one month with covenant and to be continued....

Covenant is a great starter company. I have met a lot of drivers that have been here for 10+ years. They all seem happy and content.

Right now the a/c was starting to go out in my truck. I called the breakdown dept and they sent me to the shop to get it fixed. No questions asked they are fixing the a/c. They are paying for my hotel I'm staying at right now. Nice break from the hard work of driving. Just hold on to your receipts.

 

warner truck center/washington, utah (st george)



friendly staff working there. Appears to be a fairly new truck center off interstate 15. Very nice woman named jen with great customer service. The mechanic I talked to was easy going and gave me some pointers about the a/c system on the truck. Their drivers lounge has brand new hdtv,new recliners,free high speed wifi.

Amenities like these make me love this job sometimes. I wish all the freightliners were like this one.

 

8/12/14

Received a load picking up in los angeles, ca going to plainfield, IN. Deadhead all the way to LA from st george, utah. Arrived at the shipper and got loaded in less than an hour. Nice 2500 mile run including empty miles. Paid 41¢ empty and loaded.

On the way to indiana, truck started stalling out and dying on us. We ended up breaking down near kingman, az. A repower/swap was needed. I hate to give up a good run, but I have no choice with a dead truck. Currently sitting at the freightliner in kingman, az. Waiting patiently hoping it will be a simple fix. First the a/c, now problems the engine... I guess its all part of the game. All I can say is these trucks are high maintenance machines.

 

....been awhile since I've last posted here. Truck eventually did get fixed. Basically spent a whole week staying at hotels dealing with a/c and oil pressure sensor failure.

Started up again on 8/16/14. As of today only have 3000 team miles with 3 days remaining in the pay period. On 8/16/14 We were dispatched a nice 2300 mile run from ca to florida. However covenant did not have any reefer trailers in california. So we ended up losing that load. A lot of drivers were waiting on an empty reefer at the california terminal.

Overall everything has been ok here. Definitely would like to see more miles considering I spent all week in the shop. Hopefully next week will be better. Looking for forward to hometime in 3weeks on september 12...been out here for a month already.

 

I had the truck idling in kingman, az. No way I'm not going to idle if its 100+ degrees outside. I was figuratively speaking when I said baking. Outside the truck was hot though. Covenant does have an idle policy but they're not too strict about it. They won't shut your truck off unlike some companies...at least hasn't happened to me yet. Every now and then might send a friendly reminder to get the idling under control.

You can choose to partner with whoever you want. They usually will give you a list of people who are looking for partners. If you hate their guts then let your dispatched know and they'll separate you two. From personal experience just talking and meeting someone is not enough. Conflict develops after the second or third day on the truck. The meet and greet is the easiest part. I suggest you ask your fleet manager for a few local runs first to get a feel for each other. That way your not 1500 miles away from your nearest terminal when the fighting begins.

I meant to keep up with the posts but been pretty busy lately. I'll be watching this thread in the coming days.

 

Hey everyone I disappeared for awhile. Been pretty busy the past couple weeks. Me and my parter been running pretty hard here at covenant. Today however we are sitting in atlanta, GA at the petro. I guess its pretty slow out there for freight. Ran about 6000miles this week so looking forward to next weeks paycheck. Next week will also be my hometime. Been out here for a whole 7weeks, last time I stay out that long too.

Also some good news. Covenant is giving all drivers a peak bonus raise. For the months of october 15, 2014-january 17, 2015 all drivers will receive a peak bonus raise. Team drivers get .04/ mile raise. Solo drivers .02/mile raise during this time-frame. We are expecting a heavy freight volume this year for our customers such as ups, fedex,ceva,etc...

 

Also I forgot to mention with the idle policy. As long as you don't idle all day, everyday you should be fine. I turn the truck off for a few hours and attempt to not idle ALOT. I've seen some drivers at our terminals idle all morning, day, and night. Some even leave the truck on when they're not even inside. That is just ridiculous if you idle 24/7.

 

Peak season right now and the freight has been steady. Ran into snowy conditions over the weekend in Wyoming\Nebraska on the interstate 80. Winter hasn't even started but yet it's cold? This winter should be interesting. All I hope for is to make out of otr driving in one piece...and accident free.