PAM Questions.

It stopped when I started training. Have had trainees who have scared me for the whole month (and wrote pages about why they weren't a driver).
And have had some where the whole month was just waiting for them to upgrade. The ones that can easily learn fast or had prior experience I did actually sleep behind. Now I do know where the bad, confusing and complicated areas are to pay attention to their driving are at. With that said am currently training my 105th trainee.

 

I got a dirty mind, I know...but did anyone else get transvestite out of this? lol trannie

 

You slept so good behind me you didn't even know why I was driving on the shoulder after the pumpkin blew up lol

 

Not far behind all of you..but here is the difference..I drove for 6 years..2 as an O/O with JCT and stopped for a while due to an injury to my back..its healed but last time behind the wheel was 06. 3/26 I head to ft worth and then PAM..starting over.

Part of those 6 years of driving was with Central refrig as a trainer. All of my trainees begged to team with me at the end of their stints so I must have been ok.

Things a good trainer should do..1st load or two shouldn't be as a full team..should be as a solo truck until the trainer is confident you can handle yourself without him being there and I don't care what state you are in or what road..Each of you will be different on how fast you become comfortable manhandling 80k lbs of steel, fiberglass, and freight down the road..If you aren't comfortable tell your trainer and let em know. Part of this is you have to be able to communicate effectively with him

As a trainer I banked only on my miles as a solo..anything additional that a trainee gained the truck (I was O/O with central too) was a bonus and yes...I had a trainee bend my w900 one night in a truck stop..just not my trainee. LOL

Don't leave the yard until you and your trainer have a discussion on just how comfortable you are behind the wheel. If he knows up front where you know you are weak then he can plan things for it. If you get set up with a trainer that is unwilling to do that..ask for another one right off the bat. Get the communication started from the get go.

NEVER back up a truck as a green rookie with your trainer asleep!!!! EVER!!!! This is how my w900 got bent. The trainee (also a central trainee for another trainer) put the blind side rear corner of the trailer into the drivers side of the sleeper right where my head was..took two weeks to get my truck back and they had to replace the whole sleeper wall because of it.

Take with you the following:

FOOD!!!
Drink
Money (its going to take a a couple of days to build up enough points on your pilot cards etc for showers..its a card you can get at most pilots as well as T/A's etc that you also swipe when you fuel) and they charge for showers without it.
Alcohol (baby wipes) for those times when you can't get to a truck stop)
laundry soap
shampoo, and body soap
towel
sheet for twin sized bed (fitted)
Blanket or blankets
Warm clothes and some lighter weight stuff
Coat, work gloves, good, heavy boots as well as comfy shoes (boots outside the cab doing drop or hooks, comfy shoes when safe.
Flip Flops (do you really want to stand barefoot in showers that probably 50 other drivers have used that day doin god knows what in the shower stall?)
Try to avoid the evil cash advance..it will eat up a paycheck quick and get you in the hole fast..its not always avoidable but if you can avoid it..do so.
Atlas (buy first paycheck!!! a good trucker's atlas is expensive, but get a good one, and some dry erase markers)
Small notebook and pens
ruler
earplugs (go to the mechanics..they should have a deal full of them little yellow foam marshmellow lookin ones..get a handfull of em...

work out a budget for 200 bucks a week while on the truck..even if you can afford more (you think) keep your expenses on truck to that..There are going to be times when trucks break, or you are stuck sitting for a day or two..it is GOING to happen..its not a might happen..its a WILL happen and when it does it gets expensive in two ways..the truck isn't moving so you aren't earning AND you are still eating and possibly having to get a room that is reimbursed by the company..this is where that lil bit of extra comes in beyond the budget that you keep on that card..build up a reserve of at least a full good week on your card that you can draw from in an emergency. If you can do less than 200 a week in expenses, awesome...it can be done in a properly equipped truck ie microwave, fridge, etc.

Don't spend money on microwaves, fridges, cb's while in training...your trainer will probably already have them and space is limited...

Truck in motion:

never sleep in top bunk if the truck is moving
always keep head to driver's side of truck and use the safety net

When you are driving alone, no cb use..listen to it but don't talk on it...Listen for back ups in traffic, accidents on your route, storms ahead, etc..drivers will talk about em and talk about em regularly...if you hear it come across the cb you are close to where it is..th average "untuned" cb has very limited range..you will run across tuned and boosted cbs most of the time and you will find out all about that as time goes by..save your money for a while till you are solo in 6 months.

When in doubt, pull over in a safe place, wake your trainer if he's asleep and ASK! Assume nothing.

When given the load, even if dispatch preplans your route, sit down and plan it yourself, mark the route with dry erase for the trip and keep track of where you are. Write down the route you are GOING to drive, including specific directions to pick up and destination so you aren't trying to dig through messages on a qualcom at 65 mph

My first trainer made me read every sign along the road for three days..this included asking at random what mile marker we passed three miles ago, etc and there is a reason for it. if you are between mile markers and something happens, YOU HAVE TO KNOW WHERE TO GET HELP TO!!! Don't disregard anything, exit signs, mile markers, etc

When you stop driving, look at the atlas again, figure at 55 mph after 10 hrs, where you will be roughly when you wake up. Get up before you are due to take over by 30 minutes so you have time to become fully alert before driver switch

Courtesy for teammate:

Always try to do driver switches in either a full rest stop with a bathroom or truck stop. Your trainer/partner just like all of us is gonna have to take a leak when he or she wakes up. its nature and a given.

Tricks of the trade: (the legal ones) Fuel either at the beginning of your on duty, or at the end if at all possible. You get in a rhythm during your drive time..keep the rhythm. Also fuel before a load pick up..If you are light on fuel when you pick up a heavy load..the point of pick up may think they can load more on the trailer..then you fuel and cross the scale overweight..not a good thing...so you end up having to stop more to fuel because you can't go to full tanks.

Expectations:

Your first week on the road, never having done this before full time you are going to be dog tired...real tired. Your body is going to have to get used to sitting in that drivers seat. Its not like sitting in an office chair...You will be mentally exhausted. It gets easier because you get used to it..it doesn't get better..you will always be mentally exhausted at the end of your day..but its worse the first week as you will have to get used to being in a moving vehicle trying to sleep..its not as easy as your car..yeah, air ride cabs help but they also lean and sway a lot more than a car..plus the exhaust will be right behind your head..and if you in the mountains..that jake brake will wake you up...every time. If you get motion sickness..keep the curtain between the sleeper and the front open..it will help a bit if you can see out the widshield BUT SLEEP!!!..every chance you get.

2nd week..it will start getting easier to sleep with someone else driving but only slightly..easy sleep comes with trust in your partner...If he's got a death wish you won't sleep and its time to contact dispatch and request a change. Keep asking questions and keep the lines of communcation open with your partner..if a problem arises, stop the truck and resolve it. Face it..a solo driver with cabin fever can only get mad at himself..a team driver with cabin fever has another option to get mad at..his partner. Its like being married..there are going to be issues...get em out in the open and quashed asap.

week three: You're sleeping and also looking forward to getting home..your dispatchers will start irritating the crap out of you cuz you live in texas and they got you up in bfe wisconsin or new york or maine and you begin to wonder if you are ever gonna see home on time. I'll let you in on a little secret..home time is an "on or around" date..it gives the dispatcher something to aim for so if you have something, an apt or such, that you have to be home for..request to be home a day or two before the apt to be safe..get with your dispatcher to see how he does things too..comes back to that communication thing.

Week 4: Mad at your dispatcher cuz you in florida instead of heading for texas for home time..mad at having to deal with the other idiot in the truck with you cuz now its two days to the end of training and you feel you know it hands down now...No you don't...now you know just enough to make an ### out of yourself in front of drivers who have been driving for years...You're talking #### on the radio about your bad ### truck and the owner op coming up behind you in the left lane is razzing you over the cb cuz you a greenhorn and then blows by you at 80 mph in an 05 pete with a six and a quarter kitty lurkin between the frame rails. You aren't going to make it home exactly when you wanted to so you ticked off at the company, and your dispatcher and on the forums all over the net via your cell phone saying you're quitting and looking for another company OR..you actually read this post, kept yourself off the cb, are still talking to and listening to your trainer, your dispatcher and realize the next couple of loads out of florida where you are at can either go only north or west and that your truck has been covering a thousand miles in a 24 hr period at this point so you just going with the flow.

The latter person is the one that three months down the road is enjoying themselves for the most part, has a small bit of change in their pockets and realizes that as long as a. they didn't quit and do something stupid like goin to one of the greenhorn trap lease companies an b. they haven't hit anything, that as long as they remain patient, laid back with the company etc that doors are starting to open..

at 1 year with PAM you realize you got some choices..you can stick with pam (advisable) or switch to another carrier free and clear...

I'm not talking up the company..never drove for them before, BUT if you are going trough C1 there is a student load to repay etc..that is aken care of after a certain time..no matter which one of the two scenarios fits in week 4..stick it out..one of you can then make a change if you feel like it with no repercussions to credit etc..the other keeps cruising.

In the long run..the one that sticks and makes a change later on down the road is going to have better opportunities sooner. Trucking companies put a lot of stock in a driver who sticks out the bad to the good again. They are the ones that start getting the primo loads..the primo dedicated routes..or the primo companies looking their way after their 1st year or at most 2nd year behind the wheel

Companies like PAM get money from the gov't to turn people into drivers..yes..its the companies that won't touch you until 1 or two years experience that don't and who look at their drivers a lot differently. Even now, given the chance..I'd hop right back into a JCT truck..even a lease..they were a #### fine company back then..

Trucking is a lot like show business..you have to work the crap before you get your shot..choose that when to take that shot wisely..

Every truck stop will have its whiner about their company and the guy on the other end saying "oh you should come drive for...." Reason is is that EVERY company that has company drivers offers some sort of recruiting bonus and the pastures are always greener on their side. All first year trucking companies are basically equal with one or two exceptions I wouldn't send my worst enemy to so don't think things are better at JB Hunt, or CRST or Knight..they may not be worse..but they aren't too different..beware of the OH we'll pay you this much more etc lines too...Theres a reason they are offering more per mile..because 9 times out of 10 the miles are less.you can figure actual paid miles are somewhere between 60 to 80 percent of what they are advertising in the ads. Know that going in and you won't be disappointed too much.

Average miles in ads includes owner operator trucks which in most cases aren't restricted to 65 mph and are driven by guys that know how to work around the HOS rules cooking 3500 miles per week under the tires as well as company drivers then all averaged together...it skews the advertised stats a bit...actual team miles at PAM might be dead on too..I'll find out..I'm not expecting 4-5k miles a week

All of us trainees are going to be struggling somewhat in the money department for 6 months..expect that..You'll wonder why in the world you ever decided to do this..just remember...got to sit up before you crawl..crawl before you walk..and walk before you run.

General tips:

What to report to safety: Rookies are rookies..inexperienced and in your first 90 days you will make a rookie mistake and bump something...its GOING to happen and for some of you its going to be a real eye opener.

There are some things you should know as rookies...anything you report striking with the truck becomes permanent record..either with the company, with the gov't or both. It depends on severety.

A typical rookie mistake: You are at the Pilot fueling..now when fueling at a modern truck stop you use two fuel pumps..not one..one is a main that has the usual readouts..one is a slave pump for filling the tank on the other side of the truck. You will be in a hurry trying to make a delivery, tired because you've been driving 9 hrs and you didn't follow my suggestion to fuel at the beginning of your day...you throw the main pump back in its cradle, hop in the cab, slam a quick line in your log, put the truck in gear and begin to pull out of the fuel island...what did you forget...the satellite pump..and you sever the fuel pump hose at the quick disco..do you report to your safety officer? Naww..but do the right thing..take the nozzle into the fuel attendant, apologize, and their maintnence guy will come out of his little office in the back, with a special little tool that hooks the quick disco back up..no real damage..here's the key..if there is NO damage, no injury, the truck isn't scratched, the load didnt fall over in the trailer, don't report it in an accident report or tell your dispatch...its a non issue and crap happens.

Rookie mistake number 2: you are at your consignee backing up to a dock but you failed to hop out and look the dock over for protrusions/obstructions and you back into one of those little yellow posts that seem to spring up out of nowhere. The trailer bumper is is slightly bent at the little piece of steal that sticks past the the vertical support..its bent in a half inch..do you report it? As a rookie you will because the company will scare you into the idea that if you so much as put a scratch in a tire you have to report it as an accident. Lets change the situation a bit..instead of a trailer its your personal pick up truck..the little post puts a slight dent in your bumper..do you call the insurance company for 20 bucks damage? No....Back to the trailer..do you worry about the little bend?..no..why because a..the consignee's little post is still where it was..its not cracked, broke or otherwise damaged..2. the damage to the bumper can be fixed with a sledge for free either by you or a shop mechanic who if you bring it up with them, will look at you like.."are you serious?" then go back to drinking his coffee while pretending to change someone's oil for 8 hrs.

Scenario 3: You are rollig through oklahoma On I 40 and hit a deer..which cracks the hood and bends the bumper on the tractor..do you report it? yes, AND then in a month or two, check your dac report..it should show as an Unpreventable depending on the amount of damage..if it shows as a preventable there are lawyers that specialize in getting things fixed on a DAC Its better to hit the deer then it is to swerve and roll the truck..rollovers are preventable

Scenario 4:..you are backing out of an idle air station and the mirror taps the support of the station..the glass falls out of the mirror and then shatters on the ground...Let me give you a hint here..protect your DAC...You can word your report carefully and it depends on how you report it on this one...If you report it as an accident its going to show as a preventable with minor damage..If you call maint instead and say hey..during my pretrip this morning the glass for my mirror was lying on the ground and its broke..mirrors are held by glue..they can fall out due to a pothole in the road.

Only report true accidents..you were rear ended, you ran over a corvette while backing into the dock..etc...serious damage in other words..if there is no damage to anything, you are the only witness, why shoot yourself in the foot for the the rest of your driving career.

It seems dishonest yes, but do you think that the company is going to report a 100 dollar mirror to their insurance? No..



Petey

 

Nice...
Okay training is now three weeks out.
PAM runs electronic logbooks, and tells you where to fuel.

 

wow thats was nice peterbetmetoit can i copy that off and if i ever become a trainer can use it as a training aid , thanks for great info.

 

If you feel the need to copy it go for it bud.

Petey

 

Ok..let me address this real quick..

Take their fuel stop as a suggestion unless you know for #### sure you have enough fuel to make it there. All companies provide a list of approed fuel stops all across the country for company drivers. Dispatches with fuel stops are suggestions based on best range of the equipment and never, ever trust your fuel guage. It only reads off of one tank..if the crossover valve in the lines between the tanks is froze it may not be completely accurate.

Example..brand new 05 pete of mine..month out of the dealership and the crossover valve quit..in California.guage read full after fueling in arizona..I got near the palms and noticed..hmm..still reading full..the right tank was full..left was down to about three gallons...fuel when you feel you need to and double check the tanks each morning as part of your pretrip..pull the caps, tap the tank..whatever you got to do.

DOT does not turn a very friendly eye to the trucker on the side of the road because he ran out of fuel..neither to companies because they have to spend 500 bucks plus mileage to send a wrecker out to you to either a. bring you fuel or b. pull you to the nearest mom and pop truck stop at full price to fuel.

Fleets like pam work deals with Pilot, Petro, T/A, and Flying J truck stops to get fuel at a discount simply because of the bulk of their traffic...they prepay for fuel in bulk at anwaywhere between .50 c up to a dollar off the advertised price..never leae an autorized fuel stop at the beginning of your drive line without full tanks. There isn't a company that will fault you for fueling at any company authorized fuel stop..it protects them, protects you, and just like any motorized vehicle..its easier on the engine to pull from full tanks than partially full. A car with a full tank gets better gas mileage for a bit..not saying stop at every fuel stop on the list they give you and fill up...I am saying that per each 11 hours of driving you will have to fuel once..whether you do it first thing, last thing, or in the middle..you will fuel..

If you keep track of your actual daily mileage ( do so whole time driving team..write down the odo reading at start and at end.) you will notice its easier to log it, second you will drive about 30 to 50 more miles a day..

After a week or two in the truck, you stop at 3 to 5 hrs into your drive line..it gets hard to bring yourself to get goin again...you want to park, go inside, relax...eat, bs with the cute waitress...walk around the store...bs with the blond haired pigtailed teenybopper at the register...then 45 minutes later, back in the truck...Now, in 06 you couldn't split your drive/on duty time any more for the most part..so that 45 minutes is gone..11 hr drive 14 on duty total...there are times when you will need the full three hours..its a rhythm thing.

Its also a log trick..you log 15 to fuel, 15 to pretrip..but if you remember this tip, you can pretrip while waitin on the tanks to fill..and when you (and you will) decide to go O/O that 15 minutes on the road adds up. specially if you 15 minutes down the road before your log says you even driving...

4 days, thats 60 to 70 mles..as an O/O at anywhere from 1.00 to 6.00 a mile thats adding up to a lot of money oer time.

There are three kinds of drivers...the drive hard outlaw types.
the drive smart true blue company types which we all will be for the next year
and the drive hard, drive smart Owner Operators that in this economy are still paying truck payments on new petes or KW's, have an escalade or brand new top of the line Chevy silverado crew cab sittin at the house..and the house is that dream cabin on the lake with that nice bass boat sittin at the dock.

Driving as a company driver gives you the time to figure out the loopholes in the HOS regs, when to go through banning california and when not to and its actually shorter to go I 10 to I 25 to I 40 to OKC than it is to run I 10 to I 20 to I 35.

I'm not saying as a company driver to log 30 min as fuel and pretrip per regs and take off after 15..just remember the trick.

Petey

 

PAM states exactly where to fuel and how many gallons to get when there.

 

And by the way PAM has electronic logs so my pretrip is from 5-20 minutes and the same for fuel. So most tricks with the logbook are just that old tricks.