may help someone to decide to either go to Melton or forget it! Basically he starts bright and early tomorrow like all other truck co. orientations so after the day's business, I will relay the overall experience to whomever may be interested. We really thought long and hard about going this route; he had to get his metal coil endorsement in order to qualify for the company and obviously he will need training and instruction on load securement, etc.. Hoping for the best this time...

 

Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and support!! Today was day one, he called me a little after 3pm and was finished for the day, so that was kinda nice, he gets to relax for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Today was DOT physical, drug test, driving test and that sort of thing. He said Melton has 13 speeds and all their trucks are KW's, most have APU's and all have inverters. Trucks are governed at 65. There are only 4 people in his orientation class which is unusual because most other orientations he has gone through there has been minimum 30 guys, sometimes as many as 50. They want him to get his HAZMAT endorsement and will reimburse him for 1/2 of it. Tomorrow he gets a prepaid debit card for his dinners. That's about all I know for now, except also tomorrow they start learning how to secure loads. He sounds pretty happy at this point and that's a GOOD thing!!!!! More to come as he relays it to me.

 

Today the fun began! Learning to secure steel coils and steel bars. He is tired, dirty and sore. He said he even feels his feet. He said it's a lot of extra HARD work that he really doesn't get paid extra for and I don't think he is thrilled about it but if they make up for it with lots of miles then I know he will be fine with it. Also they worked on tarp folding. More of the same tomorrow then maybe Thursday he will get his truck. I think the reality of the danger of flatbedding is hitting him, they showed the guys pics and videos of guys who have been hurt on the job and I guess it wasn't pretty. One think I do know for sure is that he is and always has been extremely safety-minded and he will always go the extra step for safety's sake and not half-### anything. No room for error in flatbedding. Also he told me that 28% of Melton's business comes out of Texas. A great deal of that 28% goes on to Canada. Now he has a 20 year old DWAI which they found at the border the one time he tried to go to BC for Celadon. He is talking about getting his pardon so he can cross the border for Melton but I think it's pretty expensive and not something he can do immediately; he needs steel toed boots and a HAZMAT endorsement; as well as some heavy Carhart type coveralls so in my mind the Canada thing can wait, but right now he's kinda hopped up about it. Like I said, if the miles are there, it will be something he can afford to do.

 

Well day 3 is over. He got to see his truck, a KW (that's all they have) I think a 660 but he wasn't sure. It has a Carrier APU, a 1500 watt inverter, and get this, NO top bunk. Apparently they don't buy trucks with top bunks for solo drivers. This kinda sux because KW's are short on storage space as it is, and we usually use the top bunk for duffle bags, clothes, and anything that won't fit in the cubbies. His clothes are in a freaking hockey goalie bag that is as big as the bunk and where that is supposed to go, I'm not sure. Maybe someone has an idea on how to create some kind of shelf? Maybe some kind of cargo net thing. Anyway, today they tarped two different kinds of coils-more hard work-and tomorrow they will be tarping A frames which I think hold panes of glass? After that and his log test, he will be able to move into the truck. He has to pack all his stuff up to check out of the hotel in the morning and lug it to the terminal with him, but that's pretty standard with all companies in our experience. He got assigned a dispatcher but has yet to talk to her directly. He has been in Youngstown OH which I think I forgot to mention but everyone is dispatched out of Tulsa OK. He has good things to say about the guy running orientation. He still is of the opinion that it's a LOT of extra HARD work for free, but is willing to give it a go anyway. It would be nice for that hard work to be rewarded with a decent wageThank you to everyone for your kind words, it means a lot to me (him too!)

 

Well, orientation is over! He is in his truck, "moving in" and he has a load in the am. First two weeks they said he would be kind of dedicated between two plants and then OTR after that. Still confounded by no top bunk. At Prime the top bunk didn't have a mattress because he drove solo but this truck doesn't even have the plastic thing the mattress goes in. It's sounding more and more like some kind of hammock/cargo net will be the answer to storing our clothes. Overall he sounds in good spirits still. I will post where he is going and with what in the morning but he hasn't given me all the details on it yet. I do know he is at .36 cpm and they have $30 tarp pay. No pay for chaining or strapping or anything like that which is why he calls it extra hard work for free but that's the nature of flatbedding I guess. His KW is an 07 with about 200,000 miles on it so it ought to be broken in pretty good at this point. I am still happy he is at Melton, just scared of all the things that could hurt him. I'm gonna have to suck it up though, and accept it as part of his job. Also he got the rest of his orientation pay which totals 150.00. Not too bad for 4 days I guess! The first 50 was on that prepaid debit card I mentioned-that was for his dinners as they provided lunch. All in all, they seem like a decent outfit. Free laundry and even free laundry soap at the terminal in Youngstown; hopefully the same in Tulsa.