Werner Orientation in Allentown PA 4/2011

June 23 2011





Hello Yodler, Mr. V., Whoosedog and the Group:


I just started to get a rising level of anxiety for awhile just thinking about that last Trainer. It's just a Good thing that I know how to let other people on the 'net pray about it for me for awhile. I had downloaded a few Podcasts from pastor Jim Tolle on my Laptop and I played them for about 3 hours per day here over the past 3 days. It all goes away eventually and It did at the end of everyday that I was here in Indianapolis staying at the Airport Ramada Inn.

I waited for my preassigned Trainer all of this week, but I think that the midwest and Eastern weather had his schedule all kinds of screwed up. We had record setting rain and nearly hurricane force winds in the Indianapolis area for the past 4 to 6 days so I know that It must have been hell for the "driver's choice" regional drivers out there.

I kept my word and finished the last (3) available CBT's, all of Today, having finished all of the other Werner CBT's that I could sign up for within the past week. I counted 25 to 30 of them finished by Tuesday and another dozen or so I guess by the end of Today. In any case, there are no more CBT's available on the Werner servers to sign up for and It was very enlightening and satisfying to finish all of the courses that they had. The Flatbed lessons and Train the Trainer lasted me all day long. I had to do the Trip Planning ones Online with the help of the AITA Online data and the Fuel master website instead of the Rand McNally and the Werner Fuel Book. I can't say that It really worked out as well, but I finished every one of the CBT's Werner has.

I am seriously thinking about Volunteering to go back to Virginia to work for the Family Dollar account if they give me any pressure at the role call meeting Tomorrow morning about getting started with a Trainer. The way that I see It is I did'nt want one or did'nt need one due to the fact that I was resting and working on the CBT's.

 

June 24 2011





Hello Mr. V. and the Group:


I have waited for the Role Call in the Sycamore room in the Indianapolis Ramada Inn this morning along with about 20 other Werner drivers and we did'nt have anybody from the Safety department to show up or to give us any new Instructions for the remainder of this week.

So I decided that it was my time to go back upstairs and to do some power napping, and meditate for sometime on watching the Rev. Jim Tolle for the Morning. I finished taking (2) showers, one for the beginning of the day and the other for my back, after last week, I still had a little bit of pain remaining after sitting at my desk here doing CBT's for about 12 hours.

I went out and walked down the road to Lynhurst St. and did my laundry at the Phillips 66 mart. and then up to Troy Rd. and then I walked the 1/4 mile over to Kentucky Ave. (one of the main Sts. in this part of Indianapolis) where I bought some more soap at the Dollar Tree store and then ate at the SUBWAY, where I pulled out (3) more cheese hoagies for the road.

The SUBWAY on Kentucky and Southwestern Aves. in Indianapolis is right across the parking lot from a Dollar General store. Werner had just delivered a large load of products to that particular location and I had the unique opportunity in order to check out the back of the store, where You would have to back in and then to also see for myself:

1. The collapsible gondolas where they will move in the cardboard boxes.

2. The way that they "nest" the gondolas and "C clip" them together.

3. The weight of the empty 36" totes or "clam shell" boxes.

4. The weight of the loaded Totes before the product was put on the shelves.

5. The number of loaded Totes on one of their "U Trucks" and the weight.

I thought that It was a Good field Trip to make out to the shopping center, a Krogers, local supermarket, Walgreens, CVS, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell and a Raceway. I especially enjoyed going in to the Dollar General Store to talk to the people in the store about the working conditions. It was a pleasure say nice things about my employer and to represent Werner like a recruiter.

I have to tell You that I did'nt really see anything too bad about the work that the Driver would have to do at the Family Dollar stores in reference to the empty "rack sweeps" or "tote sweeps" where the Driver would have to pick up Tons and Tons of empty equipment because It all seemed to be fairly light weight and no problems at all to move but I did notice how much the "U trucks" were loaded and about how much the 36" Totes really weighed.

I think that the ones that I sample handled a little bit weighed at least 20 pounds apiece and the "U Trucks" were loaded with about 3 to 4 rows of Totes that are about 12" high and about 4 along one row of the Truck.

They would require that You really watch Your back everyday so You don't wear Yourself out. I'll say more about that a little bit later. The "U Trucks" don't have any brakes on them either, I don't think, so You would have to watch them as well.

For the back, and I know what I am talking about, for this Dollar General store job I think that a person would have to invest in a GNC Schiatzu back massager and probably a 12V plug in power inverter, sufficient to power it up in the truck., If not that then I would think that You may need to buy a large hand held massager or just a Good vibrating pad and then strap it to Your body while You are resting, every so often.

I have used my Dog's chain leash to attatch a Vibrating pad to my lower back once while I worked at K&G's and just let it stay working for a few hours while I slept or had a break in the middle of the day. (all weekend long).

I liked what I saw at the Dollar General store though, and I would be very willing to give it a try because It is only slightly different work than what I was doing at K&G's and mostly like the work that I was doing at TODAYS MAN for 14 Years of my life, almost up until Today. You can see now why my C.B. call sign is T-Man.

We used to have a large metal hook a lot like the 5th wheel puller, to grab the edge of the Totes we had there and then drag them into the stores, in stacks where they also had a hook, to pull them across their floors up to where they needed to unload the product.
We also used a flatbed cart and some moving dollys in order to better arrange the freight in the store. We had hundreds of pounds of suits and clothing in large plastic bags that had to be hand unloaded from rope hooks inside of the Trailer.

I may or may not be stuck here in Indianapolis all weekend at the Hotel but It is'nt going to bother me now. I am thinking that I am just lucky to have found the willpower and the initiative to finish all of the CBT's or computer based training modules and then to rest my body after cruising all of those miles in the broken up Freightliner Classic last week with Sharif. I may just be finished with OTR if I can just get hooked up with the Dollar General stores.

 

June 24 2011





Hello Mr. V. and the Group:


I am pleased to let You people know that I have had an afternoon first filled with a commitment to change over from OTR to the Dollar General stores (on Monday) and then a unique opportunity in order to see that situation through to It's fruition with Werner changing It for me for the better within 15 minutes at the end of this day (Friday). I could'nt believe that they could do It so well.

I got a call from the Trainer, Marvin, who was Preassigned to me at about 4:40 this afternoon, and he seemed to be talking over his engine noise or something like that where he was purposely talking loudly and assertively. He seemed to impress me with a kind of a shortness or crude assertiveness and he told me within one sentence that I "need to meet him over at the terminal at 7". I don't like to judge a book by his cover but he just did'nt strike me as a very patient person, due to his way of being kind of short with me on the phone.

Well, anyway I do not really need to have as much patience as I used to need when I was first getting started out learning how to Drive Truck and shift and back and align the Truck in parking areas and things like this so he was still OK with me.

I thought that I could keep him happy with some Student labor for the weekend or the next 7 days until I might get a Dollar General Account, and I told him that I would probably only be available for the next week, and he was Good with that, so no problems but I had to be honest.

I turned around and immediately called back my Student Driver Manager, who had originally mentioned doing a Dollar General Account in Virginia and she told me that the Virginia Account did'nt need drivers right now but she would put me through to my recruiter Joe, and so I started talking with him right before 5 O'clock in the evening here in Indianapolis. He told me that he would look into any Dollar General Accounts in my general area, because he himself could not find any open Dollar General Accounts near Pennsylvania, but I told him to keep looking, because "I was getting sick of doing OTR" even though this is not the real reason, you know, and he was Good enough to check twice after he asked me "am I from the Eastern or Western side of Pennsylvania" and I told him "I don't really care right now, if You have anything close by please let me know" and then he mentioned the Ohio Dollar General Account. I said Thank You Very Much! and he said something I could'nt understand at the time about cancelling, opening a "pop up window" and sending a message to someone and then he reconnected me to my Student Driver Manager, who had already gone to voicemail after 5 PM.

I packed my two green military duffle bags and walked down to the lobby and checked out of the Ramada Inn and boarded the shuttle van out to the Werner Terminal in order to meet Marvin. I waited there for 2 1/2 hours and then called him at about 7:30 PM and asked him where he was and he just said that he got a message out in his Truck, right after I talked to him before and It said I switched to the Dollar General Account and to "not let me on his truck" so I just wished him a nice weekend and to be Safe and then I started back to the Ramada Inn, as soon as they had a shuttle van ready.

I was so thrilled with Werner to have been able to get me started in a new direction within 15 minutes of when I had called them, and in the last 15 minutes of the day! This was very positive of Werner in my opinion, and I will care about them if they care about me. I may be wrong or right but I felt that I had "dodged another bullet" by just not going on the Truck with that particular OTR Trainer.

My Student Driver Manager, the Supervisor of that department at Werner, who also has a degree as a Psychologist told me once that It is probably hard on the OTR driver Trainers who spend most of their time out on the road, and they are not all rude people who go off on You, so give them a chance or go with the Dollar General. I told her that I would continue with the OTR, just to get some hours in, two weeks ago, and then I would make my way over to the Dollar General.

I am beginning to believe that she may be right about how rough some people can get in being where they are at, in Training doing their OTR jobs. I did'nt want to open myself up to more static and b.s'ing. as a possible way of life for a week or two. The least thing that I need is another "unsafe driver letter" in my file. Two of them is bad enough.

I am just glad that Safety road tested me after the last Trainer and said that I am OK with Driving the Truck, even if I need to have more confidence in It and even though I am over cautious in the way that I drive them.

I probably saved myself some time and some craziness by not doing any more OTR, even if it was mostly what I had in mind before when I first got started in Truck Driving. I really Love Western Regional OTR, and I still would like to do It but I probably just have to put first things first and merge with the OTR at some point in my life when I really need to do It.

I figure that the Dollar General stores are more of what I am made of right now anyway, coming from the K&G's and TODAYS MAN jobs. I will have the luxury and the privilege of choosing my usual 48 state OTR once I can become an experienced, qualified driver here in the first place. In the meantime, It's more about making the excellent wages that Werner is paying the Dollar General Drivers. I only got paid at the K&G's and TODAYS MAN what I am making right now as a Student Driver, so I am looking forward to tripling my income.

My Student Driver Manager told me this afternoon that "Dollar General Trainers are few and far between" and I told her that I believed her, and that I would wait. It's probably better to wait for something worthwhile that could work out much better in the long run. Stores are a lot of fun and they are right down my alley. It's a kind of a bet or a roll of the dice I would say right now, considering the possibility of losing more Good experiences doing the OTR.

Well, I have my mind made up for trying something unique, working for the Dollar General stores, praying that It will be a nicer working enviornment and being as It is something that I really want to do anyway.
There are some days when I wish that I was still working back at the K&G's because It was such a predictable job and so regular and easy, but I was doing some Trucking then, courier driving, so I figure that I may be in a position now to get paid for doing It.

 

June 28 2011





Hello Mr. V., Lantern and the Group:


I just came back from a few days with a "temporary Dollar General" Training experience. I had an OTR Trainer, temporarily assigned to my Dollar General DC (distribution center) in Zanesville Ohio. I will comment more upon this Trainer a little while later. I must say that working for the Dollar General Account was really everything that I thought that It would be and hoped that It would be. It was a positive experience to have the opportunity in order to meet the very people that we usually work for but normally don't see while we are shuttling loads between the distribution centers. Dollar General store people really appreciate the work that we do for them and we get to see the way that the stores display our products and also the people who shop for our products. It is a very friendly arrangement. Everybody should do a little bit of this local work.

The unloading and the loading work was really not that much of a problem. I did get a heavily loaded Trailer, about 40,000 pounds which had to be delivered to 3 different stores, all within 25 miles of one another. My Trainer was very Good to get me (3) Allentown PA area stores, which surprised me a lot since we spent the weekend in Ohio at the Zanesville Dollar General D.C. Dollar General has a US Express Distribution dispatch Center there that they share with Werner. I happened to just mention to him, his name is Chris, that I had to get some bloodwork done back in Pennsylvania for my 3 Month diabetes checkup and he quickly initiated a request on his own for a load for back in the Allentown Terminal area, 35 Miles from where I live. I appreciated this about Chris and I think that he went above and beyond for me on this issue. I was ready to just take a ride on Amtrak or the Greyhound for Philadelphia.


We went down to the Dollar General yard after we reset for the weekend and waited all day Sunday for a good trailer, since we got one eventually that had some badly dry rotted tires. They repaired It there within an hour and then we were Good to go. We checked the liftgate on the trailer (3000 pounds) and set out on I-70.

We got into Allentown at about 1 O'clock in the Morning and started setting up in a small strip Mall for a front door delivery, or so it seemed, then they opened a utility door next to the front doors of the store.
We had a lot of empty "rolltainers" or gondolas at the first store, filled with flat broken down cardboard boxes and also a lot of empty rolltainers that had to be "swept up" and corralled and sent back to a distribution center. This was O.K. but the Trailer that we had was so completely loaded so we had to offload the emptys that we picked up first at each of the other stores before we could start to offload the product Itself for each store after the first one. After we cleared out the Trailer about half of the way we had to start to reload the empty rolltainers back onto the Trailer. We loaded them along the sides of the unit and kept the middle part open. It was an easy process and not hard to do at all. There were a substantial amount of medium weight Totes in there but they were small in size and easy to pick up and to load onto the "floats or U trucks" and I did not see any risks of handling these, except that they will work Your elbows if they don't tighten up Your back. My back is fine, but I can still feel a little bit of tension in one of my elbows.

I practiced a lot of backing and turning maneuvers around the shopping centers and the cars in the parking lot in stores, so It was really an educational experience to work for the Dollar General route. I had my trainer give me some hand signals, but most of the work was pretty straightforward. Chris did the first parking job, which would have been almost impossible during the daytime hours, after I ran out of my driving hours at midnight. I got about 90 hours so far into the Werner Driving School program, but I am not certified to drive at night at this point in time.

Driving for the Dollar General route was fairly straightforward and easy. The backing up in the store lots was really not that much of a problem if You do the smallest stores at night, when there are no cars around then wait for the morning to deliver to the store crew. This would seem the only way to do things safely. Everything worked out well for us and I think that we made some friends in these stores, especially after we removed some of their trash.

Chris was a Good Trainer at times, but I thought that he was just as crazy as any of the other OTR Trainers for the most part, when he became confused and he started yelling and shouting and asking me to speed up the Truck a lot more. I was glad that I did'nt because we did go through some towns like Wheeling WVA during the end of the rush hour traffic and the areas between Ohio and Carile PA were heavily under construction and just loaded with bear traps and I did have to be extra carefull about the speed under these circumstances. I think that Chris respected me a lot about my carefull driving after we delivered to the first store because he filled out my progress report sheet after a long conference with me after I unloaded the trailer and sat there at the curb in front of the store, waiting for our hours to come up to 11/11 and 14/14 again. It was very kind of him to give me an above average report card.

He did become very P.O.'d at me at the Third store, Bangor PA, though because he said that he hates Pennsylvania and the F'n Pennsylvania business roads and he told me at the end of the day to "just go home I don't need You in the trailer right now" so, Oh Well I thought, too bad to have another OTR Trainer who is having life problems. I was just glad to have had the chance to talk to him about finding God and spending some time with God in the way that I do with the Internet for at least an hour out of each day. This was much needed and he did respect my prayer life and prayed with me a few times a day. I can't believe how much this changed my view about whatever terrible B.S. situations that I had to Cope with again, this time with the latest trainer. It was very rewarding to work with Chris on the Ohio Dollar General Account.
Dollar General is a Good account and a lot of fun to do most of the time.

 

June 30 2011





Hello Mr. V. and the Group:


I finally made it back to my home after being out on the road with the 3rd Werner Trainer for 6 1/2 days, staying in the Indianapolis Hotel for one Week and being out on the road with the 4th Werner Trainer for 4 days. It's Good to be home and to get some Good food and a little bit more rest.

I went to the Allentown PA bus station as usual and bought a ticket back to the 30th St. station in Philadelphia and picked up a SEPTA train out to Oreland where I live all for under $20. I then had to drive back up to Allentown during the rush hour traffic and pick up my bags and check out of my room for now.

The Quality Inn people were very helpfull to me and let me keep my bags in the Hotel room most of the day since I had stayed there for so long in Allentown and they all seemed to be so friendly and recognized me after being away for close to 3 weeks. The Quality Inn people were definitely some of the best in the business in my opinion, since they actually made a room available for me for an upgrade, when they had no regular available rooms. They let me stay in room 100, the handicapped one, betting I'm sure that no handicapped people would show up within the evening until noon the next day. This was extremely gracious of them.

I went to my Medical appointment, one of the 3 that I requested to check my blood sugar and blood pressure and my weight and I got a very positive set of results back this time around: I lost some weight, lost my high blood pressure and my sugar was about 147, a little bit high I think, but It is within the Werner's Doctor's specifications of up to 160. I always ask for 3 appointments 2 days apart with the Nurse in order to check these vitals out so that I can keep a running average every 3 Months.

I am definitely a lot more stress free and worry less about what my skills are like right now with the big trucks. I think that It has been helping with my Diabetes and BP.

My Car and my MC and my landscaping equipment are all still working so I used every one of them all in my first day back just to get around a little bit and to help out my Mother with her appointments and the grocerys and my Sister with the house maintenance and to get my Dog walking on where I am usually doing It.

I figure that I am very lucky to be an advanced Student with Werner right now and that I can still take little breaks like these right now, and It's the July 4th Weekend coming up, and the weather is Good so I think that I will just stay a full week back here at home, do some power walking and go out on my Motorcycle to Ocean City NJ.

I needed the powerwalking around Zanesville OH at the Dollar General D.C. and It helped my circulation a lot in my toes, this is a complication of diabetes. I powerwalk or work hard on my feet whenever I can nowadays and I am so happy to have a Dollar General route where there was plenty of opportunity's in order to get physically active. I will have to reccomend the Dollar General route to anybody with diabetes.

I wonder how my next Trainer (or for 3 weeks) is going to be. I think that they really appreciate the Student labor and my eagerness with experience in unloading Trailers. I can't say a bad thing in the world about the Werner Dollar General division, but It may be that It is just one of those things in life that You have to be slow and carefull about.

 

June 30 2011





Hello to whomever It may concern:


I have had the experience of being a Student of Christopher ------ for the past few days (between the evenings of June 25 and June 28th) and I am writing You this report now about his Training because I believe that It would be only fair to mention a lot more about what my whole situation with him was all about. To be fair he would be considered a half and half quality Trainer. I have already filled out a blue Trainer review form on him mentioning all of his positive qualitys. This is a supplement to the other one.
I met Chris, on the telephone on the Afternoon of June 25 while I was near the Indianapolis IN laundramat and he was requesting that I start over to the terminal in order to start to work with him " in order to get some time in" before I begin to start my Ohio Dollar General account. He told me right away that he was an OTR driver temporarily assigned to the Dollar General account and he suprised me by asking me if I wanted to go with him or not. I thought that this was a kind of a strange question. I said that Yes I would if he is from the Ohio Dollar General deticated account.
He then told me that he had instructions to pick up a trailer and to bring it to Indianapolis and to pick me up once he was there and then to give me a ride back to the Springfield Ohio Werner Terminal. I told him that I am Training with the Ohio Dollar General account and that I would like to stay with an Ohio Dollar General Trainer and I will meet him at the terminal if he is going to be working with the Dollar General deticated division.
He told me that he would be a temporary Dollar General driver and Trainer and I could'nt really understand what he meant to say, about this but that It would be OK and I would meet him that evening at the Terminal. He then proceeded to argue with me and he asked me if I was confused about going out with him to Ohio or if I wanted to get another Trainer. I just said don't worry about it, I'll be there whenever the 5 O'clock shuttle van leaves the Hotel for the Terminal. I was only interested in going with a Dollar General account Trainer for the next couple of weeks.
When I got to the Indianapolis Terminal he had his Peterbuilt 379 parked right next to the picnic tables out in the front exits so I called him on the phone and told him that I was there. He told me that he was very tired and that he needed to rest and to get something to eat at the Terminal before we left for Springfield Ohio and then he asked me again a strange question "do You have any reason for why You don't want to go on this particular Truck?" and I just said the same thing that I said before: "I am interested in working for the Ohio Dollar General Division." He was satisfied with this for a little while. I then went into the Men's room and went to the toilet and walked out the door towards the waiting room, he was at the sink, and there were only a few sinks in the terminal restroom, so I did'nt hang around to say anything. When I got back to the Truck he started argueing with me about washing my hands everytime I use the restroom. He then asked me: "do You understand me" and of course I answered yes, because I am a humble kind of a person.
As soon as I got into his Truck Chris started pointing out the pump soap dispensers and the rags in each of the cab doors and he said that everytime that I go out to use a restroom or to eat anything in the Truck to wash off my hands with the hand soap dispenser and then he asked me again: "do I understand him" and naturally I had to agree with him. After that things became a little bit strange when he pulled out a large industrial strength disenfectant aersol spray can and started spraying around all over the inside of the Truck, over both of the bunks and in the center of the shelving area and in between the seats. I personally felt that this looked like a classic case of obsessive/compulsive behaviour and he confirmed this for me when he started talking on and on about how clean a person that he is and how he keeps his truck clean enough to eat off of inside of It. He has a mop and a broom to clean the inside of his truck out everyday he said.
I felt at this time that Chris may be a difficult person to get along with but I offered to at least drive with him over to Ohio and to the Zanesville D.C. I then offered him an "out" with me by suggesting that I have to get a AIC diabetes checkup before the end of June, back in the Philadelphia PA area and I may just have to "beg off" and get a medical leave of absense for a few days. He took this as an invitation to tell me that he would be with me for as long as necessary for me to get back to Allentown PA at the Werner Terminal where he would drop me off. He actually seemed to be really relieved to have me for only a short time. I am not sure what his other problems were but he did tell me right away that he had to let go of another student before me and that he always had problems with his students, his last one he did'nt want to upgrade and the one before that just did'nt want to work unloading the Trailers. One of them "insulted his intelligence".
I liked Chris pretty well to begin with, he looks a lot like Bill Cosby and I thought that when he was feeling well that he presented himself like a very self disciplined man with a lot of professional military expertise. I especially liked the way he used his hand symbols to help me to back up the Truck. We only had a bobtail in Indianapolis so I had to back it out of the picnic area and It was no problem at all once he got out of the Truck in order to assist me.
I Drove the Truck, a Peterbuilt 379 with a 8-9 speed automatic down West St. in Indianapolis to I-70 and as soon as I did he complimented me on being "very confident" and almost in the next sentence he told me not to upshift so quickly, even though we were on an entrance ramp to the '70 East at the time. I then asked him what our route would be in order to go to Springfield Ohio and he just told me that he would tell me about It as we went along. I thought at the time that something was wrong if he would'nt tell me the basic trip plan in advance, but this was just one of those things that I started to have to deal with in working with him.
Everything was basicly OK in going out to Springfield Ohio with the Bobtail since Springfield is on I-70 and Indianapolis where we were coming from is also on I-70 and I already knew the mileage (143 Miles) and (90 Miles) to Zanesville Ohio on the I-70. The only problem that I had with him was when he started shouting loudly to watch the white line to the right side of the Truck and to keep it centered a little bit better on the highway. I then figured out that Chris does not have much patience or a professional manner when he normally does his training. He started exaggerating everything he was talking about and saying that speed kills and that I would kill somebody if I would speed along the highway, but that he needed for me to speed up a lot more since the highway speed limit was about 65 to 70 MPH and the traffic, even the vehicles that just passed us were moving away from us and that we could'nt get too close to them. My only problem with his speed management style at 6:30 PM in the Indianapolis IN rushour traffic was that he kept telling me to put my foot "on the gas pedal" "and push the gas pedal to the floor" so that he could engage the cruise control and unfortunately we lost our following distance quite a few times in this way, and ended up in the center of "cells" of cars and semi's travelling along I-70. He started shouting "don't take Your foot off of the gas pedal" "Put Your foot back on the gas pedal" over and over again until he started saying: "what part of put Your foot on the gas pedal and don't let up on it don't You understand?" So, I just stopped saying anything at all or trying to have any conversation with him.
We went to Springfield OH for our Trailer and Chris went into the driver's lounge there to socialize with the other drivers. We picked up a driver from the lounge and we gave him a ride out to the Walmart store for some supplies for his truck and then we turned around and started out on I-70 to Zanesville at about 10 PM. I drove most of the way there. Chris was still very tired.
We backed up to the fence at the distribution center after midnight after we dropped our empty trailer in the yard and we went to bed for the night. Chris told me that he hates the smell of piss so that there would'nt be any piss bottles on his truck and if I wanted to piss, to feel free to piss on his tires or on a tree or something but he can't have any piss smell at all in the truck. He then became very intent upon spraying his disenfectant aerosol can inside of the shelving area of the truck and then he started telling me that all of my packs "reeked of urine" but I knew that this could'nt be true since I had just been at the laundramat before we left Indianapolis. He then said that I have to go into the Distribution center right away with him and that we would both have to take showers, even though It was after one O'clock in the morning. He was kind enough to give me a towel since they don't have any in the D.C. but he did say when we were finished with the showers that he would be collecting my clothing and laundry bag and placing it under the Truck in the storage area and that he does not like laundry or recently used boots in his Truck at all and that I would have to place my boots on the step right outside of the cab door. I thought that he was acting crazy then but I did'nt say so. He went a step further after this and proceeded to load a DVD into his tower computer that he keeps in his sleeping area on the lower bunk and started playing a movie at 1:30 in the morning, and a rather crude one and very loudly. I still did not complain or say anything because I enjoy my employment with Werner and especially with the Dollar General division.
I slept until 7:30 in the Morning, got up and used the restroom there and went back to bed and rested until about 11:00 O'clock in the morning. Chris told me that the Dollar General deticated people usually do not work on Sundays and sometimes not at all on the weekends. He told me that we did'nt get any load information yet on the Qualcom so I asked him about where I could get some lunch and dinner or where the local Truck stop is from Zanesville. He told me that we would be going to Love's Truck stop later on in the day to get showers, do the laundry and to get some food, probably at the SUBWAY since most Love's have SUBWAYS in them. He then told me that I would have to take another shower because it would be awhile before we went over to Love's.
I told Chris that my feet were getting a little bit numb and that I wanted to do some power walking so I told him that I would be going out in the local area (East point Rd.) and that I would have my cell phone with me if he needed me. Chris said that this would be OK. I said great! I then started powerwalking down to the Interstate again and I then thought that if I made it that far then Love's could not be far away, probably right off of our exit or in Zanesville. Well, It was one exit down to the East on I-70 or walking along historic route 66 or route 40 for about 6 Miles, but I needed the walk so I just kept at It until I reached the Interchange where Love's is located. I had walked at least 10 Miles from the USX-Werner Dollar General distribution center and It was a very healthy hike. I sat down and had some food and called Chris, and he said that he would try to get some personal drive time to come down there after awhile. It seemed that he could'nt get his "Line 52" but he started his clock and came down there, took his shower and bought his food and fuel, brought a USX female Truck driver there as well to help her to get the same things, then he told me that we would'nt be staying there all afternoon and that I have to get a shower and to leave with him right away. This was kind of a bummer since I was sitting in the Arbys reading a couple of Sunday newspapers at the time. No problem though, I picked them up and carried them back to the driver's lounge at the D.C. I also got my shower and bought some food for dinner. We did'nt stay at the Love's for more than an hour.
We waited and waited and waited until we got our Preplan or load information for Chris's requested load back East. It took us all day Sunday and then we got a bad trailer or rather one with some badly dry rotted tires, so we had to wait a little while longer while the shop repaired some of them and then we left at about 6 PM enroute back to Allentown PA. The distance from there was about 400 Miles, there were only (2) problems with Chris before we were able to leave and the first one was when he started telling me exactly how to fold the sheets and the blankets on my bunk and while he was doing that he said that all of my bags, my computer bag and my log book bag "reeked of urine" and that they were right in his face while they were on the shelves in the Truck, but he let these go without asking me to place them outside of the Truck. He said that I had to keep my clothing and sleeping bag duffle bags out on the catwalk of the Truck but the computer bag could still stay in the truck. I thought that at least this was very nice, so I would'nt worry about them being stolen but after we got rolling to pick up the trailer he started saying "he's going to back up to the trailer and hook it up and to drive out of the yard since I drive like ####" and I just did'nt bother to say anything about that statement. He was just a total paranoid nutcase about half of the time when I had to work with him. Unfortunate for the people that have to be around him, I thought to myself.
We got out onto the road and I asked him about what our specific instructions were for the route and he just totally refused to discuss the specifics. He told me to watch the GPS and do what It told me to do. He mentioned that he may not be instructed to go straight back to Allentown in the first day and that we may have to drive North on I-77 for awhile and then the next day or two would bring us closer to Allentown PA. The GPS route in fact asked for me to drive up 77, so I did that and then Chris started yelling we were off route and we have to follow I-70 and that I made a major mistake. I told him that the GPS was instructing me to go up to I-77 but he just did'nt seem to want to do anything but to argue with me about the GPS for awhile. I told him on the way around that It looked to me like the GPS was giving me instructions to Exit Left after so many miles and Chris then told me that there is no such thing as a part of the GPS that tells You that It's a left exit. I think that I did start telling him that there definitely is an arrow on It that tells You just that, but he still could'nt believe me and started swearing at me about the GPS.
I told him that I would be taking I-70 to New Stanton PA and then picking up I-76. When we got there he told me to ignor the GPS about the PA Turnpike and to just go down the main St. in town which he believed was I-70 and would get us back to Allentown somehow, but then he said that we "ran out of highway" and to look for a place to make a turn to go around the block in order to get back to the PA Turnpike entrance. It was then that he began to rave about "Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York" and curse loudly while he was asking me to "watch the turn" It was pure chaos with him for a little while. I totally ignored him in order to stay healthy and to get the job done safely.
We went down the Pennsylvania Turnpike through construction Zone after construction Zone and we stayed citation free and accident free in spite of the large numbers of State Police officers observing the work zone traffic. I can't say that Chris was in a very Good mood concerning the slow Traffic. He was getting ready to snap when the roadside speed monitor showed that we were travelling at 48 MPH in a 45 MPH speed zone, while I was manually throttle controlling the rig on the side of hills and valleys.
We arrived in Allentown after Curtis asked me to stop alongside of the highway, right outside of the 2nd Tunnel on the route and change places with him at about 10:30 PM. He told me that I looked too tired to drive and that he wanted to take the Truck all the way back to Allentown, even though he admitted a few times that he was extremely tired himself. Someone said later on the C.B. radio that the "Dollar General needs to take a break before they are shut down, they are all over the road" but Chris pushed on all the way into Center city Allentown and started parking the Truck next to the Dollar store delivery entrance nearby the front doors. Chris gave me some more B.S. for the day once we arrived there and he told me that with my "skills set" that I should'nt try to do any Northeastern states Dollar General accounts because It's a quick way to lose my CDL within a couple of Months. He told me that he would bet "just about nearly everything that he owns" that I would not have a CDL after a couple of Months if I chose to drive NE routes. He said that they should "scrape NYC off of the map" and that he just hates driving anywhere in Pennsylvania and the area states like New Jersey.
We got up early in the Morning and started unloading the Trailer, loading a lot of extra cardborard boxes and empty totes and rollatiners onto the Truck once we were finished. We had no troubles at all in finding our way to the stores and in delivering the freight. Later in the day, at about 12 O'clock Chris wanted to start showing me the grades that he gave me on my driving skills report card and they were suprisingly Good ones and then he began to engage me in a conversation about the DOT and Werner policy and proceedures and protocols that we would be using everyday in the Trucking profession. I thought that Chris had straightened out his nervous tension at this point and that he was acting very nicely. We went over the books together.
We went on to unload and to reload the empty containers and deliver freight smoothly at another store nearby and I got a few suggestions on my backing technique from Chris and I think that most of his criticism about my backing was constructive but he was screaming and yelling quite a bit before and after we left the second store. He was very crude in explaining how he thought that I should be able to back up the rig to the back door of the stores we were enroute to for the deliverys.
He sort of dropped out completely and became exceedingly paranoid as we travelled on the routes through the Pennsylvania mountain country and It was very difficult to work with him once he told me that Wind gap, Penn Argyl and Bangor PA were towns where we had to slow way way down for and to be extremely carefull in, not to hit anything and things like this. He demanded that I drive in 6th gear on his 8-9 automatic and to not drive over 20 MPH for at least 4-5 miles. He was a screaming fool once we got onto route 33 from route 22 and we were making our way to an unknown Dollar General store.
I really can't say that I was able to have the slightest sensible communication with hin after he insisted on backing up to the Dock on the 3rd Dollar General store. He kept telling me that he hated the way the Springfield D.C. packed his Truck and he was cursing and cursing about how much product was blocking his way and slowing down the way that we had to unload the truck in the store. At one point he told me to get out of the Trailer, he did'nt need me anymore and then he said "go home Joe" before he went completely silent. I kept thinking to myself "what a nut" and I am so glad that he found me a job headed back to my home Terminal and that I was glad to have some local Trucking experience with the Dollar General stores.

 

July 1 2011





Hello RCA 1802 and the Group:


I am sorry to say that I overlooked blanking out his name last night. It was kind of early in the Morning when I was writing It all down on a Wordpad, and the Formatting did'nt even come through cleanly and neatly in paragraphical form. I felt a little bit guilty for leaving it unfinished, but I did have a few discussions with my Safety department, my recruiter relative to this thread and there is a Gentleman by the name of Tim in Corporate driver safety in Omaha who told me that "everybody there reads It". I am basically unconcerned about what I write as long as I know that I am honest about whatever I am doing here.

I did happen to mention to Chris that I write about all of my experiences and also about all of my Trainers on this forum. I let him know that I would be writing my constructive criticism of the best efforts of the Werner Driver's Training program for the Dollar General dedicated account.

By the way, Chris is a Network engineer and a Network planner. He told me that he works with computers for his main professional occupation. Chris is doing Truck driving right now just for a side line of work, but It's not his preferred line of work by any means according to what he told me. Chris is a military Veteran, a master mechanic and a military driving instructor from what I have heard him say and he has also been trained by Werner as a professional Trainer (in corporate in Omaha), so he seems to not be affected quite as much by anybody's criticism.

I have told Chris that I have been keeping a journal or a report about my experiences at Werner Online at this webpage. He is quite aware of whatever I have been doing in relation to whatever my experiences have been so far in the world of Commercial Vehicle Schools and company Orientations.

Chris, If You are monitoring us Online You are quite welcome to give us Your comments, suggestions or flames. I just did the best that I could to share with The people who are following issues like the ones that I have posted and with Werner themselves by cross posting my reports here on the Forum.

I think that I could have probably done better with my last post if they would have some kind of editing function for my previous posts. I am not exactly sure how to remove and to redo whatever I have written here up until now.