So what exactly is a cte?

I heard talk of it in training and I know it's sni's acronym for, "commitment to excellence plan."

What I don't know is the severity of it? It's akin to a, "write up" in my old job or a note to file. I've had to do those myself when employees showed up late.

Some of you will wonder why I'm asking...others will know it's probably a question that doesn't get asked unless you're in trouble. Well, you'd be right.

I'm in a spot of trouble as some of you guessed and I don't know what for exactly (yet). All I do know is that it's cumulative lateness. A cte was prompted because I accidentally slept in yesterday through two alarms. As far as I'm concerned, sleeping in is pretty rare but it has happened before. (Maybe once every 2-3 months?)

I'm not one to blame others unless I realize that others are the issue, but unfortunately I know of nothing to resolve and prevent lateness from happening in this case. I've done what I can figure out, including multiple alarms, not going home between loads (family doesn't understand the phrase, "I need to sleep."), and others...

However so far the only other thing I can discern is that lateness happens most for me when I don't feel like I've been given sufficient time to complete an assignment. But I can't walk in and say, "dbl, I feel like you all need to give me more time." Sleeping in happens when this happens back to back to back.

Okay, I could. But that's not the responsible way to handle it. My dbl is pretty good about reassigning you a load if you don't have time to complete it and it's pretty obvious. But when it's more time is tight, I'll usually get, "you're my only driver left to run this," or, "you'll be fine. Youve got time." Yet I find that when I'm late, I'll get the usual, "what happened" call despite my warning when assigned the load that I might be late.

I don't want to walk in empty handed and ignorant. But from my perspective it looks like I need to learn how to say, "no" and better understand my limitations and not trying to take it all on at once.

I hate saying no. I was raised to get it done. No means I won't get it done. So I've a few habits to adapt or break.

Lateness reflects badly on me, but it also reflects badly on everyone else involved.

So, fellow pumpkin-runners... What happens with a cte, what is expected before and after, and what other information have you got? And last, but not least, anyone have any ideas for a game plan? I'm empty handed except to really start putting my foot down with no leniency about the assignments I accept.

 

Thanks. When I first started out I had trouble, and I mean severe trouble, getting adjusted. I was forgetting things like time zones. I've made the error, repeatedly, of planning a load out correctly but then forgetting to set my alarm right. (I trip plan in est always to avoid confusion, but I tended to forget my phone changes time zones automatically. So I was waking an hour later than I should.)

What my dbl may consider as sleeping in may very we'll be the times it appears I've slept in according to my logs, and waking an hour later would look like that. I've since learned the Qualcomm alarm does not change time zones so I've used that to my advantage.

I can deal with only 10 off, I may be young but I'm not in the age group that requires that much sleep anymore. (Though I'm proud to admit I can sleep that long un disturbed and un-aided. LOL.)

My main concern is when I know I'm going to be tight on time, because that's going to happen in the future. Just the nature of this account. But my mistakes in the past, which I've done my best to remedy, are what's killing me now.

I had a month and a half with no driver-related lateness. Even if I hit traffic I've learned to plan so I have at least a 30 minute break and a coffee/restroom break on the way.

From what you're saying though, it seems that the right thing for me to do is to say I can't do a load if it's going to cut into my 10?

Also, given the option I almost always will arrive the day before the shipment is due. Unfortunately the forest park SSC isn't so quick about loading... It's always done before I need to leave, but rarely when I'm able to leave.

Thanks for the advice, I try to be proactive and reactive. I dare say I wouldn't have learned half of this stuff in twice the time going otr, but I am doing my best to stay atop the curve. I can see why drivers with one year experience are preferred for this type thing, it isn't just skill.

 

Yeah, though our first stop can range from 4-7am. I don't recall any 3am stops for forest park.

I have been known to run out my clock trying to get to a shipper, I still had time to spare for my 10 if I do that. So I know what you mean. We've got to be extra careful when we pull out of there in the daytime though, I always allow for an extra hour at least to deal with atlanta traffic.

I figure that the sooner I get back, the sooner I can ask for another or go home.

I think I'm going to tell my dbl pretty much what I said here. I aim to be honest and upfront but I try too hard to handle things myself and be, "maintenance free." So I think you're right, they've got me on a tight one today. So I gotta "wake up" in the next 45 minutes.

If I know that it's unrealistic then I'll always send a cya message. But I'll need to add tight loads to that list of things to cya.

 

I had a similar setup prior to this, unfortunately in the last pm the mechanics got in behind my dash and unplugged the 12v plug up front.

I don't have a cord long enough to charge from the bunk and still reach the stereo. I'll be dropping my truck off at the OC this weekend to get that fixed.

Soon as that is fixed though...in my opinion the iPhone has some annoying alarms anyways....

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

I've used the timer before too, if I'm idling then I rely on the QC since it doesn't change time zones.

Sni does run the jcp account very tight. It's either feast or famine when it comes to drivers and loads.

I see new drivers all the time on this account, be it because they have a safety issue and hit something on the way in and out of these lots or because they can't keep up.

Quick update: dbl and I sat down and talked things out. Turns out it was only for the times I've slept in AND she wasn't counting the times when I was still in my 6mo grace period. So that's both a good and bad thing.. (Good because it's not like it's going back 9 months from when I started, but bad that I accumulated enough to have to be talked to within the 3 months it did count.)

I expressed some of my concerns, and intend to go back when finished with this load and express the remaining concerns, prior to pulling the load im on now.

Ironically, it was late as I suggested it would last night but that was due to a series of bad accidents on i85 out of atlanta.

I ended up being more on time than the others, but only because I knew of an alternate route.