The Cryo Hauler Thread

I was thinking the same thing. I saw a white Volvo in a pic on Facebook. I know they have a lot of Volvo trucks.

 

Sorry to see that, I hope your driver manager sees how much you avoided! I follow you on here and you seem to be a stand-up guy. Thanks for posting reality

 

Well thank you.
We had our RCA(root cause analysis) pow wow this afternoon.
3 management including 1 corporate via video call, 2 from my union local, my business agent and steward and my self.

Exonerated from every facet of operation during this incident, including time off, fatigue, preoccupation etc.
Road rose in elevation a few hundred feet and just over the crest turned to solid ice.
A no travel advisory was issued one and a half hours before that started at the county line 3 miles behind me.
I had no way of knowing, and that the semi stopped in the lane just over the crest gave no room for anything but reaction, and since the road was glare ice I simply tried to cross the crown of the road to take the other lane to get by but the icing was so severe the slope allowed the rig to slide as it started to jack knife, verified by the side cameras..yes we run 5 cams.

The only thing they take issue with was me driving to the hotel while logged out of the truck.
Incident took place around 10:30 pm and after talking to my supervisor was told to log out of truck. That we don't violate HOS.
Nobody knew it would take till 7:45 am before we could move.
I didn't get hours back till around 9am and couldn't sit on the roadbed for another 1 plus hours so opted to drive the 40 miles under a phantom operator, like if truck was driven to dealer by a mechanic.
My reasoning was if I got to the hotel and got my hours back it would not be indicated should I get inspected or at a scale 500 miles from the plant.

They think I should have violated HOS then went to hotel for a 10 and then made the delivery and headed back.
I texted the boss and told him twice about my decision and his reply was
" good deai "
Kind of had them over a barrel as they did not know about this text communication as the initial conversation was to his private cell.
Was told that log manipulation is considered a termination event.
Remined them I would fight the decision, told them about my text exchange w the boss.
Suggested that if termination takes place I was sure to win arbitration and my boss, and his friend, would most likely be fired and I'd be reinstated with backpay...

I will be back in the saddle tomorrow morning watching my six.

 

Sweet jesus...Nobody should have to go go through that. I'm glad you had the Union sitting by your side and you had evidence with the texts. I record phone calls and I've had to use them twice when I was in CO2. Luckily nothing with my current gig, so far. Man, you are so close to finish line of your career. I hope you can make it without anymore drama. Its going to be a tremendous loss when you leave. The experience level of retiring or outgoing drivers far exceeds the current level or the level of onboarding drivers and the next several years, I think, are going to be very challenging.
I have never understood this mentality of the cryo world. No, the work isnt rocket science, but it does need a higher level of professionalism and dedication to make safe deliveries, safe trips, and safe operations. All the while under the closest scrutiny of just about any niche in trucking. Yes, we are paid well for it, but it's not exclusive. Many faucets of trucking have progressed pay-wise, and in increasingly larger numbers, have surpassed cryogenics. But our management cant seem to understand why we only get a handful of applications when jobs are posted, or when people drop out of on-boarding after waiting 3 weeks to a couple of months for their company to progress their application through the system and interview and whatnot, or how many guys quit within the first few weeks of training, once they see the culture of 2001 rules of how you'll be insta-fired, and extremely challenging, and unpredictable work schedules.

 

It amazes me that Cryo here around Portland pays less than hauling fuel. Most fuel companies are fairly laid back about everything compared to cryo. We have rules and policies to follow, but nothing compared to the fired for anything crowd of the cryo world.

 

Had to remind them all that when I was hired the requirement was 5 years tractor trailer experience including 3 years of tanker experience.
Today they simply require 1 year of CDL experience and that we are all fortunate since it could have been so much worse.
Also some discussion as to why the CB radios are no longer part of a new truck into service prep.
I also reminded the plant superintendent that when I was interviewed early 2010 his personal requirements dictated a driver with critical thinking abilities and that could make smart decisions with the information at hand etc.

They wanted to put a letter of reprimand into my file concerning log manipulation but we objected and they relented so nothing but an incident report.
Also they agreed to pay me for all the time I would have been on duty, including the drive to the hotel.
I have to say I've never been a huge proponent of the "union" but my teamster membership paid off on this one.

In the cryo world you don't get a second chance.

 

Local Delivery Driver (CDL A or B) job in Sioux Falls, SD with Linde

Does anybody have a clue what these local Linde jobs pay/week? Is linde as bad as it sounds in terms of micromanagement?

 

Call and ask.
Each facility is different as far as individual management goes but all have the same rules

 

That Division is Linde Gas and Equipment, they operate a little differently than Linde Gases, US, which is their bulk gas division. LGE near me has EVERYTHING, bulk trailers, Tank wagons, Flatbeds, box trucks. The main thing is LGE does cylinder gases. Each terminal operates as a separate entity. You'll have to get ahold a recruiter and ask them sepcifics about the terminal you are interested in. Most cylinder gigs, regardless of company, are constantly hiring. It's not a bad job, but you have to be comfortable being in uncomfortable situations. Alot of places you will deliver to can barely handle cars, let alone a box truck or tank wagon(We call them squirt trucks here)

Micromanagement is terminal specific. We are all under the same rules, but its adhered to differently barn to barn. Dennixx and I both work for Linde Gases and our 2 Barns couldnt be any more different. Every single one of our guys would be fired within a week at his place. His guys coming over here would be double checking the name on the tank to make sure they were at the right company. Linde is strict, but you are given a company 'bible' . Follow the bible and what it tells you and that will eliminate the majority of issues guys have.

 

As I write this....the job market for cryo drivers is easily the worst I've seen -- even KAG has stopped looking for drivers in the Atlanta area (including teams).

Messer (I snicker almost every time I see that name ) is now hiring teams in the southeast -- but the offered pay per team driver is totally abysmal.

-- L